Press Release Archive

Print and Online Publications

Outdoor Go Magazine (Fall Issue 2008)

IT ALL STARTED, THEY SAY, with a beer on the beach. Step Up Travel founders Trip Sweeney and Scott Zimmerman were in Rio de Janeiro, surrounded by the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty, when they began kicking around ideas for changing the tiresome tourism status quo.
Full article: A Step Forward

Entrepreneur Magazine (April 20, 2007)

These days, when people want to see a change in the world, they're often turning to entrepreneurs to get the job done. Just think about the alternative fuels industry.
Full article: Start a Business, Save the World

Travel Mole (March 15, 2007)

StepUp Travel has just launched a unique, social network for responsible travelers that is coupled with a free travel classifieds designed for local individuals, small businesses and organizations to promote their ethical and community-based projects. The forecasted number of travelers interested in sustainable tourism is forecasted to reach 250 million by 2010 - Step Up Travel has created an interactive, grassroots way for travelers and local people to participate together in responsible travel.
Full article: StepUp Travel Launches Responsible Travellers Social Network

MarketWire Press Release (March 14, 2007)

In an industry where so much tourism revenue goes to businesses that are not locally owned, StepUp Travel aims to turn the tide by providing direct connections between travelers and local individuals and off-the-beaten-path enterprises. Step Up Travel provides a premium, online marketing tool for small tourism providers to help increase their visibility and revenue, while offering travelers more unique and authentic activities and accommodations.
Full article: StepUp Travel Turns the Tide on the Travel Industry

Brave New Traveler (March 7, 2007)

This phenomenon, which began in Rio de Janeiro around 1992 and has now been popularized in Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Johannesburg, and Nairobi, is the most famous (or infamous) example of a new, increasingly popular genre of “reality tourism” called “safe-danger” or “controlled edge” tourism.
Full article: Why We Need Micro Loans Instead Of Slum Tourism

Web 2.0 Travel Tools (February 27, 2007)

StepUp Travel claims to be the first application of Web 2.0 to Responsible Travel, and I think they may be right. There are older websites devoted to responsible travel, including both resources on responsible travel issues and listings of responsible tour products.
Full article: StepUp Travel - Sustainable Travel Does Web 2.0

Travel Mole (February 26, 2007)

The third Totem Sustainable Tourism Report, released today forecasts international tourists to reach 1.05bn by 2010 and sustainable tourism to reach 250m. The report also forecasts that there will be a recognized "Fair Trade in Tourism" label, a tourism "Ecocertification" programme and that Carbon Offsetting of flights may become mandatory.
Full article: Travelling responsibly: Stepping up to provide a local travel experience | PDF

Brave New Traveler (February 16, 2007)

Battambang is Cambodia’s second largest city, but you wouldn’t know it walking the rain-soaked streets like I did in the spring of 2006. There were the swarms of motorbikes and noodle street vendors of course, just like every other Southeast Asian city - but it lacked the frenetic pace.
Full article: StepUp Travel Delivers Authentic Cultural Exchange

The Broadcast - Vol 19.1 (January 30, 2007)

Even though we are always talking about more responsible and sustainable tourism – we often don’t know where to find the information when we want to participate – e.g. go and stay in a locally run hotel with an environmental policy, go to a local restaurant and meet the locals… well now there is – a new site – STEP UP TRAVEL – provides small tourism providers in developing countries a way to increase their visibility and revenue.
Full article: Quarterly Newsletter of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism