World Tourism Network last week honored Robin Richman of Steppin Out Adventure, in Chicago, USA to enter the Hall of Tourism Heroes.
Tour guides in from Tanzania to Bhutan and Peru can thank Robin for staying in business going through the pandemic with virtual guiding.
Robin Richman has been working hard to create a program so that small community-based tourism programs can have opportunities to generate much-needed revenue during this time.
The Virtual Interactive Travel Experiences, called World Wonders Up Close and Personal, will employ the people who have set up or participate in these community tourism programs to share their experiences with participants virtually, giving them work during this pandemic time.
She is marketing the program to her list of travelers as well as expanding to others so that the community-based programs can continue working on their jobs of sharing their culture, their traditions with others. She has started a GO FUND ME page to collect donations to help with the equipment and internet so that more of the funds raised from the registration can go to the community programs and not just covering expenses.
She is also working to find sponsors and advertisers with short commercials for that program to cover those costs as well. It is her hope to bring some of the technology in house and also help some of these communities learn new skills in technology.
While the goal of the program is to bring revenue to some of these communities that rely on tourists, it can be a great marketing tool to keep locations alive for travelers when they start to travel again. It also has the potential to reach people who can not travel.
Robin was a guest at the World Tourism Network launch events last week and presented tour guides from Tanzania, Bhutan, and Peru in a live zoom session and had them explain in their own words how they re busy with virtual tourism.
