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Objectives
“Travelling is walking towards the horizon, meeting others, learning, discovering and returning richer than when the journey started”
FairTour is a Non-Profit international organization that approaches tourism in a different way. The main objectives are:
1- Funding social projects in developing countries
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” – Lao Tzu.
These famous words by Lao Tzu, Chinese founder of Taoism, convey our mission precisely. While providing aid for food and other essential needs is sometimes necessary and useful in the short-term, doing so is unhealthy and potentially dangerous as it creates a tendency of reliance rather than encouraging true long-term development. For this reason, we prioritize aid towards education.
The main scope of this project is to raise money for social projects. We want to give children anywhere in the world the opportunity to attain an education so that they may have the chance to make a difference for themselves and their community.
2- Meeting and understanding other cultures
"Culture affects human behavior. The more we learn about other cultures, the better teachers, mentors, scholars and therapists we can be. Ultimately, understanding different cultures makes us better people."- Heppner
Clients will visit wonderful places and gain a real insight into local life. We will take them to some of the most beautiful places on the planet, showing them living cultures instead of the fake, out-of-context “cultural shows” served up with dinner in tourist hotels.
Meeting people from different cultures is one of the pleasures of travelling.
"Thanks to Fair trade, we will not die of hunger. We will not lose our land. Our children can attend school. I want to send thanks to all who purchase our products. Thanks to you, we have a seed of hope in our lives." - Jose Luis Castillo Vasquez, member of the Equal Exchange-supported Las Colinas cooperative, El Salvador, and father of six children
Fair Trade is not charity - it provides a market-based approach to empowering disadvantaged producers. How this is done, however, is crucially different from conventional trade.
Inspired by FairTrade principles, Fairtour is creating a different approach to travelling. Getting more by contributing more to local economies, promoting a more positive type of holiday, the one that brings benefits to both local communities and tourists.
Helping local people while having an unforgivable holiday, in other words, a mutually beneficial trade.
Tourism can promote respect for different cultures and encourage us to care about what happens to people in faraway countries.
Holidays often generate more money for western companies than for people in the visited countries.
4- Sustainable and Responsible Tourism
“Be the change you want to see in the world”. - Mahatma Gandhi
By embracing sustainable and responsible tourism, FairTour is committed to making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development is a positive experience for local people; tourism companies; and tourists themselves
Therefore, FairTour will:
1) Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development
2) Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities.
3) Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits fairly distributed to all stakeholders; including stable employment and income-earning opportunities, social services to host communities and contributing to poverty alleviation.
4) Maintain a high level of tourist satisfaction, ensuring a meaningful experience to the tourists, raising their awareness about sustainability issues and promoting sustainable tourism practices among them.