Eleni Hatziioannou: She decided to “marry” entrepreneurship with travel

For a decade she has been carving out ways of giving, mainly as a volunteer, in Africa and wanting to “give back” to the locals the love she receives on every visit there, she decided to “marry” social entrepreneurship with travel. “Routes for Good” it is called its “antidote”. Eleni Hatziioannou in Africa, who together with her partners – Joseph in Kenya and Fabrice in Madagascar – have implemented this “social travel venture”, as she calls it, wanting to connect local tour guides and their communities with willing travelers live an authentic experience with a positive impact on the societies they visit.

“Routes for Good”, as Eleni Hatziioannou explains to the Athens/Macedonian News Agency, plans trips in such a way as to ensure that 100% of the money spent by the traveler during the trip will go directly to the local partners of Kenya and Madagascar, and will support them and their families. “We design 100% personalized, authentic and responsible travel itineraries, based on the principles of sustainable tourism and community-based tourism“, explains Mrs. Hatziioannou, who for a number of years, before deciding to set up “Routes for Good”, traveled – and continues – to Africa mainly as a volunteer.

This is how he decided to chart “routes for good” and journeys for a better world. “It was the result of experiences and a ten-year journey I had traveling in Africa, mainly for volunteering but also for tourism. What I realized was that these trips, when done in a specific and responsible way, have the power to make our lives better. And because they have a tremendous power to help these people and their communities and because they do so much good to the traveler himself“, emphasizes Mrs. Hatziioannou.

To the question “why do you think this way of tourism is good?”, her answer comes to substantiate the name given to this original travel venture. “We work with local escorts, who are paid fairly and transparently, collecting 100% of the money they set for their services. We support small, family businesses and local organizations for our accommodation, meals and activities. We visit and financially support national parks, so it becomes clear that their protection is necessary so that the local community continues to benefit from visitors. We interact with local residents with respect and show them that responsible tourism can do good for their community“, he says characteristically.

“So we have a condition that you can do great good as long as it is done in a certain way”, he notes and adds: “Unfortunately, what I found, in my own travels over a decade, was that this is not the norm, especially in developing countries . Indeed, there is a phenomenon called tourism leakage, which means that the money that each traveler spends does not stay in the local community and the country, but leaks into the economies of third countries. And this is also reflected in international studies. For example, the UN says that for every 100 dollars spent by a tourist in these countries, only five end up in the local economy. We want to give someone the opportunity so that 100% of the money they travel will stay in the local economy. So we plan all trips in a certain way to achieve this».

In countries like Madagascar – he adds – 75% of the population lives below the poverty line, with the result that, combined with climate change, the inhabitants are pushed to actions such as deforestation and forest burning that are destructive to the environment and threaten biodiversity.

“The development of responsible and sustainable tourism can contribute to the reduction of poverty and the protection of the environment”, he underlines, pointing out that the trips planned by “Routes for Good” do not concern very touristic places or places with mass tourism. “For example, in Kenya, a tourist country par excellence, we have focused on the northern part, where the tourism product is not as developed as in the south of the country“, explains Mrs. Hatziioannou, who, before suggesting a trip to those who choose this type of tourism, experiences it herself.

Eleni Hatziioannou’s idea was initially “embraced” by her partners, Joseph in Kenya and Fabrice in Madagascar, but also by the local communities themselves, as well as the reactions of travelers who, until today, traveled in this alternative way , have a positive sign and a common finding: “we could not even imagine what we will experience!”.

This phrase probably explains in the best way the magical images from Africa that “Routes for Good” conveys to us both through its website www.routesforgood.com and through its social media (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).

RES-EMP

View the news feed and get the latest news.