Planeterra Appoints Ecotourism Visionary as New Director

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Megan Epler Wood will lead the global non-profit organisation to develop sustainable communities through travel and voluntourism

Gap Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip has announced the appointment of ecotourism industry veteran Megan Epler Wood as Director of Planeterra, the company’s non-profit organisation.

Planeterra Appoints Ecotourism Visionary as New Director

Megan Epler Wood will lead the global non-profit organisation to develop sustainable communities through travel and voluntourism

Gap Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip has announced the appointment of ecotourism industry veteran Megan Epler Wood as Director of Planeterra, the company’s non-profit organisation.

A pioneer in the field of sustainable travel and founder and past-president of the prestigious The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Epler Wood has devoted her life to helping governments, travellers and businesses throughout the world understand how tourism can be a tool to conserve threatened natural areas and help alleviate poverty.

“I have known Megan for many years and have such deep respect for her and for her commitment and leadership in defining and building on her vision for sustainable travel,”
says Bruce Poon Tip.

“She is the best person on Earth to lead Planeterra and expand its programmes’ influence.”

Founded by Poon Tip in 2003, Planeterra evolved from Gap Adventures’ commitment to give back to the people and places its travellers visit. The organisation supports projects throughout the world in health, education, and community development and arranges sustainable voluntour travel programmes.

Planeterra has just released its 2011 portfolio of 26 voluntour opportunities worldwide, including eight new programmes. The non-profit also recently announced a strategic new partnership with UK-based STA Travel, the world's largest student, youth, and budget travel organisation.

Epler Wood’s decade of seminal work in the 1990’s directing TIES helped to create and define ecotourism, a field that continues to evolve today. In recent years, Epler Wood has increasingly focused on the economics of tourism as a tactic to combat poverty, demonstrating how tourist dollars can help countries to ethically and sustainably develop even in the most challenging circumstances.

“Gap Adventures and Planeterra are clearly thought leaders in the world of travel. Their dynamic, global teams make sustainability a major part of their daily operations, so to be invited to be their director is such a thrill for me,” says Epler Wood.

Epler Wood takes over duties from Richard G. Edwards, who led Planeterra through a two-year period that saw the organisation double in both size and in its resulting impact on communities around the world. In his new role heading the marketing department for Gap Adventures, Edwards will oversee the relationship between Gap Adventures and
Planeterra.

“We will continue to touch people and communities via our volunteer travellers. Working hand-in-hand with local communities is a true form of cultural exchange that really changes people’s lives. Building on the work Planeterra has done, we will continue to develop projects and tours that bring mutual understanding and respect between our travellers and host communities,” says Epler Wood.

Joining Epler Wood in directorship duties will be Paula Vlamings, Program Development
Consultant at the Institute at the Golden Gate, an environmental organisation whose mission is to promote dialogue, collaboration and action for a more sustainable world.

A frequent speaker at conferences throughout the world, Epler Wood presently lectures at the University of Vermont and Harvard University Extension on the management and development of sustainable tourism. She has extensively published on ecotourism, including her book “Ecotourism: Principles, Policies, and Practices” for UNEP in 2002.

For information on Planeterra’s year-round voluntourism programmes please visit http://www.planeterra.org/pages/voluntours.

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For further information

Rebecca Holloway / Jill Duffell / Laura Collins / Gemma Chapman
Rooster PR
Tel: 020 7953 7416 / 7419 / 7519 / 7460
Email: rebecca.holloway@rooster.co.uk
jill.duffell@rooster.co.uk
laura.collins@rooster.co.uk
gemma.chapman@rooster.co.uk

About Planeterra

Planeterra (www.planeterra.org) is a global nonprofit dedicated to sustainable community development through travel. Founded in 2003 by Gap Adventures, Planeterra evolved out of a long history of travellers committed to finding ways to give back to the people and places they visit. Planeterra selects the projects and works with Gap Adventures to arrange voluntour travel programmes worldwide.

About Gap Adventures

Gap Adventures (www.gapadventures.co.uk) was established in 1990 by avid adventurer, Bruce Poon Tip. The Canadian entrepreneur is still at the helm of the company, which is now the world’s largest independently-owned adventure tour operator, offering more than 1,000 small group experiences, safaris and expeditions on all seven continents to more than 100,000 travellers a year.

The company’s worldwide adventures focus on wildlife encounters, active travel and cultural interaction, appealing to those who want to get off the beaten track and experience local culture. Its non-profit organisation, Planeterra (www.planeterra.org), was established in 2003 as a way for the company and its passengers to give back to the communities visited around the globe.