8 Ways You Can Support Tourism from Home

Lane A
by Lane Atteridge

March 26, 2020

5 minute read

Times are tough all over right now, especially for the travel industry. As travellers who love to get out into the world and meet new people, new places, and new cultures, the fact that you have to stay home to help might feel especially tough. But even from home, you can still be a traveller, and support the travel industry at the same time – here’s 8 ways how.

1) Share Your Travel Memories

Those photos and videos you take while you travel often become your most beloved souvenirs. Now, more than ever, is the time to share those fond memories with the world. Post your photos and videos to social media, tag the people you travelled with, connect again with the friends you made on tour. Even though you’re physically apart from your travel companions, you can stay emotionally connected through your shared memories. And if you’re sharing your memories of a Collette tour, make sure to tag us and hashtag your post #GoCollette because we’d love to reminisce about travel with you.

2) Leave Reviews with Companies You Love

There are a lot of industries that are hurt right now, and your voice can make all the difference. Do you have a local restaurant you love? Did you go to a museum on tour that you think everyone should know about? Leave a great review for them on any platform you can – Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yelp, anywhere. These reviews are often make-or-break for smaller businesses, and positive reviews can drive business. Also, it’s always good to just project some positivity into the world. Your local coffee shop, your tour guide on your last trip, that event planner, they’ll all be incredibly grateful that you took the time to put a good word in for them.

3) Order Takeout & Buy Gift Cards from Local Restaurants

When someone from out of town asks for a restaurant recommendation, where do you send them? Those restaurants you frequent might be hurting right now, so support them if you can. Most likely, they can only provide takeout ordering right now, and can’t fill their restaurant’s seats. Ordering takeout and buying gift cards that you can use later will help them weather this storm. This might not seem like a way to support tourism, but it is supporting your local tourism, in a way. Our neighbours need help, and we can be the ones to provide it. Support your local economy.

4) Help Those in Need

We’re breaking our own premise here for a second, but we think it’s worth saying. Help who you can, how you can. This might not be directly travel related, but it is certainly humanity related, so we thought we should include this one. Go grocery shopping for the elderly and immunocompromised. Talk with your neighbours (from 6 feet away) about how they’re doing. Do what you can, when you can, in whatever way you can, to help the people that are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. We’re all in this together, and small acts of kindness over a long period of time adds up.

5) Take a Virtual Museum Tour

The technological age is letting us do things we never thought possible, and one of our favourite ones is the Virtual Museum Tour trend. Travel and Leisure just put out a blog post about their favourite famous museums offering virtual tours, like the British Museum in London, the Guggenheim in New York City, and more. Check out the article here. You’re guaranteed to spend at least a few hours wandering through the virtual halls of these incredible museums. Hopefully, that just whets your appetite for a real visit, as soon as you can.

6) Watch Livestreams of Animals and Places You’ll Visit

Did you know you can watch Yellowstone’s famous Old Faithful geyser go off live, on camera? You can, right here. Did you know you can check in on tigers, penguins, and other animals at the San Diego Zoo? You can do that too, right here. We might not be able to travel right now, but we sure can make the most of our time at home, all through technology.

7) Take a Crack at Your Favorite Travel-Inspired Recipe

Do you have fond memories of a meal you ate while you were travelling once? Maybe that German schnitzel really stuck in your mind, or that paella from Spain was the best meal you’ve had. Why not try and recreate your favourite foreign meals at home? There are thousands of recipes available online, and you can try your hand at making your favourite foreign dishes. Maybe you’ll discover a new favourite dinner you can prepare. Or, maybe you’ll end up realizing that you just have to go back to that destination and have that delicious meal all over again. It’s a win-win scenario either way.

8) Start Planning That Future Trip Now

Now’s the time to dream, and plan. It can be as far-flung as you want it to be, or as realistic and detailed as you can make it. The important part is that you just keep dreaming about that next travel experience. Maybe you want to take a multi-country European journey, or finally see the beaches of Fiji, or maybe you want to see every National Park in America. Write it down. Look at pictures of these destinations to inspire you. Plan where you would go, what you would want to see and do and eat. Soon enough, you’ll be able to take your travel dreams from plan to reality. So, keep dreaming of travel.

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