A Holiday With A Difference

In this kaleidoscopic society, life is constantly changing and this has a big impact on the international multi-billion tourism industry. This includes changing trends in accommodation, tours, cruise ship facilities and countries to visit and explore. If you follow the "gurus", you will be informed that less people are interested in beach holidays only. Getting a suntan and lazing on the beach is slowly but surely becoming outdated. A lot of people are getting increasingly tired of spending their nights in bars and discos with sumptuous meals being the only highlights of the day.

Tourists Change Of Attitude

Tourists now desire something new, exciting and different. They are calling it "a holiday with a purpose"! Tourists now want to go back home feeling refreshed after an action-packed holiday full of real life experiences.

This segment of the tourism market is growing fast and suppliers are being forced to adjust. The name of the game has changed to include plenty of activities and adventures for both the mind and the soul. This new "holiday with a purpose" includes interactions with local people (besides the hotel staff!) because they know how to give the tourists the feel and heartbeat of a country. Some tourists are even keen to physically work on the community projects alongside the locals. What such guests seek is a totally relaxing holiday full of exciting stories to tell back home. A beach holiday could never provide or match such a holiday with a difference.

Tourists With Philanthropic Characteristics/Interests

Many tourists desire to travel but the prohibitive costs of hotel accommodation makes this dream hard to realise. Therefore, an increasing number of travellers are now opting to take home-based kind of tourism, sometimes called "People to people education tours", for the purpose of social integration and cultural immersion staying in a rural village settings. In this case the tourists would spend their savings supporting a community project, for example, on education, health, agriculture, women groups projects and so forth. Their support and generosity could also include paying school fees to the orphans and vulnerable children in Secondary (High) Schools or helping the less fortunate in one way or another, instead of spending lots of money in an hotel.

For this group of tourists, their preference lies in spending their holidays with local families and staying with them in the village which enriches their experiences and allows them to enjoy home generosity and hospitality.

Kenya fits perfectly within this context of new holiday concept as Kenyans are friendly and open. The country's breathtaking sceneries makes the experience beautiful and memorable. Recently, a lady from the USA visited the country and travelled to Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria to do a survey on local herbs and medicinal plants. She wanted to find out which medicinal plants were harvested and how local people were using them. She wanted to learn how to preserve this traditional knowledge for years to come and so she was introduced to a local medicine man who has also established an Herbal Clinic in the island. Both the lady and the herbalist worked together for some months at the clinic.

These are also other memorable examples whereby such tourists have immensely contributed towards the development of community projects in Rusinga Island. For example, a tourist from France, and his family back home, have supported Milimani Academy, a school for orphans and vulnerable children in the locality. One lady from the USA supported to erect a permanent fence for an horticultural project belonging to a local women's group. Yet another visitor from Brazil assisted a host family to install a solar system to provide light and also to charge mobile phones in a rural village not yet connected to the national grid.

The list of community projects assisted continues, for in February/March this year, a couple from Spain/Ireland who had come to work at Lake Victoria Permaculture Network projects as volunteers donated two laptops to facilitate IT training for the local youths and also cash to purchase school supplies, porridge ingredients and salary for 3 months for teachers at Milimani Academy, a pre-school for orphans and vulnerable children in the locality. The volunteers also worked to set up small permaculture farm at the host family farm.

Odula family hugely appreciates all these assistances and support given to the community projects and also needy individuals in Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria in Kenya by such tourists and volunteers to the island.

Apart from financial contributions to the community needs, such tourists also provide volunteer services involving physical work with the local community members. And eventually these tourists go back home hugely satisfied and full of exciting stories to tell!