What inspired you to work for Red Rocks Initiative?
I was inspired by wanting to see how tourism, conservation, and community are linked together, and how it can be an income generating industry for the local community once it's well managed and promoted.
Describe a typical day at work.
My day at work is always full of new adventures and new ideas that need to be developed, which keeps me really busy the whole day.
Why do you do what you do?
I do it because I like tourism, conservation, and community development for the community I am working with. Whenever I get to see how the tourism industry is growing and benefiting the community, it makes me really happy.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Waking up with new Ideas that I have to work on, and working with the community that is involved with our organization. It all makes my day so perfect.
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I use my education by sharing my knowledge with the members that I work with. Whether I am working with staff, the community, or the guests that come to visit us I am able to share my education with others.
What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?
One of the most challenging things is to convince the locals on how the community based tourism could benefit them. What I do is make sure I can help a few people see how their community life is changing, and how they can still maintain their daily lives and their farming.
What are some current projects you are working on?
At the moment I am working on creating community conservation centers, where locals can come and acquire skills for different things, but mostly skills for their daily work of farming. I am also working on showing how their farming can be integrated into tourism through Agrotourism and food tours.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
When you're doing community based tourism, always try to respect the local communities that you're visiting, while still enjoying your experience.
What makes your organization special?
One of the most important things that makes my organization special, is how the community is involved and how they can always find success through the organization. It has been a long journey, but it’s now paying back.
Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?
Choosing Red Rocks Initiative and Red Rocks Eco- Tours, is not all about the travel and experiences, but the interaction with the local community and hearing stories from its people.
What hopes do you have for the future for your organization?
I hope that through partnerships, collaboration, and digital marketing, our organization will be able to have a long term future.
Are there any developments with Red Rocks Initiative that you would like to share with us?
There are more developments that are coming up, especially now. What I am proud of is how other organizations are coming to learn from us, and we get to share our experience with them. By sharing our experience with other organizations, I would say we are expanding and developing others.
What makes your organization easy to market to potential participants?
The most important thing that allows our organization to be marketable is the uniqueness and localness of the products that we always bring in.
What is Red Rocks Initiative’s mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our long term mission is to ensure the local communities benefit from their skills in trade, art, music, education and much more. Also to show that people can learn from sustainable tourism by environmental conservation and by improving their living standards.
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
Most of the participants take back home memories of their cultural experiences that they share with others. Once they share with their friends, maybe the friends will now be able to come and experience our programs too.
How do you help support participants?
I always help participants by guiding them to the right experiences, and what they want to see or taste. When I bring in more products, they have the chance to choose which one they may need or want. The more products I show them, the better the selection for the participants to choose from.
If you could participate on one of your organization's programs, where would you go and what would you do?
I would go to the rural areas and do the home stays. If you do the home stays and stay for say 2- 3 nights, you will get to see a lot in a short time that you'll be able to share with others.
What questions do participants often ask you, and how do you typically respond?
Most of the people want to know if the place is safe to travel too and clean to stay in. Others also want to know if the locals have water and electricity. I respond and tell them that they’re here for the experience and get to see how the locals can live.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
The most important experience a different culture gives you, is questioning your own culture. It’s always receiving more education on top of what you already have.
Why do you think learning a new language is important?
Learning a new language is always important, as you never know what people you will be able to meet in this world. It’s always good to learn at least 3-5 languages.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?
The most important advice I can give to the people who travel abroad, is to know that you're traveling to a different country with a different culture. You have to respect the locals that you will meet and enjoy the culture. If there’s anything you don't understand, ask! Asking is the only way you can learn and enjoy travel.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaning travel means to go to a place and share your skills and culture with the community you’re traveling to. While staying in the new community you’re traveling to, try to teach them something new and interact with them.
What does ethical global engagement mean to you?
Learning from one another is always very important, and that is why we travel: to engage, learn and create experiences.
What hopes do you have for the future of international education?
Taking your experiences from meeting different people around the world, learning from one another and your different ways of living.
