At the center of the journey
All images courtesy of MakeYourTripBetter
2020 is a year of change; we have learned new ways to work, study and live; we have been forced to think differently, and many aspects of our lives will be changing radically from now on. Travel is one of those aspects that will evolve and transform, hopefully into better forms.
Today we will meet Olivier Gibouin, who recently launched MakeYourTripBetter, a website that connects travelers to locals in a collaborative and free platform; this is their way of contributing to the development of caring tourism by making connections between travelers and locals easier.
Even though the platform was imagined before the COVID pandemic, the situation has accelerated the awareness and perspective of the frenzy of our lifestyles and the necessity to slow down and to bring more of a human approach into our life; rather than just dematerializing it.
After the last few months of living digitally, we are all looking forward to getting off our screens and experiencing life as it used to be. MakeYourTripBetter opens up a gateway to reconnect with one another; the platform allows everyone to act as a traveler and a local: As a local, people can get involved in the promotion of their own territory by guiding travelers towards tourism that respects the destination and local community; and on the other hand, travelers can benefit from highly personalized advice on local activities (which otherwise would be difficult to know), as well as on practical aspects of the trip.
On this journey, Olivier is accompanied by 25 associates with multiple nationalities and cultures, bringing diversity to the project; they are family, childhood friends, study friends, sports friends, and work colleagues who Oliver met throughout his career and life. Together they are taking a step towards tourism that cares, beginning by observing the world around us and its evolution.
As the saying goes, "travel broadens the mind" it opens up new horizons for us, enriches us culturally, and allows us to appreciate our "home" even more in return, and therefore we develop our capacity for happiness. We are observing now tangible changes in our environments linked to global warming, and we can no longer ignore the impact of travel on the planet.
When we look back on our memories for the best moments of our trips, it is often names and faces that come to our minds in the first place rather than remarkable landscapes or sites.
The diverse team of MakeYourTripBetter has come to the conclusion that these insights are showing us the way to travel better; the future of travel will be longer, slower, and deeper, allowing for richer discoveries and experiences by bringing the human aspect back at the center of the journey.
While it is not so simple to do that, MakeYourTripBetter is open to everyone; it is a collaborative platform where everyone acts both as a traveler who discovers and as a local who helps to discover; it makes it easier for travelers and locals to exchange, encounter and share.
