Twenty years ago, I founded Elevate Destinations with a simple belief: travel can—and should—be a force for good.
Growing up in a Greek and British family, exploration was second nature. But early on, I saw the imbalance: extraordinary landscapes paired with struggling communities; luxury hotels rising next to families with scarce resources. What struck me most wasn’t only the inequity, but how the cultural wealth of local people was overlooked. Their generosity, knowledge, and resilience often went unacknowledged. Tourism widened the gap instead of closing it.
That dissonance became my fuel. In 2005, I founded Elevate Destinations not as a traditional travel company, but as a bridge between luxury and responsibility, between meaning and experience, between travelers and the world they move through.
Elevate travelers connect with members of a Women’s Beekeeping Initiative near Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. The initiative fosters environmental conservation and provides an opportunity for Maasai women to earn an income and improve their decision-making power.
A Different Kind of Travel Company
Back then, ethical travel was hardly part of the conversation. I launched Elevate by partnering with international non-profits to take their donors into the field, to see the impact of their support firsthand. These journeys ensured long-term benefit for our clients and the communities they served, and they gave Elevate a foundation built on purpose and partnership.
Over the past two decades, we’ve pioneered and refined the donor travel model, creating thousands of trips for leading international organizations. These journeys are complex and deeply human—requiring sensitivity, expertise, and care. We’ve been fortunate to have a team that has grown with the company, carrying forward our values and ensuring every journey reflects them.
Travelers on a donor trip to India engage with local activists and educators dedicated to advancing women’s rights and empowerment.
As our work expanded to families and private travelers, the opportunities to benefit destination communities multiplied. From selecting lodges that reinvest in conservation and local residents, to partnering with grassroots organizations that support women and girls, we saw the travel industry as an untapped resource for change.
Travelers embraced this vision. Many have returned to travel with us again and again, raising their children to see the world as custodians, not consumers. What began as a boutique concept became a movement in our industry. It has been exciting to ride that wave and collaborate with so many like-minded partners.
Elevate travelers build fuel-efficient stoves alongside local partners in Belize, creating safer homes and a healthier environment for families.
Buy A Trip, Give A Trip
In 2014, our give-back philosophy took shape in our award-winning Buy a Trip, Give a Trip program. The idea was simple: with each journey our clients booked, a percentage funded excursions for local youth — many of whom had never experienced the sights of their own country. As James Fernie from Uthando states, “People just need opportunity and exposure. With trips like this, we never know what seeds are being planted, with children learning and dreaming.”
Thanks to our travelers, our Buy A Trip, Give A Trip program has:
- Supported excursions in 17 countries
- Created opportunities for over 1,000 community members
- Connected young people to their own environments—as travelers and as stewards
For local youth, visiting historical sites, witnessing conservation in action, or encountering wildlife is life-changing. These moments affirm that they, too, are worthy of the experiences often reserved for the global elite.
Students in Nairobi, Kenya see an elephant up close for the first time at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Stories of Impact
In Kenya, we saw Maasai schoolchildren experience lions and elephants in the wild for the first time. Students from the Muramati and Mukima Primary Schools set out on a safari to see wildlife up close, and learn about measures to preserve our planet and its resources.
Michael, age 12, shared, “My grandmother says elephants are not good animals since they destroy her crops. I’m passionate about wildlife conservation, and after meeting Joseph, the head guide from El Karama, I learned every animal has a role in the ecosystem. I can’t wait to share this with my grandmother.”
Similarly, in the Andes, 14 children from the small community of Cuncani visited the city of Cusco for the first time. As our ground partner Efrain explained, “At the beginning of the trip, I asked what profession they would like to study, but only one answered. Unfortunately, due to the conditions and the low level of education in the community, dreams of having a profession are not a priority for them. After finishing the trip, I asked the students again what profession they would like to study, and they all responded.”
Stories like these demonstrate why initiatives like Buy a Trip, Give a Trip matter. When young people are given the chance to explore, learn, and dream, the impact extends far beyond a single journey; it ripples through families, communities, and generations.
Many of our travelers tell us that knowing their journeys make these moments possible brings deeper meaning to their own adventures.
Children from the small community of Cuncani, in the Andes, visit Cusco for the first time.
Scene + Heard
In 2023, we expanded community self-expression with Scene + Heard—a media storytelling initiative empowering youth in underrepresented communities to tell their own stories through film and video. Our first partnership was with an NGO in Kenya, The Leo Project, where students produced a series of short documentaries about their lives within six months. In 2026, we will launch our next Scene + Heard partnership in Panama.
Students in our first Scene + Heard cohort at The Leo Project in Kenya.
Continuing Our Positive Impact
The past few years have tested the travel industry—and humanity. The climate crisis, the pandemic, and a global reckoning with inequality have made travelers pause and ask harder questions.
At Elevate, we see this not as a moment for despair but for transformation. For us, that means:
- Building deeper collaborations that amplify local voices
- Expanding our Buy A Trip, Give A Trip program to reach more communities
- Launching new conservation projects that address urgent environmental and social needs
- Working with travel partners to continually improve our sustainability footprint
If you’ve traveled with us, thank you for being part of this journey. If you haven’t yet, there’s never been a better time. Together, we can redefine travel—not as consumption, but as connection.
