Low Season Traveller Insider Guides

Today we're joined by Bob Garner who is the owner of Casal Dei Fichi Sustainable Holiday Apartments in Italy and is also a volunteer at Tourism Declares Climate Emergency.

Here at Low Season Traveller, we recently signed up to Tourism Declares as we firmly believe that tourism organisations of all sizes and forms have a responsibility to take action on sustainability issues impacting both people and planet.

This episode was recorded 2 days before the COP26 conference started in Glasgow and astonishingly, the following day, the UK government announced that Air Passenger Duty taxes would be halved for all UK domestic flights.  In essence, this incentivises people to choose travel by air domestically when of course, trains and other more climate friendly forms of transport are readily available.  This is why we believe that tourism’s private sector has an important leadership role to play on sustainability issues, as the public sector clearly have a different agenda.

Our thanks to Bob for taking the time to share his insights with us today and as Bob mentioned, this is not about having all of the answers nor being perfect from a sustainability standpoint – its about saying “We recognise the problem, this is important to us and whilst we are not perfect, we commit to improving what we are doing so that tourism can continue to play a vital role in the world economically, socially, politically and it can continue to protect and nurture our natural and cultural assets for future generations to enjoy".

That’s our show for this week, but Please do visit tourismdeclares.com to add your support and learn more. It doesn’t cost a penny and you will be contributing to solving the single most significant challenge of our time.

Thanks as always, for your company, have a great week wherever you are, stay healthy, stay safe, keep your travel dreams alive and if you have enjoyed this episode, please do share it with your friends, family and social networks.

Finally remember that travel is always better and fairer for the planet, the local communities and you the travellers… when it’s without the crowds…

Episode Links:

Tourism Declares Climate Emergency: https://www.tourismdeclares.com

Bob Garner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-garner-ⓥ🌳-75a73727/

Casal Dei Fichi: https://www.casaldeifichi.com

Welcome to this week’s episode of Low Season Traveller Insider Guides.

Today we are delighted to be joined by Alex Herrman who is the Director UK and Ireland at Swiss Tourism.

Followers of Low Season Traveller on Facebook and Instagram will have seen that last week we had the opportunity to visit Switzerland for the very first time courtesy of Switzerland Tourism, as we represented Low Season Traveller at the Swiss Travel Mart or STM as it is known.  This is an event which is held every two years where Switzerland invites travel companies to visit the country to meet up with swiss hoteliers, transport companies, tour operators and more so that we can understand what Switzerland can offer to travellers. 

Fortunately for us, October and November are the low season in Switzerland so it was a great opportunity for us to sample the low season experience in this wonderful country. 

We caught up with Alex to learn a little more about the background of STM21 and also to share with you all just why you should definitely consider a trip to Switzerland in her low season months. 

You can discover your "inner Swiss" at the wonderful MySwitzerland.com

Welcome to this week’s episode of Low Season Traveller Insider Guides.

Today we're delighted to be joined by Chalana Perera who is the Founder of Retrace Hospitality in Sri Lanka.

Now, Chalana has been a friend of Low Season Traveller for quite some time and when you hear from him, we think you’ll see why.

Chalana is on a mission to help hospitality businesses progress with purpose. He partners with investors, developers and operators to regenerate long-term value by repositioning real estate and hospitality assets. 
He founded RETRACE Hospitality with a conviction to prioritise responsible business practices, embracing regeneration as a catalyst for change in hospitality development.

He is dedicated to the promotion of Sri Lanka as a truly sustainable destination and we are so proud to call him a friend of low season traveller.

So let’s hear from the man himself as we welcome Chalana to the podcast to tell us all about the wonderful low seasons in his home in the Indian Ocean….

Welcome to this week’s episode of Low Season Traveller Insider Guides.

Today we're delighted to be joined by Paul Melhus who is the Canadian Founder and CEO of an utterly wonderful organisation called Tours By Locals.

Tours By Locals have over 4,700 local tour guides in 190 countries throughout the world who provide their guests with an authentic, local experience of their home destination in a way that few other tour companies can manage.

What we absolutely love about the Tours By Locals concept is that they have created a platform whereby local small, knowledgeable tour guides can promote their unique experiences all over the world via this simple portal.  We think of it as the democratisation of tour guiding and it is just wonderful.

So without further ado, let’s learn more about the concept and the tours from the man himself as welcome Paul Melhus to the Low Season Traveller podcast…

We caught up with Carolyn to learn more about the International Toilet Tourism Awards and to learn more about just why beautiful toilets can play a huge roll in tourism…

If you would like to nominate your favourite loo for the awards then you can do so here:

And to learn more about the awards in general then please visit MyTravel Research here.

So welcome to this final episode of our special 6 part series where we have been speaking with some of the brightest and most considerate social media content creators around.  And today I’m delighted to be joined by Petrena.

Petrena is a travel media content creator.  Her channel on YouTube has millions of viewers and when you watch one or two, you’ll be hooked and it immediately becomes clear as to why her content is so popular.

Petrena is real. It's evident that she cares deeply for the communities and destinations she visits. As she tells me in this episode, it’s as much about travelling between communities as it is travelling between destinations.

Petrena is also a passionate fan of low season travelling. By travelling in the low seasons she tries to integrate more deeply into the communities that she visits.  She gets under the skin of the community.

In this episode, we talk about her travels through Africa, massages, marriage, food, Mallorca and the traveller's art of conversing when neither side speak the other language.

A natural-born traveller, the epitome of a low season traveller, and a true responsible traveller, I’m delighted to introduce you to Petrena…

Tolu is a travel content creator who specialises in affordable luxury travel and providing travel tips to her rapidly growing audience on social media via her channel which is called Travel with Tolu. In her feed, Tolu shares photographs of her travels, useful advice, travel tips and generally provides inspiration for young people to travel and explore the world more.

As with most of our other guests in this series, Tolu does not travel full time – although she wishes that she could!  She works a 9 to 5 in the finance world and travels for the love of travel.

We talk about how Tolu started her blog, her travels in places like Sierra Leone, Malta, Dominican Republic and many more…

So join us as we discover what the world is like when we Travel With Tolu…

In this special episode for World Tourism Day, we speak to Dayana Brooke who is the Founder of The Sustainable Traveller, about her aim to change the way we travel so that we make a better impact on our environment, our lives and our planet.

Dayana is deeply passionate about the benefits of travel as well as the challenges which it can bring.  For some time we have admired her relentless enthusiasm as she encourages travellers to carefully find an appropriate balance as they explore the world with consideration to people and planet.

We just love hearing about London through the eyes of a relative newcomer and it helps us to gain a new appreciation of this amazing city.

So join us as we Discover with Dasha…

Talia is the face behind the hugely popular Talia’s Bucketlist and Travel With Talia.  She is a content creator for travel, fashion and lifestyle and her photographs are visually stunning!

With over 120 thousand followers on Instagram and 1.6 million monthly views on Instagram Reels, its easy to understand why Talia recently took the plunge to do what she loves full time.  But don’t be fooled that this is about the money for Talia.  She clearly works incredibly hard on her content because she is absolutely passionate about all she does.

I was bowled over both by her humility and her clear passion for being a responsible traveller.  Talia recognises that she has an influence on people’s travel dreams but she takes that responsibility seriously, with good grace and with a sense of fun.

I caught up with Talia to learn more about what makes her so successful, where she has been during the past year and where she hopes to visit in the future.

So join us as we head over to California to Travel with Talia…

Here at Low Season Traveller, we've been looking out for some autumnal low season trips in the UK and today’s guest is the perfect man to help us!  I am delighted to be joined by Sean Taggart who’s going to help us get to know what it’s like to travel around the UK by coach with his new company, Toureasy.

Now…Sean is somewhat of a legend in the UK coach holiday industry and his new company, Toureasy,  which launched last week not only has some amazing experiences on offer with some terrific prices…but it also happens to be the UK’s first carbon-neutral coach tour operator – which of course, makes the whole concept even more appealing for Low Season Traveller.

Have a listen and let us know what you think....

Like many of us, Bugo has spent a great deal of the lockdowns at home in London but this hasn’t stopped her from travelling. In fact, she has travelled considerably throughout the UK discovering new and exciting destinations closer to her home in London.

As with most of our guests in this series, Bugo works a 9-5 in the city and creates her content out of a genuine and authentic passion for travel.  The photographs and videos on her feeds are authentic and natural and she always has a huge smile which encapsulates the joy she is feeling at that moment.

We caught up with Bugo to find out what makes her tick, destinations she has loved the most and crucially…where she would go if we gave her £50 grand tomorrow!

So join us as we discover the pure joy, of life with Bugo…

Emma Gill is a travel photographer and videographer.  Uncomfortable with the label of influencer, Emma travels and shares with her audience how she creates the shots and videos that she shoots to inspire her ever-growing audience of 60,000+ followers.  In a way, she brings her audience on a tour behind the scenes of travel photography and videography. In this episode, we learn from Emma how and why she does what she does and we discuss how we can celebrate authenticity more in social media.

Nic Balmain has worked at the highest levels in the global travel industry over many years.  These days, located in California, Nic has founded a fabulous organisation called Nanda Journeys, which, as their tagline suggests, is "travel for people with purpose and passion".

As ever with Nic, her passion shines through in every word she speaks and you can’t fail to be excited by her vision for a virtuous circle of tourism where everyone benefits…..

Today, Kate is joined again by Korhan Karakoyun the owner of 'Istanbul on food'.

In this episode, Kate and Korhan do a deep-dive into the surprising delicacies (beyond the delicious kebabs) which you can find across the city. If you have a sweet tooth this episode is for you, Turkish desserts are varied and exciting from ice cream to the sublimely delicious baklava.

Korhan gives an honest and raw account of what travellers can expect in this cross-continental crossroad describing the electric buzz that the hustle and bustle of the people create around this historically and culturally rich Turkish city.

For today's episode, we are staying in the US as we hear from Susanne Lorenz who owns and runs the AT West Tour Company.
While most of us have been locked up indoors for most of the past year, Susanne and her team have been out and about searching for new mind-blowing experiences to showcase on their tours.
Today we catch up with Susanne to learn more about her recent travels as well as learning a little more about her exciting new tour - “From San Antonio to Santa Fe: National Park Treasures of Texas and New Mexico”

David Lorenz has guided in this area for most of his life.  In recent months, he has been working with our friends at Adventure Travel West to develop a brand new tour for the low season months in 2021 and 2022.   The parks which David talks about are not as crowd-filled as many other parks but are absolutely breathtaking in their own right.  Additionally, this whole area has cultural heritage significance which David was keen to talk us through.

So get your cowboy boots on and join us as we journey to Texas and New Mexico...yee ha! 

"Our purpose is to create an epicurean business that can act as a hub for our local community, a destination for visitors to our region, and a role model for ethical practices. We want our guests to delight all of their senses – feel warmth and comfort as they bask in the beauty of our bars, lounges and dining rooms; enjoy our music; breathe in the smells of the kitchen; taste the ‘fruits’ of our garden – and all of that with a sense of humor and humility."

Today, Kate is joined by Warrick from the Clare Valley in South Australia. The Clare Valley is the little sister to the larger wine region of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, however, it is not one to be missed. The Clare Valley is full of heritage farmhouses, bike trails and is one of Australia's oldest wine regions.

The Clare Valley region is for those who seek substance and authenticity, who take the road less travelled and enjoy taking a moment to appreciate what life has to offer.  So join Kate and Warrick and escape to the charmingly secluded Clare Valley and disappear into a weekend of intimate discovery. Hideaway in a quaint little bed and breakfast or venture out to explore the rolling countryside.  We think you'll find the magic, and a little romance, in the Clare Valley...