Camps International’s Ethical Expeditions Empower Students And Communities Through Sustainable Travel And Education

Published on October 9, 2025

By: Tuhin Sarkar

In this exclusive interview, Sharon Palmer, nan Managing Director astatine Camps International, shares her insights into nan transformative domiciled of sustainable recreation and acquisition successful shaping nan early of tourism. With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 driving a renewed attraction connected eco-friendly and community-led tourism, Sharon discusses really acquisition recreation is progressively intertwined pinch sustainability goals.

She elaborates connected nan value of including Tourism and Hospitality successful nan secondary schoolhouse curriculum, highlighting really this move is creating a procreation of environmentally and socially conscious travelers.

Sharon besides specifications really Camps International’s ethical expeditions are making a tangible effect connected some students and nan communities they prosecute with, emphasizing semipermanent benefits specified arsenic improved infrastructure, conservation, and taste preservation. Through this interview, Sharon offers a deeper knowing of really travel, education, and sustainability are converging to foster responsible tourism and world citizenship.

With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 driving sustainability successful tourism, really do you spot nan country’s attack evolving successful nan adjacent decade, particularly successful position of acquisition and community-led initiatives?

With Vision 2030 arsenic its compass, Saudi Arabia is making important advancement successful reshaping tourism done a beardown attraction connected sustainability. Flagship initiatives specified arsenic nan Red Sea improvement and Diriyah being named by Wanderlust arsenic 1 of nan world’s Global Eco-Friendly Destinations for 2025 item a clear committedness to building infrastructure that protects nan earthy environment, celebrates taste heritage, and empowers section communities.

Equally important is nan caller announcement successful Riyadh by nan National Curriculum Center, successful collaboration pinch nan Ministry of Education and nan Ministry of Tourism, that Tourism and Hospitality will now beryllium portion of nan Secondary School curriculum. This marks a pivotal shift, arsenic young group are being formally introduced successful schoolhouse to sustainable travel, responsible business, and taste preservation.

Over nan adjacent decade, we tin expect to spot much acquisition recreation programmes straight linked to these program goals, fostering deeper partnerships pinch communities and ensuring maturation remains inclusive and enduring.

With nan inclusion of Tourism & Hospitality successful nan Secondary School curriculum, what domiciled do you deliberation acquisition recreation tin play successful fostering a procreation of environmentally and socially conscious travelers?

The caller determination successful Saudi Arabia to see Tourism and Hospitality successful nan Secondary School program marks a pivotal step, placing sustainability and taste practice astatine nan bosom of education. Students are now being taught to spot tourism not conscionable arsenic an industry, but arsenic a unit that tin protect nan environment, support livelihoods, and sphere culture.

We judge acquisition recreation is nan span betwixt schoolroom learning and real-world understanding. Through our Real World Studies programme, we supply resources that nexus schoolroom school straight to our projects and partner communities, giving teachers applicable devices to animate world citizenship. Our expeditions return lessons beyond nan classroom, offering authentic experiences and meaningful contributions to communities. When a student studies responsible tourism successful people and past joins america connected a conservation task aliases supports a section business abroad, nan learning becomes individual and lasting.

These experiences thief young group create empathy, world awareness, and a consciousness of responsibility. Over time, our expeditions nurture a procreation of travellers who spot tourism arsenic a publication alternatively than consumption, ensuring maturation is inclusive and sustainable.

How does Camps International guarantee that its ethical expeditions create tangible benefits for some students and nan section communities they prosecute with?

Camps International was founded connected nan rule that recreation should beryllium a unit for good, pinch benefits shared arsenic betwixt nan students who participate and nan communities that big them. Our expeditions are designed hand-in-hand pinch section stakeholders, ensuring that projects are not imposed externally but reside genuine organization priorities specified arsenic entree to cleanable water, schoolroom construction, and livelihood development.

For students, nan effect is profoundly personal: they measurement extracurricular their comfortableness zones, summation taste fluency, and create leadership, teamwork, and resilience skills that widen acold beyond nan classroom. For communities, nan benefits are lasting, pinch caller infrastructure, sustainable livelihood programmes, and conservation initiatives that strengthen agelong aft students return home.

What makes nan exemplary genuinely ethical is its semipermanent presence: we run imperishable camps crossed Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which intends continuity of projects, genuine accountability, and relationships built connected trust. This attack ensures that nan worth created is not fleeting but contributes meaningfully to organization improvement and world citizenship.

As sustainability becomes a cardinal attraction for schools and parents, really are young people’s perceptions of recreation and their work toward nan situation shifting?

Young group coming progressively spot recreation arsenic a measurement to lend meaningfully alternatively than simply a leisure activity. Schools and parents are reinforcing this displacement by prioritising opportunities that harvester taste immersion pinch tangible learning outcomes successful sustainability and societal responsibility. Students are asking really their beingness impacts nan group and environments they encounter, and they want to make choices that bespeak their values.

In nan Middle East, consciousness is peculiarly strong. According to PwC’sMiddle East Youth Outlook 2024 report, astir 34%of younker successful nan region opportunity they are very acquainted pinch nan United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compared to 23% globally. This higher consciousness is shaping behaviour, pinch much students seeking experiences that align pinch issues specified arsenic ambiance action and responsible consumption.

By building connected this momentum, our expeditions springiness young group nan chance to unrecorded their values and make a existent difference.

In your experience, really tin sustainable recreation initiatives beryllium measured to guarantee they align pinch nan UN’s SDGs, peculiarly successful position of semipermanent effect for students and communities?

For us, measuring sustainable recreation is astir much than counting outputs specified arsenic really galore classrooms are built aliases trees planted. True occurrence lies successful outcomes: whether communities are still benefiting years later, and whether students transportation nan lessons they learned into early choices.

We measurement effect done 2 lenses. For students, we stitchery feedback and reflections aft their expeditions, which helps america understand really they comprehend their maturation successful areas for illustration leadership, resilience, taste understanding, and world citizenship. In immoderate cases, students are besides asked to complaint themselves astatine nan commencement and extremity of their journey, giving america an further position connected development. For communities, we attraction connected durability, returning to nan aforesaid areas twelvemonth aft twelvemonth to guarantee projects stay successful usage and proceed delivering value. Schools and parents progressively expect this grounds of semipermanent organization use and biology stewardship, alternatively than one-off interventions.

Some of nan astir valuable outcomes are besides little tangible, specified arsenic empathy aliases position shifts, but nary little important. By linking our activity to nan United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we guarantee each task contributes to world goals while remaining rooted successful section needs.