Adventure Life's Galapagos Travelers-Funding Program Featured in National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge

[Missoula, MT] - The National Geographic Society and Ashoka's Changemakers have introduced the first Geotourism Challenge to identify and showcase innovators in tourism development, management, and marketing. Adventure Life, an eco-travel company specializing in tours to Central and South America and worldwide expedition cruises, is a featured entrant in this initiative.

The one-of-a-kind online collaborative competition, at www.changemakers.net/geotourismchallenge, will raise awareness about how tourism can help sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and environment. Adventure Life's Galapagos Traveler-Funding Program provides an avenue for travelers to support Galapagos conservation by attaching a minimum $50 dollar donation to all Galapagos travelers' invoices, with 40% of this donation going to IGTOA and 60% to the Galapagos Conservancy. Adventure Life matches these donations with dollar-for-dollar travel vouchers.

The Geotourism Challenge is Changemakers' 15th collaborative competition and draws on Ashoka's 27 years of experience in identifying leading social entrepreneurs around the world. To date, the competitions have sourced more than 2,000 local innovations on various themes from more than 125 countries. Adventure Life is honored to be part of this global movement to create social change through the tourism sector.
 
Anyone can participate and comment on entries. Everyone is invited to improve all entries through online collaboration. A panel of expert judges will choose approximately a dozen finalists who demonstrate innovation, social impact and sustainability. The finalists will have the opportunity to present their innovations at The Geotourism Challenge Summit this fall. Three winners will be chosen by online voting and receive $5,000 each.
 
Adventure Life was founded in 1999 with a commitment to providing quality small group tours that have a positive impact on the local culture and environment.  Adventure Life's trips explore local culture, ecology and life from remote villages, to bustling city markets, to the wildest jungles and mountains.  The company's grassroots approach to travel utilizes local guides, family run hotels, and the local transportation infrastructure. For more information contact Adventure Life at 800-344-6118 or visit www.adventure-life.com.


About Ashoka's Changemakers
Changemakers is building the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to surface the best social solutions to the world's most pressing issues. Changemakers focuses on thematic, collaborative competitions, inviting innovators from around the world to profile and collaborate with a global community of investors, thought leaders and enthusiasts. To date Changemakers has launched 14 successful collaborative competitions and attracted more than 2,000 high-impact solutions from more than 125 countries. Changemakers builds on Ashoka's 27-year history identifying and selecting leading social entrepreneurs and its belief in "Everyone a Changemaker" global society. Get involved. Find out more about how to nominate, enter, comment and vote in our collaborative competitions at www.changemakers.net


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