Let’s reinvent travel.
Leisure Lab is a think tank and media lab to promote sustainable tourism, or as we like to call it BREAK-EVEN TOURISM. In this LAB REPORTS section we publish news articles and create inspirational travel stories to help bring about positive change in the way we travel.
Meet [the] cultural leader keeping Costa Rica's endangered Bribri culture alive
The Bribri leader explains how, in her village of Yorkin, just upriver from the Caribbean coast, she’s brought back the Bribri language from the brink of extinction, creating a sustainable tourism destination in the process, says Jamie Lafferty from National Geographic Traveller.
How to Honor Indigenous Communities When You Travel
Today, [in what we now call the United States,] there are 546 federally recognized tribes. Here’s how to engage respectfully and thoughtfully with Indigenous cultures […], says Iona Brannon from AFAR.
A 105-Year-Old Tattoo Artist Is Teaching Girls to Ink for Independence
Filipino tribal tattooist Fang-od Oggay has built an economy on the back of skin art. Lynzy Billing from Atlas Obscura paid her a visit.
Meet the eco-warrior championing regenerative tourism in Costa Rica
At the edge of La Amistad International Park, which spills over Costa Rica’s southern border into Panama, one man has transformed a logging operation into one of the nation’s most authentic ecotourism getaways, says Jamie Lafferty from National Geographic.
I Trekked to Meet the Reclusive, Mystical Forest Spirits of Joli. They Weren’t Happy to See Me
The Yapom is a spirit clan that can shower prosperity on those they bless – or rain havoc on those who anger them. Ruth Dsouza Prabhu from Fodor’s Travel paid them a visit.
5 Tour Operators That Are Working Toward a More Sustainable Travel Future
More and more tour operators provide their customers with authentic experiences […], allowing travelers to not only connect with people living in the places they visit but to better understand their daily lives and cultures, says Shane Nelson from TravelAge West. And perhaps more importantly, many of these encounters offer […] clients a chance to spend their vacation dollars on community-focused and sustainable tourism products.
This Colombian Tour Company Wants You to See the Medellín Beyond “Narcos”
On its Medellín community tours, Impulse Travel wants to showcase the city’s vibrant, uplifting culture, Jennifer Flowers from AFAR reports.
Community development through tourism in Northeast-Uganda
Through sustainable tourism, Kara-Tunga aims to improve livelihoods of the indigenous communities and preserve cultural heritage in the Karamoja region.