Tribewanted, a slightly different vacation

A lonely island, people from all over the world, one sustainable goal, local people – these are the items Tribewanted is made of. An idea of a slightly different vacation, which was born more than 5 years ago.

Tribewanted – that´s the name of a slightly different vacation which caused a lot of echo in the British media such as BBC. Picture:

Here, you can read what , founder of the special project, told me:

tripwolf: Can you describe Tribewanted in 3 words?
Ben: Cross-cultural communities.

tripwolf: What is the idea of Tribewanted?

Ben: To build a network of sustainable cross-cultural communities in incredible places for people to visit for education, recreation and inspiration and to support local sustainable development.

tripwolf: When and how did the project start – and what are the differences between now and the first couple of years?

Ben: The project started April 2006 when we invited anyone to join our tribe and help develop a new community on Vorovoro Island, Fiji. Tribewanted.com offered membership options which included stays on Vorovoro. 1000 people joined in 6 months.

There are two big differences between then and now besides lots of happy beach times:

1. Social networking as exploded (Facebook) which has impacted us positively (more people following the project) and negatively (harder to continually engage people).

2. We´re now in both Fiji and Sierra Leone and looking to grow beyond.

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That´s how the first Tribewanted village at Vorovoro looks like. Picture:

tripwolf: Which ideas worked out?

Ben:

- engaged membership

- crowd-funding

- sustainable communities built x2

- significant local investments

- lots of happy tribe members, friendships, weddings, babies etc. …

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Ben with members of the tribe in Sierra Leona. Picture:

tripwolf: Which ones were not so successful and why?

Ben: Growth beyond Fiji is taking longer than hoped – but not surprising considering economic recession. Things are picking up now. Keeping members engaged when social networks proliferated as well, but we have a new model coming soon which will change this!

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To learn from and with each other is one of the goals of Tribewanted. Picture:

tripwolf: Why do you think Tribewanted met and still meets the need and interest of people nowadays?

Ben: Because beneath the surface most people realise we need to change the way we live to live sustainably in the future. Tribewanted offers an experience and network engaged in that discussion that´s not preachy. And the experience in Fiji and Sierra Leone are unique. People come back again and again because they feel part of the local community.

tripwolf: How many participants did you have so far and what were/are their motives?

Ben:

In 4 years, 1300 visited Fiji and stayed for an average of 1.5 weeks. Within the one year, 100 visited Sierra Leone and stayed an average of 2 weeks. And we have 15.000 Online members.

Motives are as diverse as our members – escape, inspiration, relaxation, re-connection, adventure…

tripwolf: What was the biggest challenge in the beginning – and what is the biggest challenge right now?

Ben: In the beginning, persuading people we were for real and raising finance. Now: Making the business model sustainable and re-engaging the current and future members.

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The community has quite a lot of tasks. Picture:

tripwolf: What are the learnings between the 2 cultures, the locals and the ”guests” – what are the major changes the project creates?

Ben: In Fiji, the biggest learning for Fijians was that the local culture and the way of life can inspire visitors. It is something to be proud about. The biggest learning for visitors on the other hand was that a desert island can feel as much like home as anywhere you´re ever lived.

In Sierra Leone, the biggest learning for Sierra Leonians was that tourism is not always about building hotels and for the tourists, that Sierra Leone is safe and beautiful.

tripwolf: You reached a lot of media coverage and attention in public, did you expect that, did you want it and how did this media coverage influence the project?

Ben: We didn´t expect it to be that significant although we knew the idea was exciting. Media coverage has helped us grow and share our story with a much bigger audience, so it feels like we´ve inspired and created conversations with many more than just our members, which is great!

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Being on vacation and helping the community, that´s the main idea of Tribewanted. Picture:

tripwolf: What is the long term goal/ what will the future of Tribewanted look like/ which countries are next?

Ben: The goal is to build a significant social network of members who have ownership in Tribewanted projects and projects around the world that they can support and visit, whose stories can inspire others to think about sustainable lifestyles that are progressive, exciting and fun.

tripwolf: Thank you for the chat and good luck!

More about Tribewanted and how you can get involved: https://www.tribewanted.com/join

First published in German on tripwolf, 9th of June 2011

Little Miss Itchy Feet

Tribewanted, a slightly different vacation

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