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Stay with a herding family in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert
Eternal Landscapes offers individual and small-group trips to Mongolia, with a focus on supporting local communities. On the five-day Erdenedalai Explorer trip, guests stay with a herding family in the vast steppes of the “Middle Gobi”, an area often bypassed by travellers heading to the better-known sights of the desert’s southern region.
The trip offers a glimpse into local life in a wild landscape. A tour of the capital Ulaanbaatar is also included, during which you can visit projects working to improve life in the community. Eternal Landscapes (a member of The Conscious Travel Foundation) also visits other towns overlooked by mainstream tourism and provides employment for local women by using only female trip assistants.
From $1,045pp (£773) in a group of six ($1,800 for a solo traveller or $1,265pp in a group of two), including meals and transfers outside the capital, eternal-landscapes.co.uk
Book into a hotel run by women in Sri Lanka
Opened in January, Amba Yaalu, on a mango plantation on the banks of the Kandalama Reservoir, is Sri Lanka’s first hotel fully managed and staffed by women. In a country where less than 10% of the country’s workforce is female, the aim is to promote equality and provide employment for women – many of whom leave the island in search of opportunities in the Gulf states.
Part of the eco-friendly hotel chain the Thema Collection, the idea for Amba Yaalu came from its founder, Chandra Wickramasinghe, who was inspired by his mother raising eight children while working as a nurse. A selection of immersive experiences are on offer, from cooking classes to village visits, allowing guests to delve into local life and culture.
Rooms from $120 (£89) B&B, themacollection.com
Take the road less travelled in Morocco
Intrepid Travel’s 11-day South Morocco Discovery adventure heads to the Atlas Mountains and deep into the Sahara, and includes plenty of community-led experiences. Guests stay in a family-run mountain gite, and head to Tafraoute to visit an Amazigh home and learn about traditional life and how it’s changing.
There’s the chance to visit a women’s cooperative outside Essaouira, which specialises in argan oil production. Camping under the stars, a camel safari at sunset and discovering ancient sites with a local guide are also part of the package.
From £662, including accommodation, breakfast, two lunches and dinners and activities, intrepidtravel.com
Serengeti safari with a clean cooking initiative in Tanzania
Small-group adventure specialist G Adventures puts community tourism at the heart of many of its itineraries, with more than 130 projects built into its trips, working with nonprofit partner Planeterra. Local nurseries also grow a tree for every day a traveller is on a trip, providing revenue for communities too.
Among its initiatives in Tanzania is the Masai Clean Cookstoves project that helps people to replace their traditional stoves, which cause deadly household air pollution, with modern models. An all-female team of engineers has so far installed 4,000 stoves across 60 Masai villages in the Serengeti.
The 12-day Serengeti Safari and Zanzibar trip includes a visit to the Clean Cookstove project, from £2,649pp, including hotels, camping, breakfast and some meals, gadventures.com
Preserving traditional customs in Georgia
Adventure specialist Wild Frontiers offers a range of tailored community-led trips, including Adventures with Purpose: Georgia, a 13-day itinerary with a focus on social enterprise projects that are preserving traditions and empowering locals, combined with classic sights such as Tbilisi old town and the Gergeti Trinity church.
Highlights include staying in the Tusheti region, a protected landscape managed by the Tushetian people, contributing to the preservation of the area and village life. In the Kakheti wine region, guests visit the Nukriani Workshops, a scheme that supports local communities and encourages the preservation of traditional crafts.
From £3,090, including accommodation, some meals and transport, wildfrontierstravel.com
Village life in Peru
The Rukha Ayllu project helps families in the traditional weaving village of Huilloc, in the Peruvian Andes, to benefit from responsible tourism. Despite being on a popular trekking route, the village was marginalised, with poor living conditions, until tour operator Valencia Travel Cusco launched the initiative to improve infrastructure and develop community-based experiences.
Now, the 25 families there welcome travellers into their homes and share their cultural heritage, food and crafts, with tourism bringing a welcome new revenue stream. Valencia Travel Cusco is a finalist in this year’s ICRT Global responsible tourism awards, the winners of which will be announced in November.
The 14-day Colours of Peru trip costs from $2,607 (£1,929), including a visit to the project, accommodation, breakfast and some other meals, valenciatravelcusco.com
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Safaris and storytelling in rural India
One of the newest trips from operator Village Ways takes visitors to the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to stay with forest-dwelling communities and learn about traditional life and crafts, and ancient beliefs. From staying in a community-owned guesthouse to discovering the Baiga and Gond people’s connection to the land, rivers and forests – and their medicinal use of local plants – the nine-night itinerary delves into village life.
Hikes through forests, fireside dances and storytelling, and a safari in Kanha national park are among many highlights. Village Ways is a pioneer in sustainable tourism, providing rural communities with additional income streams and job opportunities and helping to reduce urban migration.
Forests and Fables: A Discovery of Ancient India, from £889pp, including transfers, accommodation and meals, villageways.com
Volunteering with children in Ghana
For travellers aged between 18 and 30, Gap360 offers a choice of trips of two to 12 weeks that support local communities. One option is the Ghana Teaching and Childcare Project, where volunteers work alongside locals in a school or childcare centre. This involves spending between four and six hours a days supporting children.
Staff and volunteers live together, and there’s plenty of free time to get immersed in Ghanaian culture and explore the country’s national parks and beaches. Volunteers can get involved in a youth development programme too. Alternatively, those with the skills can opt to work as a sports coach in anything from athletics to swimming or tennis.
From £599 for two weeks, including accommodation and meals, gap360.com
Hiking through farms and paddy fields in Bali
Astungkara Way is an 85-mile (137km) hiking route across Bali, designed to boost community tourism and regenerative farming. Walkers can choose sections or take on the entire 10-day route, either self-guided or with a group, meandering through paddies and forests, staying with local farming families, joining various daily activities, and tucking into farm-to-table dinners.
The project brings income to the villages and profits support regenerative rice farming along the trail. Besides benefiting from employment, many of the young Indonesians involved have become national spokespeople for ecotourism and sustainable agriculture.
The four-day Tree to Waterfall hike covers 29 miles and costs 6,100,000 rupiah (around £276) all inclusive, astungkaraway.com
Dinner in a South African township
Township and Village (a finalist in the 2025 ICRT Global responsible tourism awards) welcomes visitors into communities in the town of Stellenbosch and its surrounding vineyards to experience day-to-day life in the Western Cape province.
Launched in 2023, the social enterprise offers a host of activities, from dining on traditional Xhosa cuisine at a family home in the Kayamandi township, to djembe drumming sessions and guided walks to learn more about the area’s cultures and turbulent history. Community-based guides ensure authentic encounters, and visitors contribute directly to the local economy.
A three-course home dining experience is 550 rand (around £23), townshipandvillage.co.za
