Interview with Dr. Vincie Ho, RISE Travel Institute Founder and Executive Director
Photo by Kelvin Lam
Interview with Dr. Vincie Ho, RISE Travel Institute Founder and Executive Director
Last year I participated in the RISE Travel Institute's Pilot Program on Sustainable Tourism and Anti-Oppression. Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Vincie Ho, and her colleagues delivered top quality educational resources coupled with facilitated discussions for students, travel professionals and travelers who want to travel in sustainable, equitable and ethical ways.
In this interview, Vincie gives us insight into why, in the midst of a pandemic, she started RISE; where it’s heading; and tips for each of us to become more responsible travelers.
Tell us about what inspired you to start the RISE Travel Institute.
I’m an educator and I’m passionate about travel and social justice. While there has been an increasing number of articles and webinars on sustainable travel available online, I felt there was the need for a curriculum that addresses all aspects of sustainability in the context of travel, like a one-stop shop for educational resources for travelers. I also felt that the anti-oppression piece was often left out of conversations about sustainability, and it was my goal to tie our discussions of sustainability to social, animal and environmental justices, as well as power, privilege, accessibility, equity and inclusion. It sounded rather counterintuitive to start a ‘travel institute’ in the middle of the pandemic when no one could travel, but to me, it was actually the best time to start educating people so they know how to travel more mindfully when travel is possible again.
What is on the horizon for RISE?
2022 will be an exciting year for RISE. We’re expanding our curriculum with 2 offerings of our Flagship Certificate Program in Sustainability and Anti-Oppression in Travel, a new teacher training program as well as 5 additional thematic courses and 8 new destination courses. Some of our new thematic courses include Ethical Storytelling for Travelers, Ocean Travel: Sustainability and Conservation; and Travel and Migration. Our destination courses, officially named the ‘Conscious Travel series’, will take our students on a profound journey in some popular travel destinations, such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bhutan, Thailand, South Africa, and Peru. Our inaugural Experiential Journey to Guatemala will take place in summer 2022, where our alumni will get a chance to experience firsthand what it means to be a true sustainability and anti-oppression advocate while traveling.
What are three small things a traveler can do to be more responsible, impactful, sustainable, and ethical on their journey?
There are many ways a traveler can do to be more responsible, impactful, sustainable and ethical on their journey. Here are three small things we can do:
Before we make any travel decision, always ask ourselves: “Who benefits from my visit/action/activity? Ourselves? The travel business? The community? The animals? Or the environment? Who is negatively impacted by my visit/action/activity?” Ourselves? The travel business? The community? The animals? Or the environment? “What choices do I have that do the most good and the least harm to the local community, animals and the planet?’
Many travelers believe that sustainability is only about carbon emissions, but traveling sustainably is not just about the carbon footprint of our flights. Understanding the fact that sustainability also includes how to respectfully interact with the locals, empower minoritized communities, protect working animals, conserve biodiversity, and support the local economy is the first step towards a truly sustainable travel experience.
Document our travels ethically. Do our photographs or words reinforce biases and stereotypes about a culture or a place, or do they help dismantle misleading or oppressive representations in dominant narratives? It is important for us to think more intentionally about what we share and how we share about our trips on social media.
RISE recently released a free course titled “The ethics of travel in times of pandemic.” What inspired RISE to weigh in on this topic?
As more and more people in high-income economies are fully vaccinated and resuming travel, slow vaccine rollout in low-income countries continues to make vulnerable populations around the world susceptible to Covid-19 variants, putting more lives at risk and delaying the recovery of the tourism industry. The objective of the short course is to raise travelers’ awareness of the issue of global vaccine inequity and inspire more intentional and ethical travel decisions especially during the ongoing pandemic. RISE is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and we feel that it is our responsibility to educate travelers about their responsibility of keeping host communities safe and seeking ways to support vaccine justice.