Sustainable tourism and responsible travel with Vicky Smith, Earth Changers

Send us Fan MailVicky Smith is the founder of Earth Changers, an award-winning travel website and “purpose-first” business highlighting sustainable, ethical and responsible tourism.The size and worldwide scope of tourism means its power to deliver impact and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals is unrivalled, says Vicky.In this fascinating interview Vicky – who is a travel industry veteran – explains how demand and supply of sustainable tourism is increasing.Tourism is the only way to create opportunity and even to protect endangered species in some locations in the developing world, she says, so you shouldn’t necessarily feel guilty about flying, but if you do, you should really make your trip count so it makes a positive contribution to people and places.She also introduces a concept I’d never come across until now: “Greenhushing” – when businesses are actually already doing great things in terms of environmental sustainability but don’t want to publicly discuss them.And Vicky describes the injury which led to her launching Earth Changers; biggest challenges and achievements to date; how destinations measure their impacts; how Earth Changers itself creates impact for destinations; and her plans for the future.Support the showHi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have. I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives. You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.