The Thoughtful Traveller Q&A

If you're passionate about matters such as conserving the environment, animal welfare or preserving the culture of local communities when you travel, now is the chance to have your voice heard at our first-ever Thoughful Traveller Q&A on Wednesday, 14 March in Sydney.

Educating travellers about the importance of travelling responsibly is at the forefront of World Expeditions' travel philosophy. We create innovative itineraries and deliver various projects with care and consideration. 

As part of this important discussion, we've gathered expert panellists to address topics including: ethical voluntourism, working conditions for porters in Nepal, the biosecurity impact of seeds in walking socks and why travellers should think twice before visiting an orphanage overseas.

Our panellists will also be taking questions from the audience (reserve your seat here) and travelling public (submit your question here). 

If you can't make our 14 March event in Sydney don't worry, we'll be live streaming it on our website (see above) and our Facebook page.

 

Should we be concerned about ethical treatment of animals on our travels?  And orphanage tourism – is it really such a big deal?  

If you feel strongly – one way or the other – about any of these topics, we want to hear from you.

• Environmental sustainability | Tom Schroder, South Pole: Do travellers have a role to play in slowing down the impact of Global Warming?
  
  
• Child- safe tourism | Leigh Mathews, ReThink Orphanages:  Why do well-meaning Australian travellers need to think twice about supporting or visiting an orphanage?
  
  
• Animal friendly tourism  | Ben Pearson, World Animal Protection:  Why should travellers protect the welfare of vulnerable animals used in the tourism industry?
  
  
• Equity and rights for overseas tourism staff | Tim Macartney-Snape, two-time Mount Everest summiteer: Whether your aiming for the summit of Mount Everest or simply Everest Base Camp, it is all made possible because of mountain porters. How can travellers ensure that mountain porters’ working conditions are suitable? 
  
  
• Voluntourism | Sue Badyari, World Expeditions: When is voluntourism mutually beneficial to travellers and the host community and when does it do more damage. Is there a future for this kind of tourism.
  
  
• Litter minimisation and management | Lisa Vitaris, 10 Pieces:  Can we harness the collective power of travellers via a simple litter collection campaign to change the littering mentality of developing nations?
  
  
• Travel as a catalyst for peace | Gail Parsonage, International Institute for Peace through Tourism:  Can travellers be ambassadors for global peace? 
  
  
• Biosecurity | Cameron Crowe, Leave No Trace: What impact can a small seed that is caught in your walking socks really have on the flora and fauna endemic to a country? 
  
  
  

HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF OUR EVENT

1. Submit a question: Tell us which topics are most important and submit a question for the panel by completing our short 2 minute survey or,
2. Attend the Sydney event: Register now for one of the limited audience seats available on the night.
3. Watch the live stream: If you can't make the event you can still tune in and watch it live on our website (click the 'Get Notified' button at the top of the page to add it to your calendar) and Facebook page. We'll also be posting videos of the different segments soon after the event.