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creativesage · 5 years

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(via Learning Events: 10 Ways to Level Up Your Content Programming - Talented Learning)

By John Leh

Historically, associations built educational content programming around live location-based events. That’s one reason why national conferences have become magnets for members seeking professional development and certification.

But content preferences are rapidly changing. And with the arrival of innovative virtual learning technologies like live streaming and webcasting, many associations are racing to offer continuing education in a variety of new forms.

This shift to multiple modes makes sense. Investing incrementally to repurpose existing content can be a powerful and profitable way to reach new audiences and boost non-dues revenue.

Of course, no one can afford to sink unlimited resources into content programming. So how should organizations prioritize opportunities?

For straight answers, I asked three association industry leaders who are putting these multi-format methods into practice:

Nora Murphy – Online Learning Manager at Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R), a 4,000-member association that promotes ethical standards for those involved in biomedical, social science, and behavioral research oversight.

Katie May Grier – Senior Learning and Data Analyst at North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCACPA), an organization devoted to ensuring competence, civic responsibility, and success among the state’s accounting professionals.

Jessica Lane – Director of Client Success for Freestone LMS at Community Brands. Throughout her career, Jessica has collaborated with many of the company’s 13,000 association and non-profit clients as they developed and delivered successful learning programs.

Below are the top recommendations that surfaced during our discussion…

10 Tips to Improve Instructional Content Programming

1) Aim for a menu that meets learners on their terms

People want to consume content “anytime, anywhere” in a variety of ways. In fact, a recent survey says that individuals of all ages typically rely on an average of 5 different learning mediums over the course of a year.

This suggests that the more ways you can repurpose a single piece of content, the better. A broad selection of formats lets learners choose the options that fit their personal preferences, technical requirements and logistical circumstances.

For example, if you republish a webcast as an on-demand event and a self-paced SCORM program, those who couldn’t attend live can participate when it’s convenient for them. Since in-person and digital audiences aren’t likely to overlap, this kind of content repurposing helps you reach a much broader audience over time.

2) Let member interests guide your decisions

What attracts individuals to continuing education programs? Research reveals three key criteria:

Relevant topics

High-quality content

Credible sources/sponsors

In other words, content variety alone isn’t enough to establish your organization as a “go-to” learning provider. Neither is leading-edge technology.

What matters most is access to learning experiences that are meaningful, compelling and worthy of an individual’s time and effort.

When you’re developing content, it helps to regularly ask, “What would our target member want?” Then move in that direction.

3) Choose place-based events wisely

We all know that in-person conferences and seminars and are relatively costly and time-consuming to produce. So it pays to schedule these events with care. Focus on three key factors:

How urgent is the need to share this educational content? Is it a “hot” topic?

Is this particular topic better suited to an in-person learning experience? For example, does it call for hands-on practice or coaching?

For those who are unable to travel, will a place-based event increase access to the content?

To clarify the third point, consider this example from an organization that delivers its annual conference in-person and as a virtual meeting. In a post-conference survey, 90% of virtual attendees said they wouldn’t have attended at all if the virtual sessions had not been available.

4) Start small and double down on what works

Because so much is at stake with live events, it helps to test speakers and topics in low-risk, proof-of-concept scenarios.

For instance, a webinar is a great way to introduce a new subject matter expert because it’s a low-overhead format. If the webinar is a winner, you’ll feel more confident scheduling that speaker for future in-person events.

Or with niche topics, you may not attract enough attendees to justify a live location-based seminar. But if you feature the topic in an online session, you can boost attendance by marketing the event to a much broader audience.

In general, if a speaker is willing to be recorded, it’s worthwhile to offer that content online and repurpose it in whatever ways your budget and expertise allow.

5) Stay open to shifting preferences

Technology innovation continues to drive new ways to work, live and learn. Smart associations recognize this by building flexibility into their content strategy.

For example, one expert says her organization is seeing a clear decline in live location-based seminar attendance.

However, digital streaming capabilities have opened doors for many more people to participate online in real-time.

Furthermore, repackaging the seminar as an on-demand event further expands its reach and extends its lifespan, for only a relatively small additional production and delivery cost.

6) Use feedback to drive continuous improvement

The best organizations seek feedback early and often. Analysis of content-specific evaluations, broader annual surveys and website traffic data can help you pinpoint issues and prioritize improvements that truly reflect member interests.

Think of this as a co-creation process. Each time you ask for comments, new insights will surface to help you shape the next iteration of your course or content. Once respondents see that you value their opinions and apply their suggestions, they’re likely to share more feedback in the future.

7) Leverage relationships with subject matter experts

It pays to develop a strong pool of subject matter experts (SMEs) – not just as speakers and content creators, but also as strategic advisors. For example, SMEs can be an excellent source of ideas for long-range program planning.

In addition, SMEs can operate as an informal “early warning system” to identify upcoming industry changes, issues or trends that may require new or updated educational content. By empowering you to communicate with members in a way that is useful and forward-looking, SMEs can help you gain a competitive advantage.

8) Showcase speakers in their best light

When you onboard new speakers, take time to assess their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you choose a format that fits their presentation skills and personality.

Subject matter knowledge doesn’t guarantee speaking ability. And online presentations require an extra layer of confidence because there’s no direct audience contact.

To give inexperienced speakers more control, you may prefer to record sessions without an audience and rebroadcast the session during the live event time slot.

Some SMEs may only want to deliver self-paced on-demand content. Others may want to produce a full collection of webinar recordings. If the topic is relevant, find a way to use the content.

And if speakers are willing and able to push the envelope, don’t be afraid to experiment. Build on the formats they prefer and see where it leads.

9) Don’t let presentation plans drift off-topic

Many organizations schedule speakers months before the actual event. Over such a long timeframe, presentation topics can lose focus.

To keep speakers on track, try these tactics:

Provide a slide template that reflects the established agenda

Ask for an outline or an early copy of work-in-process slides

Initiate several periodic “check-in” calls before the run-through

Listen closely to the run-through to verify that all agenda points are addressed

Be available for last-minute adjustments and coaching, if needed

10) Make consistency your secret weapon

Don’t underestimate the value of consistency. Members don’t like surprises. This applies to all the processes that support learning programs.

For example, when people register for an online event, if you send an immediate confirmation message and an email reminder 24-hours prior, this should be a standard routine for all events.

Or if you list each member’s registrations on a personalized web page, be sure that every event can be included. The goal is to make routine communication flow naturally.

Similarly, whenever members log-in to launch a presentation, the process should be effortless. Avoid time-consuming software downloads and the need to fiddle with browser settings. The path should feel simple, familiar and frictionless – always.

Conclusion

Advice from these learning practitioners confirms what I see and hear often as a learning systems consultant. Smart associations aren’t waiting for others to prove that multi-channel content programming works. They’re committed to staying ahead of the pack. And that requires constant testing and tuning.

What’s more, continuing education success isn’t about offering multiple content modes, per se. It’s about how these various modes add to your overall reach, compared with the cost of engaging the same audience through only one type of content.

I hope these tips inspire you to take your content programming to the next level. And I look forward to hearing what kind of outcomes you achieve.

Thanks for reading!

[Entire post, click on the title link to read it at Talented Learning.]

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We’re glad that “new Silicon Valleys,” or place-specific innovation centers, are growing all over the world, at least in terms of innovation and the development of creative economy ecosystems — and we would love to visit them all! We all learn best by exchanging ideas across cultures and industries. We fully support complete diversity in the workplace, and overcoming the inequality challenges that are still too prevalent in our world.

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At Creative Sage™, we design high impact, customized creativity, innovation, and leadership programs, and we are now offering related tours, events, corporate retreats, and workshops in wonderful urban and rural settings that will spark your imagination — and your team’s — to come up with brilliant ideas and plan how to implement new innovations in services, products, your organization’s business model, operations, or in any other area. We also design programs for specific areas and markets, such as health care and health-related travel.

We use the latest in value-tested creativity and innovation techniques and processes; and we select world-class facilitators and partners to help your organization gain lasting value from your experience working — and playing — with us. Creativity and innovation processes could include design thinking, business model canvas, arts-based, interactive creativity activities, lateral thinking, gamification, World Cafe, or other proven methods.

We also work on workplace culture issues, leadership challenges, handling transitions, and building resilience in organizations and individual clients. You’ll be able to see first-hand how Silicon Valley companies create a culture of creativity and innovation, and you’ll be able to talk with their leaders. We’ll arrange a customized tour for you that addresses your organization’s issues.

We can design additional customized programs and tours for individuals, families, work teams, university students and faculty, including those in undergraduate or graduate entrepreneurship or MBA programs, and other special interest groups, such as the charitable tourism activities.

Join our email list and visit our web site, or call: (510) 845-5510 for more information.

You’ll take away essential, valuable insights that you could not achieve in any other way, while enjoying the experience of a lifetime!

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jbonnel · 5 years

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En direct du #InnovationTour #Omnicanal #ParisRetailWeek : découverte de la plateforme de gouvernance de la digitalisation par la startup @Beamy pour optimiser la multiplication des plateformes #SaaS #Commerce #Retail #RetailTech #DPO (à Paris Convention Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B23mmuDCJsa/?igshid=cm01vhmi91u7

#innovationtour #omnicanal #parisretailweek #saas #commerce #retail #retailtech #dpo

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siliconvalleycenter-blog · 7 years

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Silicon Valley Innovation Center | Custom Events

#innovation #events #siliconvalley #innovationtours

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vikingbai · 7 years

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#volvo#truck#vehicle#innovationtour#herpa#automodell#h0#87#LKW#austria#sweden

#volvo #vehicle #87 #innovationtour #automodell #h0 #sweden #lkw #austria #herpa #truck

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creativesage · 6 years

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By Miruna Girtu, Contributor, Venture Capital

The past year has been a prolific one for the European venture ecosystem, with a record $23 billion invested and $107 billion in exits for European VC-backed companies. This latter figure highlights a rather surmountable gap when compared to the U.S., which saw $136 billion in exits.

There are reasons to be optimistic, although not due to lack of challenges. Concern has emerged regarding the impact of technology on society. More specifically, it is difficult to ignore the discrepancy between the speed of technological innovation and the much slower rate of societal change to complement it (i.e. job automation). Investors are asked to be more discerning and companies are warned about corrections in the market. “This will be the year fat companies become fit companies. The world has been awash with easy money that has led to loose behaviors. The trend will be good stewards who can execute coming to the fore,” explains Alex Dunsdon, Partner at SAATCHiNVEST.

Still, there is growing confidence in the maturing European ecosystem, a belief that company building will benefit from unprecedented levels of speed and efficiency, a feel of new frontiers as innovation spans across industries and hubs, and a hope for increased diversity and inclusion.

With 2018 being a strong foundation to build on, I asked a selection of European VCs about the areas of innovation they look forward to following most in 2019. Their answers reflect wider conversations I’ve been having recently and recognize the impact of deep tech on a range of sectors, from healthcare and life sciences to enterprise and logistics.

No industry left behind

Fred Destin, Founder, Stride VC

“I'm excited to see venture expand its horizons into every segment of every industry – from farming to food production to genomics – and not just digital. The incumbents still don't seem to be reacting so, as a secular trend, I see venture-backed companies playing an important role in more and more segments of the traditional economy.

As we build on top of a strong substrate of machine learning and analytics, we can build our companies faster and more efficiently, and deliver products with more impact.

I think London and the UK startup ecosystem will sail through Brexit, and I'm convinced that the maturing European ecosystem will continue to generate consistently strong venture opportunities.”

Innovation thriving at the intersection of disciplines

Irina Elena Haivas, Principal, Atomico

“ I believe 2019 will be a year of progress for deep tech companies, innovating at the cross intersection of disciplines. I am particularly excited by the intersection of Tech (hardware and computation), Data and Biology, which I believe create a new generation of venture opportunities while addressing some of the large challenges of the 21st century, like sustainability or health.

I think we will continue to see interesting opportunities in models that use deep tech tools such as AI or computer vision as enablers to existing solutions, in particular, enterprise SaaS, or in transitioning successful models from the more tech-savvy industries into the more traditional, tech-naive industries like healthcare or manufacturing.

I am also excited by the next chapter in wellcare, one that puts consumers at the center and integrates the various aspects of wellbeing – mental, physical, social, intellectual, financial.”

Paradigm shifts ahead

Jonathan Hay, Partner, Delin Ventures

“The process of getting things onto silicon is going to be transformed by companies like SiFive and our portfolio company Agile Analog.

In life sciences, I am interested in a change in paradigm in protein science. Fluidic Analytics in Cambridge offers probably the best technology in the world for studying how these proteins actually behave. I also think new computational tools will emerge that might make interesting platforms for drug discovery in this area.

Quantum computing is moving faster than expected. There are a whole series of breakthroughs taking place that might allow a scalable quantum computer with quantum circuits to be created in the next few years. Now is a good time to be understanding these technologies and trying to identify the ones that will be core as this technology takes off.

Something I am now more sure about is blockchain and IoT. Serious robust enterprise-ready infrastructure is finally being built and I expect some of this will go live in 2019. Applications will then be built on top of this infrastructure that will transform supply chains.”

Sensors, smart devices and even smarter algorithms

Vica Manos, Managing Director, Anthemis Group

“For me, it's (still) all about data, specifically in health insurance, life insurance and healthcare. We are at a point where data science and AI allow us to objectively quantify what was once subjective and unquantifiable. We can't improve what we can't accurately measure, so this is game-changing. I'm most excited to follow solutions which leverage this to detect hard-to-diagnose or time-critical conditions earlier and with increased accuracy, from neurodegenerative disease and mental conditions to hypertension and sepsis.

Combining sensors, smart devices and even smarter algorithms, we are able to track known biomarkers in the contour of everyday life. We can capture new insights from our vital signs, speech or even habits to augment the diagnosis and management of these conditions. When we augment diagnosis to the point of prognosis, we enable prevention. This is transformative in patient care, as well as underwriting and risk management.”

Robotics and software automation

Julien-David Nitlech, Partner, Iris Capital

“Robotics offers a huge field for transformation in industries, work and production. A good example is our investment in Exotec Solutions. There is a similar trend in Software Automation. UIPath or our investment in Braincube are good examples.

Also, I believe that stress on public financing will force healthcare to accelerate the way it embraces software and AI in helping managing public health concerns (i.e. general practitioners, disease anticipation and treatment).”

Rising expectations

Nicholas Stocks, Partner, White Star Capital

“The trend I'm most excited by for 2019 is consumerization of enterprise, particularly around B2B marketplaces. Businesses are no longer satisfied with poor user experience having become accustomed to their experience as consumers individually, plus they represent a significantly higher spend than consumers and with more recurrence. This extends from travel to food to packaging and more.”

Consolidated trends

Gilad Engel, Partner, Target Global

“We think that the trends we saw beginning to evolve in 2018 will be even more relevant in 2019, in particular: cross-sector ideas with real business parameters behind them such as ParkJockey or klarx (mobility, shared economy and property tech); SaaS solutions to SMB with clear, quick revenue-producing growth models, such as TravelPerk and Shedul; new solutions in Fintech such as Rapyd, plus continued growth in Insurance-tech solutions such as Wefox.

Finally, on the deep tech side, after a prolonged incubation period on the one hand and a premature buzz on the other, a few HW technologies are reaching maturity, including microLED (modifying the display offering on automotive, AR, outdoor displays etc.)”

[Entire article — click on the title link to read it at Forbes.]

***

Join our email list and visit our web site, or call: (510) 845-5510 for more information.

You’ll take away essential, valuable insights that you could not achieve in any other way, while enjoying the experience of a lifetime!

***

#innovation #innovation2019 #vc #venturecapital #startups #europe #siliconvalley #innovationtours #incubators #trends

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jbonnel · 5 years

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En direct du #InnovationTour #Omnicanal #ParisRetailWeek : découverte de l'#OMS (Order Management System) @_OneStock_FR ➡️ 15 à 20 % d'augmentation de CA pour les enseignes qui s'équipent d'un #OMS #Commerce #Retail #Crosscanal (à Paris Convention Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B23k1U0iKHV/?igshid=1rvg1rlwn3y10

#innovationtour #omnicanal #parisretailweek #oms #commerce #retail #crosscanal

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jbonnel · 5 years

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En direct du #InnovationTour #Omnicanal #ParisRetailWeek : découverte du #PIM (Product Information Management) @ArkeneoPIM #OpenSource qui a levé 41 M.€ #Commerce #Retail #Crosscanal #Phygital (à Paris Convention Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B23ieWfi_3e/?igshid=1qfmvznkwqwrr

#innovationtour #omnicanal #parisretailweek #pim #opensource #commerce #retail #crosscanal #phygital

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creativesage · 6 years

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[Photo caption:] Want to see the world through fresh eyes? Take a founder-led trip. Here, Naya Traveler cofounders Sofia Mascotena, Sarah Casewit and Marta Tucci are pictured in Ethiopia. Photo courtesy of Naya Traveler

By Laura Begley Bloom

Want to experience travel in a more meaningful and authentic way? A number of woman-owned travel companies are running founder-led trips to the world’s most amazing destinations. Some of these trips are led by women who are inviting travelers to the places they grew up. These journeys offer an intimate homecoming experience, providing the opportunity to go beyond the tourist route and discover a country like a local. Other trips are designed by jet-setting travel experts who have gotten to know a place inside out and have tapped into a network of insiders who will give you access to the best a destination has to offer. And other founder-led trips offer everything from business networking to soul searching.

Whatever route you take, a founder-led trip gives a unique opportunity to see the world with like-minded travelers and get an inside look at what it takes for an entrepreneur to launch a successful business.

[Photo at linked site:] Sarah Casewit, cofounder of Naya Traveler, leading a trip in the Sahara. Photo courtesy of Naya Traveler

Morocco, Spain and Argentina, with Naya Traveler

The Company: Naya Traveler offers highly personalized itineraries and curated experiential journeys to culturally rich destinations.

The Founders: Sofia Mascotena, Sarah Casewit and Marta Tucci believe that the stories and connections that emerge from traveling with “naya” (purpose) are just as important as the tangibles. Naya Traveler works with locals garnered from the founders’ own personal relationships, ranging from traditional artists and literary authors to ethnographers and more.

The Trip: Naya Traveler's first-ever founder-led trip to Morocco is set for June 3-13 with Casewit, who called this country home for over 20 years. She will take a small group of 12 travelers on a 10-day journey through her favorite destinations, including the medieval city of Fez, the Sahara Desert, the Red City of Marrakesh and more. Naya Traveler will offer two additional founder-led trips in 2020 with Tucci leading a small group to Spain and Mascotena leading one to Argentina, their respective home countries.

[Photo at linked site:] Meagan Drillinger (center, in red) is the founder of Vaera Journeys. Photo courtesy of Vaera Journeys

Puerto Vallarta with Vaera Journeys

The Company: Vaera Journeys runs retreats for entrepreneurial women on the verge of new ideas. The retreats are styled to help women take their personal and professional goals to the next level by helping them explore a project that gives them purpose.

The Founder: Vaera Journeys is the brainchild of New York-based travel writer Meagan Drillinger, who came up with the idea as a way to bring together her passions for uplifting other women and transformational travel.

The Trip: Each Vaera trip is inspired by a unique destination and includes curated experiences for up to 10 guests that are designed to foster creative discussion, including sessions with a guest speaker and one-on-one coaching. Vaera Journeys’ next retreat to Puerto Vallarta (May 2-7) will include bonding, networking and learning how to grow your personal business and brand. In addition to Drillinger, Elena Ollick — a serial entrepreneur who started her own business at age 16 — will accompany the trip as the featured speaker. A dedicated photographer will provide professional-level pictures to use for business head shots or on social media.

[Photo at linked site:] Nancy Novogrod, founder of Culturati Travel Design, in India. Photo courtesy of Nancy Novogrod

Paris, India, and Japan, with Culturati Travel Design

The Company: Culturati Travel Design leads expertly curated intimate group trips focused on art, architecture, design, food and style.

The Founder: After 21 years as Editor in Chief of Travel + Leisure, following five years in the same role at House & Garden, Nancy Novogrod is drawing upon her personal knowledge, insider network and passions to create trips to destinations throughout the world. Working in affiliation with Valerie Wilson Travel, Novogrod personally selects every element of the itinerary, from hotels and restaurants to access-rich experiences of arts and culture.

The Trip: In November of this year, Novogrod will be leading a group of approximately 10 people to India, a country she came to know well — and love deeply — during many past visits for T+L. Created in collaboration with leading specialists on the destination, the itinerary includes Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra and Delhi, with one-of-a-kind experiences of historic sites, such as the Taj Mahal at dawn. There will also be contemporary lifestyle excursions and expert-guided shopping for everything from shawls and fashion to art and decoration. Other Novogrod-led trips: Paris (October 2019) and Japan (March 2020).

[Photo at linked site:] Roar Africa's founder Deborah Calmeyer. Photo courtesy of Deborah Calmeyer

South Africa, Kenya and the Northern Cape Province, with Roar Africa

The Company: Roar Africa's travel specialty is in the crafting of highly bespoke, private travel experiences that offer exclusive-access opportunities in Southern and East Africa.

The Founder: Deborah Calmeyer has lived between New York and Cape Town for the past 20 years, giving the Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur an understanding of the needs and desires of sophisticated American travelers. Her pioneering family’s 329-year history in South Africa forms the core of her ultra-luxe bi-cultural travel company run by women and supported by native-born guides and a curated network of experts, all committed to the preservation and support of the people, animals and environment of their fragile and extraordinary homeland. (You can read more about Calmeyer in "It's A Jungle Out There: 10 Wild Career Tips.")

The Trips: Calmeyer will lead Roar Africa's "Rewilding: Roar & Restore Retreat" (May 31 to June 5), a learning journey of reconnecting, self-discovery and self-realization in the wilds of Kenya at Segera Retreat. The lineup of speakers includes visionaries, game-changers and eco-pioneers who will encourage and stimulate thinking about rewilding and how our instinctual relationship with the wild is the best prescription of all. One week later, Calmeyer is joined by media legend Pat Mitchell for Roar Africa’s first-ever "Women’s Empowerment Journey" at Tswalu. Together, they have created a highly specialized experience hosted by an all-female team of pilots, guides, trackers, conservationists, chefs and hospitality staff who have overcome the industry "norm” in the male-dominated safari business.

[Photo at linked site:] Kristin Karst, co-owner and executive vice president of AmaWaterways (second from left) on a biking trip from the AmaLegro along the Seine. Photo courtesy of Kristin Karst

European Rivers, with AmaWaterways

The Company: AmaWaterways offers unforgettable river cruise vacations with 23 ships sailing Europe’s Danube, Rhine, Moselle, Main, Rhone, Seine, Garonne, Dordogne, Dutch and Belgian Waterways and Douro Rivers, Southeast Asia’s Mekong and Africa’s Chobe River.

The Founder: Co-owner and Executive Vice President Kristin Karst believes that travel is imperative to opening up your understanding of diverse cultures. For Karst, there is no better way to learn and grow than exploring the world. In 2002 along with Rudi Schreiner (her husband) and the late Jimmy Murphy, Karst set out to create a river cruise company that she herself would want to travel with – and AmaWaterways was born. The name, “Ama,” comes from the Latin word for "love," and it's a concept that is woven into every aspect of their river cruises, from the design of the ships to the carefully-crafted itineraries.

The Trip: AmaWaterways’ special Founder’s Cruises debuted in 2018. The 2019 dates will be announced soon on Karst’s blog on the company's website. Guests who choose these cruises will have the unique opportunity to get to know Karst personally, experiencing firsthand her passion for river cruising while learning what’s on the horizon for this innovative company. In addition to enjoying the variety of daily excursions, active hiking and biking tours, wonderful meals and wine and beer that are offered complimentary by AmaWaterways, guests on board these Founder’s Cruises will have the option to also participate in the company’s popular wellness activities, led by a dedicated Wellness Host and championed by Karst herself.

[Photo at linked site:] Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of Indagare. Photo courtesy of Melissa Biggs Bradley

Italian Dolomites, with Indagare

The Company: Indagare is a members-only, boutique travel-planning company that offers curated content, customized trip-planning and group trips around passion points. Indagare partners with its members to design a personalized roadmap for their lifetime of journeys and unlocks behind-the-scenes access they won’t find anywhere else.

The Founder: After a successful career as an editor at Town & Country and Town & Country Travel, Melissa Biggs Bradley founded Indagare in 2007 because she believed that creating a platform for exchange between passionate travelers would allow for more transformative journeys and meaningful global connections. Bradley has visited over 100 countries in her travels, and, most recently, she has been scouting in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, Egypt and Colombia.

The Trips: Indagare's Insider Journeys offer one-of-a-kind itineraries crafted around passion points, including contemporary design and architecture, outdoor adventure and wellness. One of the longest-running and most popular journeys is a wellness- and fitness-focused trip hosted by Bradley that explores the Italian Dolomites on daily guided hikes and a stay at Rosa Alpina lodge (September 15-20). This year, there will be more than 40 Insider Journeys all over the globe, from Marrakech and Rwanda to Milan and Beirut. Some of this year’s other in-demand itineraries include a spring trip to Havana, Cuba for the Biennial art fair and a fall trip to Egypt to see the pyramids and cruise down the Nile.

[Photo at linked site:] Laura Grier and Pats Krysiak, founders of Andeana Hats, with Quechua artisans in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Photo courtesy of Andeana Hats

Peru, with Andeana Hats and Glossy Paradise

The Company: Andeana Hats works with Quechua artisans in the Sacred Valley of Peru to create pieces that capture the energy of the Andean people. Each of the hats has a woven intention band with its own meaning. Glossy Paradise is a natural beauty company that creates face oils that come directly from the depths of the Amazon rainforest, where nutrient-rich superfoods have been healing the indigenous population for centuries.

The Founders: For founders Laura Grier and Pats Krysiak, their mission behind the creation of Andeana Hats is to empower women, help support global artisans to continue their vanishing crafts and enable them to lead their communities out of poverty.

The Trip: Grier and Krysiak invite travelers to join them on one of their inspirational eight-night journeys through the Sacred Valley and the Amazon in Peru, visiting the origin of both of their businesses: Andeana Hats and Glossy Paradise. They've partnered with the non-profit organization, Awamaki, to create sustainable tours that not only are fun and educational, but provide a positive impact in the Quechua communities. On the tour, you'll get to meet the communities behind the products, see how they create them from scratch and get in a bit of relaxation and exploration while taking in the incredible beauty of the Sacred Valley and the Amazon, two completely different worlds that exist within Peru.

[Photo at linked site:] Stacy Readal, founding director of Duma Explorer, and her daughter in Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Stacy Readal

Tanzania, with Duma Explorer

The Company: Duma Explorer, a safari and trekking company based in Arusha, Tanzania, provides a unique window into the landscape, wildlife and culture of this extraordinary region.

The Founder: Originally from the U.S., Stacy Readal first visited Tanzania in 1998 while studying at the university there. After volunteering in education and HIV/AIDS prevention for two years in a small town on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, she joined with a local partner and started Duma Explorer. In 2012, Readal and a business partner launched a second company, Chaka Camps, and now operate three tented camps in Tanzania's national parks.

The Trip: In the summer of 2020, travelers can explore Tanzania with Readal on an eight-day founder-led safari that starts in Arusha and includes locations like Tarangire National Park, Ngoronoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. You’ll visit the village and house where Readal spent her first several years in Tanzania, see the school that Duma Explorer built and have an amazing safari experience staying in Chaka Camps' luxury tents.

[Photo at linked site:] Kelly Lewis, founder of Damesly, leading a trip in Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Kelly Lewis

Hawaii, with Damesly

The Company: Damesly is a boutique women's tour company that runs trips that combine travel with creative and professional development workshops.

The Founder: Kelly Lewis — a women's travel industry maven — has founded several companies in the space. Her projects include Go! Girl Guides (travel guidebooks for women) and the annual Women's Travel Fest. She started Damesly as a way to help women see the world, while also learning new skills that can help them grow creatively and professionally.

The Trip: Travel to Hawaii with Damesly and Lewis herself, who grew up on Oahu, where this tour takes place. The "Islands + Identity" tour (May 17-23) includes surf lessons, hula lessons, snorkeling and paddle boarding, as well as spa time and some deep soul work with a licensed professional to help you get clear on your strengths and purpose. Other signature trips include "Cameras + Canyons" (September 6-9), a photo workshop led by a pro through the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend and "Writing + Riding" (June 7-10), a Denver-based creative writing workshop combined with horseback riding in the Rocky Mountains.

[Photo at linked site:] Founder Jordan Ashley leading a Souljourn Yoga session. Photo courtesy of Jordan Ashley

Tibet, Rwanda and South Africa, with Souljourn Yoga

The Company: Souljourn Yoga is a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds in developing countries through yoga retreats as a way to promote female empowerment and girls' education to communities where equal opportunities aren't always readily available.

The Founder: An international journalist-turned-yoga teacher, Jordan Ashley recognized a need for service-based yoga and a need for experiences that give perspective to the self through selflessness. Feeling extremely blessed to not only be given the opportunity for education, but to have a voice in society, she felt it was imperative to raise both awareness and funds for girls all over the planet who are denied such essential human rights.

The Trip: Ashley is leading three upcoming retreats, starting with “A Tribe Called Tibet” (May 25 to June 1), a week of yin and yang, movement and meditation, luxury and social change on the Tibetan Plateau. The trip will include a transformative day with Educating Girls of Rural China, a nonprofit dedicated to providing higher education to impoverished young women. On Souljourn’s “Yoga Adventure Rwanda” (June 25 to July 5), you'll experience a full cultural immersion, go chimpanzee trekking and visit a women's collective in Kigali. In January 2020, Ashley will lead a journey to Cape Town, South Africa (January 17-26) that includes volunteering for the Female Empowerment Program with Lalela Project, which uses an arts curriculum to ignite imagination and teach children how to map and manifest their dreams and goals.

[Photo at linked site:] Judi Wineland, cofounder of Thomson Safaris and co-owner of AdventureWomen, with Maasai women. Photo courtesy of Judi Wineland

Tanzania, with AdventureWomen

The Company: AdventureWomen invites women traveling solo and/or with their friends or family on active explorations full of empowering discoveries across over 30 destinations. AdventureWomen is co-owned by Judi Wineland, who is also cofounder of Thomson Safaris and founder of Thomson Family Adventures. (You can read more about Wineland in "9 Lessons From The Wild That Will Help You Get Ahead In Business.")

The Co-Owner: Along with her daughters Erica and Nicole, Judi Wineland is co-owner of AdventureWomen, which she believes is much more than a travel company. AdventureWomen is a "relationship" company, encouraging women to build new connections with the world, with themselves and with other like-minded women around the globe. Wineland is also cofounder of Thomson Safaris, a safari tour operator in Tanzania that she created in 1981 with her husband Rick Thomson. In 1998, Wineland also founded the U.S.-based Thomson Family Adventures, which is dedicated to providing families with exciting trips around the world.

The Trip: Wineland is leading three "insiders" trips to Tanzania with AdventureWomen in May and October 2019, where she has migrated annually since 1979 (and where she and her husband launched Thomson Safaris in 1981). This unique itinerary includes an opportunity to watch the annual Great Migration in the Serengeti, go on day and night game drives in Ngorongoro Crater and enjoy gourmet, farm-to-table cuisine and luxurious accommodations at Gibbs Farm. This trip also offers unparalleled experiences for women to fully embrace the culture of Tanzania as they get to know entrepreneurial Maasai women and meet the self-empowered leaders of the Enjipai Women’s Group in a remote region of Northern Tanzania.

[Photo at linked site:] WHOA Travel cofounders Allison Fleece and Danielle Thornton in Bavaria. Photo courtesy of WHOA Travel

Bavaria and Oktoberfest, with WHOA Travel

The Company: WHOA Travel is an adventure travel company for women by women that’s all about stepping out of your comfort zone, connecting with women from around the world and having a crazy fun time in the process. (The WHOA in the name stands for Women High on Adventure.)

The Founders: Cofounders/chief adventurers Allison Fleece and Danielle Thornton believe that the WHOA style of adventuring is about more than just travel. It’s about taking risks, not taking yourself or life too seriously and taking every opportunity to be outside and active. Fleece and Thornton (aka "Dallison," short for Allison and Danielle) also believe in going out of your way to make choices that align with what you believe in, like supporting woman’s interests and locally owned businesses, especially when you’re traveling.

The Trip: Fleece is leading one of WHOA’s annual flagship adventures: a trip to Bavaria and Oktoberfest (September 19-24). It’s one of WHOA’s only journeys that’s not at a high altitude, but it’s still high on adventure, with hiking, biking and paragliding around Bavaria, a place where all trails lead to a beer garden. The grand finale is a coveted reservation at Oktoberfest in Munich. Fleece called Munich home for three years, so you can count on lots of insider local experiences and tips, and you’ll quickly discover that there is much more to Munich than beer.

[Photo at linked site:] Phyllis Stoller, founder of the Women’s Travel Group, in Ethiopia. Photo courtesy of Phyllis Stoller

Global Trips with the Women's Travel Group

The Company: For 27 years, the Women’s Travel Group has created affordable yet luxurious small group tours that appeal to adventurous travelers. The company's goal is to tap into up-and-coming destinations and bring women deep into a country, its culture and food.

The Founder: After living overseas for 10 years, Phyllis Stoller moved back to the U.S. and found American women were reluctant to travel solo. She left an executive banking position to create the Women’s Travel Group, which provides a safe and fun way for solo women to see the world.

The Trips: Stoller regularly hosts founder-led trips. This year, she'll be leading journeys to Albania and Corfu (April 15-22), a destination that's newly popular with Europeans, as well as another trip to Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina (September 27 to October 6) that begins in Zagreb and ends in Dubrovnik. In 2020, Stoller will be leading a trip to Dubai, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah (March 14-24).

• "Meet The World's First Black Woman Cruise Ship Captain"

• "Quit Your Job And Live Abroad in 2019: 10 Places So Cheap You Might Not Need to Work."

• "The 38 Cheapest Places To Travel In 2019."

• "Airport And Airline Hacks: 9 Ways To Travel Like A Pro"

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at Forbes, and to view all of the photos of the different trip options.]

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~ Cathryn Hrudicka, Author, Founder, CEO and Chief Imagination Officer, Creative Sage™

+ Former Co-Founder, Women Who Innovate

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creativesage · 6 years

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(via Solomon Darwin Takes Corporate Innovation to Rural Villages in India)

The UC professor, born into the so-called group of India’s “untouchables,” thinks one great idea can change rural lives, and is proving it with his Smart Village Movement.

By Patrick Hoge

Solomon Darwin was born in a rural village in southeast India to a family of so-called “untouchables,” a group of people designated by the Hindu religion as cursed because of sins in former lives and thus historically subject to poverty, discrimination, and oppression.

Darwin nevertheless went on to successful careers in U.S. banking and academia after his family converted to Christianity and moved to California, where he was able to get an education. He’s now a UC Berkeley professor.

“America has been extremely beautiful for me,” said Darwin, an unassuming man with jet-black hair, bushy eyebrows, beard, and mustache as well as jarringly intense eyes and a kindly voice. “The equal opportunity which I experienced in America brought me into prominence because it has given me the chance to prove myself. It’s a place where hard work can be rewarded.”

A life of comfort and ease, however, was not Darwin’s reward. Instead, Darwin has embraced personal sacrifices and threats from Hindu extremists to spread prosperity in his former homeland, particularly for those at the bottom of society.

As an academic, Darwin has become an increasingly influential promoter of U.S.-India ties, meeting with government officials up to India’s president and prime minister, and becoming the leader of a Smart Village Movement that aims to bring technological and economic development to India’s rural villages. There are some 650,000 such villages in India, and they are home to nearly 70 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion citizens.

Though virtually all of his extended family long ago emigrated to the United States, Darwin has also consistently gone back to his native village of Mori Podu on the Bay of Bengal, a town of 8,000 where he built and runs a school, an orphanage, and a hospital, all of which serve the poor and outcast, regardless of religious persuasion or social status.

“We are all blessed because of him,” said Harish Pindi, a 27-year-old Mori native who attended Darwin’s Riverside International School. He recently graduated in computer science from California State University, Northridge, and now lives in Fremont. Pindi recalled Riverside as an egalitarian oasis, and said Darwin counseled him to success when he almost failed college.

Darwin explained his motivation to help others by quoting Abraham Lincoln’s adage that almost anyone can go through life’s challenges and succeed, but gaining power will truly test a person’s character.

“I see lot of old friends, even my own relatives, and they are so forgetful and lacking in gratitude now in America. Remember where you came from,” he said. “Even to today I am always remembering.”

This year, Darwin published two books. One, The Untouchables: Three Generations of Triumph Over Torment, is about his own family’s journey over three generations to escape caste oppression. The other, The Road to Mori: Smart Villages of Tomorrow, is about his campaign to digitally empower villages, which, over the past couple of years, has been officially adopted by two Indian states and received support from numerous universities and tech corporations like San Jose’s PayPal, Google in Mountain View, and Ericsson, Sweden’s networking and telecommunications giant.

PayPal chief technical officer Sri Shivananda, for example, dispatched staff to work with Darwin’s students in Mori interviewing local citizens about how to help them sell saris, cashews, and other goods over the internet.

Ericsson in May was touting how it has developed applications of sensor technology in Mori to help shrimp farmers improve harvests and improve water distribution.

Those efforts have already produced tangible benefits for Mori’s residents, and last year the state of Andhra Pradesh approved funding to help Darwin spread similar innovations to the rest of its 470-plus villages, said Venkatesan Ashok, India’s consul general in San Francisco.

“We saw how the villagers were thriving with the improvements that had come in,” Ashok said. “We need many Solomon Darwins to make change in India.”

Andhra Pradesh has given Darwin the honorary title of chief innovation officer. In June, the state of Arunachal Pradesh near the Himalayas in the northeast followed suit with its own deal to develop Smart Villages, shortly after Darwin hosted state officials in the Bay Area and introduced them to executives at PayPal’s headquarters. Darwin is now planning a trip with UC Berkeley students for next year.

Throughout, Darwin has continued to raise money for his school, hospital, and orphanage he started in Mori, relying heavily on church and service groups, like Rotary clubs, which have provided cash, materials, and volunteer services.

Vivek Wadwha, a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering at Silicon Valley, said what Darwin has accomplished both personally and professionally is “incredible.”

“These are complete extremes,” said Wadwha, who met Darwin about a decade ago through another academic but did not know until recently that Darwin was born into India’s Hindu underclass. “You are talking about going from the poorest of the poor in India to the height of academia in Silicon Valley. How does that happen? He didn’t hit the lottery. He worked his way to where he is.”

Darwin was born a member of India’s scavenger caste, the members of which have historically been expected to take jobs like cleaning public toilets and sewers, burying the dead, or working virtually as indentured rural slaves. Such “untouchables,” also called Dalits by activists, are among an estimated 200 million people that the government designates as “scheduled castes,” and though affirmative action programs exist and discrimination was officially banned when India adopted its constitution in 1950, prejudice remains, economic opportunities are often limited, and incidents of oppressive violence continue. Deaths of Dalit men manually cleaning out sewage equipment have been commonplace in recent years, for example, even though the practice was outlawed in 2013, and inter-caste marriage provokes killings.

Fortunately for Darwin, he had a remarkable role model of resilience and entrepreneurism in his grandmother, a woman known as Subbamma, who rejected caste distinctions, converted to Christianity and ran restaurants, a lace-making export business and a community bank while also acting as schoolteacher and midwife to countless local children.

“Entrepreneurship is a liberator. That’s what my grandmother proved,” Darwin said.

Opportunity proved nonexistent for Darwin’s academically inclined father, however. He could not find a job despite completing an advanced degree in marine science — a fact he attributed to caste discrimination.

Incredibly, Darwin’s father eventually got hired by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, and after four years’ separation, Darwin and his mother joined him in La Jolla. The family later relocated to San Bruno.

Equipped with at best a fifth-grade education, Darwin was overwhelmed by culture shock and depression. He tearfully pleaded his way into community college, working as a janitor at the school. Three years later, he transferred to San Francisco State University, where he got a bachelor’s degree, proceeding then to get an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Darwin got a job as a financial analyst for Motorola Inc. in San Mateo, worked at a bank in Tulsa, Okla., and then got a job at Glendale Federal Bank in Southern California working as a cost accountant in a crowded basement in a warehouse-like building. In his spare time, he wrote a report identifying how to cut costs.

The report made its way to the bank’s president, who pulled Darwin from obscurity and sent him to Harvard University for an executive training program. When Darwin returned in 1984, he was named corporate controller for GlenFed and given a corner office with a stunning view of the Glendale hills and spreading metropolis.

Darwin bought some nice suits. He worked a lot, went to church, bought a large new house.

Then, in 1988, Darwin’s grandmother died, and the trajectory of Darwin’s life again changed dramatically. Subbamma had come in her twilight years to live near relatives. In her final days, she asked Darwin to take her body back to Mori Podu for burial. Darwin told her he could not commit to making that journey, as he was very busy, but his boss urged him to go.

o in 1988, Darwin traveled with Subbamma’s embalmed body by airplane, rail, truck, rickshaw, and finally in a small boat poled by hand across the Godavari River.

Darwin had not been back to Mori Podu since the age of 15. When the boat carrying Subbamma’s casket landed at the water’s edge, hundreds of people were waiting for her arrival. One held a sign in Telugu reading “Subbamma, a friend of the poor.”

Upon returning to the United States, Darwin sold his big house and moved into a communal home for Christian missionaries in Pasadena, where he shared a room with four other men. He sent his savings to Mori to begin rebuilding Subbamma’s mud hut school.

On the professional front, Darwin continued to advance, ultimately becoming a senior vice president of corporate finance for Bank of America in San Francisco. But when the bank was sold to NationsBank and the headquarters was moved to Charlotte, N.C., Darwin resigned. He had fallen in love with a ballet dancer of Swedish descent whom he met at his church, and the two got married and moved to Mori to supervise construction of the school and an orphanage on land Darwin bought when an upper caste farmer had a heart attack and needed money. It opened in 1996 and today serves nearly 800 students a year. The nearby medical center Darwin built similarly sits on land from which Darwin recalled being chased as a child by an upper caste man who yelled that he was unclean.

Darwin moved back to Southern California when his wife was going to give birth. He was broke and exhausted, but one day received a call from former Harvard Business School professor Ken Merchant, who had tracked him down to offer him a teaching position at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Elated, Darwin worked at USC for nine years, where Merchant said he was an outstanding teacher, before joining the faculty at UC Berkeley.

Today, Darwin and his wife, with whom he has three children, live in Pacifica. He is executive director of the Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation, part of Haas’ Institute for Business Innovation.

From that perch, Darwin teaches about business innovation, hosts conferences to promote U.S.-India commerce, the most recent being in September, and supervises student research aimed at using technology and global trade to develop villages around the world, where 3.4 billion live.

“I’m very excited about the work I’m doing. Otherwise, I would be depressed. Most of my life, I’ve had a lot of setbacks. At times, I have not wanted to live anymore,” Darwin said. “At this moment, God has blessed me to a point where I can give something back.”

It’s not all roses, Darwin is quick to point out. Caste and intersectarian tensions in India remain, with violence and other outrages occurring regularly. Despite his own accomplishments, Darwin feels discrimination from Hindus in India and in the Bay Area.

Darwin’s name has even appeared on a Hindu radical target list.

As a result, Darwin said he is careful about broadcasting his whereabouts when he’s in India, and his goal is never to inflame opposition, though he has taken stands at times to ensure staff at his school treat students equally regardless of caste.

“I want to live peaceably with everyone and work with everyone no matter who they are,” he said.

[Entire article — click on the title link to read it at Oakland Magazine.]

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#solomondarwin #ucberkeley #india #ruralindia #socialinnovation #socinn #socent #entrepreneurs #innovationprograms #innovationtourism #leadership #smartvillagemovement #smartvillage

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creativesage · 6 years

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(via IfOnly Raises $20 Million for Activities Booking: Travel Startup Funding This Week – Skift)

By Sean O’Neill

MasterCard, Hyatt, and others must have done their homework before they invested in IfOnly. Still, the startup certainly expects outsiders to take too much on faith about its progress. — Sean O'Neill

The total publicized this week was more than $49 million.

>>IfOnly, an online agency for booking activities and experiences, raised $20 million in Series D funding.

Mastercard led the round. Hyatt, NEA, Founder’s Fund, Khosla Ventures, and others also invested.

This round brings the total the San Francisco-based company has raised more than $40 million.

The company, founded in 2012, offers activities, ranging from planting trees to sailing in a hot air balloon next to Mt. Everest, for sale to travelers, gift-givers, and locals. Much of its inventory is focused on about eight destinations, so far, with some exceptions.

This winter IfOnly installed a new CEO, John Boris, formerly the chief marketing officer at photo-sharing platform Shutterfly.

>>Lvji, an audio travel guide mobile application, has secured $19 million in a Series B funding round.

Qianhai Fund of Funds, a private equity firm, and Pufeng Fund, an asset manager, led the round. In July 2017, the company disclosed a $3.9 million seed round led by QF Capital, which provides advisory services to startups.

The Guangzhou-based company did not disclose its total funding raised to date.

Founded in 2013, it has a couple of business lines. Its consumer-facing paid app enables tourists to navigate more than 2,000 Chinese and foreign destinations, hearing descriptions of scenic spots in a choice of Mandarin or English.

The company claimed to have 2 million paying users per month, on average. It works with online travel agencies such as Ctrip, Tuniu, Qunar, and Mafengwo to distribute its product.

It sells touchscreen, solar-powered kiosks that tourist bureaus can display along paths around a district. At first glance, the maps appear to be hand-painted. But when you click on them, they generate photos and other digital content.

The startup partners with tourism marketing organizations. It said it has deals with 600 destinations and tourism bureaus.

For example, the Yuexiu district has worked with the company to import content about 500 scenic spots, historic sites, former residences of celebrities, restaurants, stores, and hotels in a visual map with details that can be heard via spoken text.

Other companies that have developed audio walking tours for independent travelers include Detour.

>>The Hotels Network, a Barcelona-based hotel marketing tech firm, has raised $3.7 million in seed financing.

Seaya Ventures led the round, with venture firms 4Founders Capital and NFX also participating.

CEO Juanjo Rodríguez founded the company three years ago. It has 32 full-time employees across its offices in Barcelona, San Francisco, and Mexico City.

Rodríguez claims The Hotels Network is profitable and that it works with 3,000 hotels in more than 50 countries. The company provides a variety of digital marketing tools to help hoteliers attract more direct bookings.

>>CorreYvuela, maker of the ChatNFly mobile app for chatbot-powered travel booking, said it had raised $1.7 million (€1.4 million) in a seed financing.

The financing came from angel investors, the accelerator Impact Growth, the Spanish-government-backed agency Segittur, and the European Union-backed European Network and Information Security Agency.

The company said it uses artificial intelligence and natural language recognition software to “fully automate” the travel research and booking needs of Spanish- and English-speaking consumers. It integrates with WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, and other chat-based instant messaging services.

Founded in early 2016, the company has two businesses. It takes a commission from sales done via its consumer interactions. It also offers its technology on a white-labeled basis.

For more on the chatbot sector, see our March 2018 story “Lola Expands Business Travel Push With Team Management Features.”

>>Manet, a mobile and web-based platform for the hospitality sector, has raised $1.2 million (€1 million) in seed financing.

LVenture Group (LVG) led the round, with angel investors participating.

The Rome-based startup, founded in 2015, develops mobile software tools for hotel and vacation rental managers. It lets guests chat via text message and allows hoteliers to upsell and serve guests with a web-based customer relationship management tool.

Check out our previous startup funding roundups here.

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at Skift.]

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creativesage · 7 years

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(via List of Activities for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Start a Tour and Travel Website)

By Kavya Nair

Every destination has different story behind it that drives travelers to visit that place. As more and more people have started to travel on a regular basis, most of these travel destinations are jam packed with tourists. To avoid the last minute hassle, travelers prefer to make bookings beforehand to enjoy a smooth vacation.

Revenues from online travel booking have grown by over 73% in the last 5 years. Almost 40% of all tour and activity bookings are being made online, out of which, 60% of leisure and 41% of business travelers make their own travel arrangements, generally via the Internet.

Travelers now plan vacations that not only includes sight-seeing but include some type of activities which adds an extra spice to the destination.

Food & Delicacies Tours

Different people have different reasons to visit a particular destination. Some people have a quest to travel to different places to try their authentic food and wine. Every country has a different cuisine which is prepared with the perfect spice and ingredients from which it originally belongs.

There are numerous food and wine events where people travel to from all across the globe. What these travellers do not want is the event to be full. this is why most of such travellers book these activities beforehand. Connecting the traveler with the host to make the arrangements of the travelers before the actual event is highly probable. Booking through a travel activity website gives the assurance to the traveler regarding their plan when they arrive at the destination.

A food tour can include activities such as:

A tour to various local restaurants which serve the best cuisine

Wine tasting sessions

Workshop to learn how to make local dishes

Cultural Tours

It is believed, culture has a way of defining every country and person in the world. Culture provides the places we visit and the people we meet the extra spice that makes them worth remembering.

Every destination has a different culture which is worth understanding. Getting accustomed to the culture of a certain place interests a lot of people. It will be a highly profitable business for entrepreneurs who have a keen interest as well as knowledge of the culture of a certain place.

A Culture Tour can include activities such as:

Visits to local temples and places

Workshop to learn different dances of the state

Walking tour different local villages and understanding their customs

Attending festivals or art exhibitions

Tour to local museum with a guide who knows everything about the city

Suggested Read: 5 Statistical Graphs Every Online Travel Booking Business Must Be Aware of

Nature and Wildlife Tours

People living in the cities often tend to feel separated from the nature as if living in a concrete jungle. This is why many people prefer to go on a vacation where they feel close to serenity and tranquility. People feel they are away from nature which is why after some time they wish to go for a vacation where they could connect themselves with nature. Nature tours must provide tourists exclusive experience where people can forget the hustle and bustle of the city and connect themselves directly with nature.

Nature tours can include activities such as:

Jeep tours to Jungles

Hike and Trekking Tour

Trips to National park and natural reserve

Historical Tours

The ancient human civilization goes back to 3200 BC and there are a lot of things and places which hold great importance. History lovers and people who have been planning to know more about where they actually come from, would want to visit these places and accumulate more information about these places from the locals and experts.

There is a shortage of people who have the knowledge and the skills to show around historical monuments. For the entrepreneur this is a great opportunity as conducting historical tours will attract numerous tourists to a particular destination.

Activities in the historical tour:

Educational tour to museum

Visit historical monuments

Old town trolley Tours

Learning about the history of a place by classes

Adventure Tours

It is believed that going on an adventurous travel raises the tolerance for uncertainty. As a person places himself in a situation where things do not always go as it is planned, people gain the patience and strength to face uncertainties in life. A destination which includes an adventurous activity drives the people as it teaches to live life on the edge.

Adventure activities have been attracting several tourists who want to have an adrenaline rush. Entrepreneurs needs to acknowledge that people travel from all over the world to be able to checklist one adventure activity. For an entrepreneur, there is a huge potential as they can connect with activity enthusiast all over the world.

Adventure tours can include:

Ground activities

Underwater activities

Above water activities

Air sports activities

Conclusion

There are lots of options available out there and it depends on you if you just want to attract those tourists who are already visiting the destination to your activity or attract people from all over the world to visit a particular destination to be able to participate in your activity. Keep in mind the target market and plan your travel tour and activity website accordingly. The above-mentioned points will give you a clearer idea as to which activity can be included in your travel activity website.

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at Fatbit.]

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creativesage · 7 years

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(via Work Hard, Play Hard: Why Corporate Retreats are Trending Again)

You’re going to love the company retreats you used to dread.

By Adam Lague

There has been a decade-long movement towards corporate retreats that are authentic, local, and experiential. While the trend isn’t new, it is just now having its moment. Here’s what you need to know before planning your own corporate retreat to keep up with your employees.

Prior to the American financial crisis of 2008, a trend was happening in corporate travel. Traditional large-scale events were going away in favor of smaller groups getting together to, for example, take an African Safari or go glamping. But then the crash hit and the presence of corporate retreats was diminished—it just didn’t look right to be spending thousands of dollars on seemingly frivolous activities like yoga retreats and shark diving. As companies begin to reemerge and resume the practice of rewarding their employees, smaller group activities with an emphasis on bonding have come to the fore.

Patric Douglas is the CEO of Big Mountain Helicopter Tours, based in Bend, Oregon. He’s been in the tourism industry for more than 30 years, and he points out that company bonding trips are not only fun, but productive. “The trend is towards smaller, bigger bang-for-buck retreats where the team can get to the nut of any problems they have and chart a course while having a unique experience.”

The old-but-new corporate retreats movement centers around team bonding that contributes to a company’s long-term success.

Memorable Experiences

What does the impact of new technology have on corporate retreats? Douglas explains: “The sudden and profound change technology has had on every industry needs to be addressed by companies. The best way to address it is for the leaders to go away for a while, and then come to the table with something that works. You can’t get that from a boardroom setting.”

Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor for Skift recalls his company’s most recent annual retreat, which took place in Montreal. “We weren’t just stuck in a hotel boardroom talking about sales goals and editorial work—we were also out doing scavenger hunts, food tours, and biking.”

“After you take a corporate retreat, something fundamentally has shifted,” says Douglas. “The team members are starting to truly listen to each other for the first time, and that shared experience has brought them together in a way nothing else has.”

In Sheivachman’s view, for companies to remain competitive when hiring millennials, they have to make positive business travel part of their sales pitch. He says that companies are becoming more willing to treat travel as a perk, whereas before it may have been seen as a nuisance.

More and more companies are starting to allow employees to extend work or conference trips for a few days either side to actually enjoy the destination. Others are giving their workers the freedom to stay where they choose during trips, such as Airbnb apartments, instead of at a list of pre-approved hotels.

Seeking Authenticity

It’s clear that experiences are becoming an ever more important part of any corporate retreat, but the ones that succeed are those that bring travelers closer to discovering the culture of their destination. Mike May, President of Brightspot Incentives & Events, says his company is getting more requests for local experiences, especially when it comes to food. To be truly authentic, experiences need to be delivered in a personalized way.

“Recently we’ve seen a growth in cooking classes, especially those that use the spices and flavors of that local destination. Or instead of dinners at a local restaurant, we’ll see dinners at a private home hosted by the family that lives there. People are looking for activities that tap into what you can only do in that market.”

Remote Locations

Avoiding large metropolitan cities can have great benefits for hosting productive corporate retreats. By avoiding the noise and distraction a city has to offer, you can get more done, and provide better opportunities for your team to get to know one another.

A remote or small-town location can also be less expensive and can set your group up for some fun activities. From ski-in, ski-out lodges in Colorado to private beach villas in Mexico, going remote opens you up to new destinations and luxurious properties for your company outings and incentive trips.

“People are looking for something different,” says May. “They’ve been doing the same type of event at the same type of space in the same type of destination for years. They’ll be looking for new places to meet, whether it’s in the mountains or along the beach—they want to break from the norms.”

Making Connections

The shift towards small-scale group travel leads to a better opportunity to connect between colleagues. Douglas cites the old-school large-scale corporate events that typically take place in big cities like Las Vegas. These events are hosted in large meeting rooms holding several hundred people. “You would shake a few hands, pass out a few cards, mumble a few platitudes, and then race back to your hotel room. These newer trips are in-depth, intense retreats. You get more out of it because you get to see people free of their corporate costumes and get them immersed in activities that fill the soul.”

Connecting with colleagues on a personal level is more important than ever. New technology has made remote teams a reality in recent years, which means fewer opportunities for face-time within teams.

“You may think corporate life is all about relationship-building, but it’s subject to modern corporate lifestyle, which can be the antithesis of connecting these days,” says Douglas. “We hear over and over again from people who do this sort of trip: ‘Thank heavens we took the time to be here, just us, to really start to develop those relationships.’ This trend is growing year over year.”

Unique Accommodation

Another trend popping up across corporate travel is ditching hotels in favor of actual homes, which offer a more comfortable experience. Not only are vacation rentals great for housing a large group all in one place, but they also eliminate the need to go offsite for an important meeting. “There’s a movement toward finding new spaces to meet; something that’s not a rectangular room with no windows,” says May. “E.g. Can we have a board meeting at the giant dining room table in a private home?”

You can. For groups looking to turn a dining room into a boardroom and back again, renting a vacation home for the entire group makes a lot of sense. These types of homes present more flexibility, more comfort, and more services than other accommodation types. In a villa, each person typically gets their own room and most often their own bathroom, while the whole team can gather in comfortable living areas, cook in a high-end kitchen, or relax in a hot tub. Of course, with vacation rentals, you’re not simply renting a home. The top travel companies know how to work with executives to fulfill their exact needs and requirements in order to create exceptional travel experiences.

“A few years ago, corporate travel managers didn’t even want to deal with vacation rentals,” says Sheivachman. “Now, they’ve come to the realization that their employees want that, and it’s safe and reliable.”

When all the planning details are taken care of for you, you get to focus on what’s truly important: building great work relationships. Says Sheivachman: “As the ecosystem becomes more mature and people continue to appreciate the concierge service you can utilize and the amenities like spas and chefs, you’ll see more adoption.”

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at LuxuryRetreats.com and to view their video clip.]

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