After a COVID-enforced two-year hiatus, the Global Scavenger Hunt is back in 2022 – an around-the-world travel adventure to crown the “World’s Greatest Travelers.”
Unlike the Amazing Race (which was inspired by the Global Scavenger Hunt), The Global Scavenger Hunt isn’t a race, but rather a contest to amass the most points by doing scavenges designed to immerse you into local culture, heritage and environment of the places you visit.
In the course of 23 days, the teams of two travel to 10 countries, not knowing your next destination until your team is given instructions to get to the airport. You have to figure out how to get around without the benefit of GPS, smartphones or computer. Paper maps are allowed, but asking locals for directions is preferred.
Trusting strangers in strange lands is the shibboleth, as the intrepid travelers circle the globe (which is why you can’t use your own GPS or smartphone). The event has touched down in 85 countries to date.
“We’re thrilled about the growing momentum for travel and are feeling so positive and excited about it, that we have scheduled the takeoff dates for our Spring 2022 event: Wheels up April 22 thru May 14,” writes Event Director Bill Chalmers, who calls himself the “ringmaster.”
“Our last event in 2019 was fully subscribed, and we are currently reserving spots for our 2022 adventure while holding on to our 2019 price structure on all deposits made before December 10th this year.”
(Full disclosure: I was on the 2019 Global Scavenger Hunt.)
The event, which will be the 16th Global Scavengee Hunt, pits savvy international travelers against each other by taking them on A Blind Date with the World, visiting ten secret destinations without any prior preparation, and then have them unravel a constant blitz of highly authentic, participatory and challenging culturally-oriented scavenges along the way.
For example: meditating with monks, training elephants, taking flamenco lessons, cooking local dishes with local chefs, searching out Lost Cities, cracking sacred temple mysteries, joining in local celebrations and learning local languages enough to decipher their scavenger hunt clues.
The Global Scavenger Hunt is limited to a small group of world travelers. All travelers are interviewed for suitability and single travelers are welcome to apply (you will be paired up for a team).
For additional information visit GlobalScavengerHunt.com, or contact GreatEscape Adventures Inc., at +1.310.281.7809.
As the 74th United Nations General Assembly gets underway, it is appropriate to be reminded of one of the missions, though the United National World Tourism Organization, to promote international travel. Each year, on September 27, UNWTO commemorates World Tourism Day with celebrations led by UNWTO. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the global community of tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic value and the contribution the sector can make in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, in line with UNWTO’s overarching focus on skills, education and jobs throughout the year, World Tourism Day will be a celebration on the topic ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all’.
Tourism’s role in job creation is often undervalued. This is
despite the fact that tourism generates 10% of world jobs and is included in
Sustainable Development Goal 8 for its potential to create decent work.
New policies are needed to maximize tourism’s potential to
create more and better jobs, especially for women and youth. New policies are
also needed to reflect and incorporate ongoing advances in technology.
Policies and actions should be geared towards addressing the
current mismatch between tourism skills that are taught and those that tourism
employers need.
This requires a holistic approach to the future of work in
tourism, with heightened cooperation between all actors, including the public
and private sectors.
The Future of Work
Creating and ensuring equitable employment is essential to
increasing social inclusion, peace and security. The potential of every
economic sector to provide decent jobs should be utilized to its fullest.
The emergence of new technologies has led to the development
of new forms of work that are rapidly changing production processes worldwide.
This both provides opportunities for, and puts pressure, on existing
employment, welfare and education agendas.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
global unemployment remains high, reaching more than 190 million in 2018. All
sectors and countries, therefore, need to create the conditions for more and
better jobs. Embracing new technology can play a key role in achieving this
goal.
Making the new wave of technological breakthroughs as inclusive
as possible will require considerable investment in training and skills for
life and work. Everyone should have a chance to develop their full potential so
as to benefit from the new technological era.
To do this we need to examine the impact of technological
change on socioeconomic growth, jobs and inequality. We also need to provide
tools and skills to those who are looking for a job and as well as to those
whose jobs are at risk of automation.
On the occasion of its centenary in 2019, the ILO released
‘Work for a Brighter Future: Report of the Global Commission on the future of
Work’. This landmark report takes note of the forces transforming the world –
technology, climate change, demography, globalization – to call for a
human-centered agenda for the future of work.
By placing people and the work they do at the centre of
economic and social policy and business practice, the path towards growth,
equity and sustainability consists of three pillars of action:
Increase investment in people’s capabilities
Increase investment in the institutions of work
Increase investment in decent and sustainable work
Tourism is a leading people-to-people sector, with growth
rates outpacing world economic growth and international trade. It is one of the
main global export categories and with such a high impact on human workforce,
it serves as a natural ally of ILO’s human-centered agenda for the future of
work.
Tourism and Jobs
Tourism is a major source of employment because
of its labour-intensive nature and the significant multiplier effect on
employment in related sectors. It is estimated that one job in
the core tourism sector creates about one-and-a-half additional
or indirect jobs in the tourism-related economy. Overall tourism accounts
for one in ten jobs worldwide.
The ILO estimates that ‘accommodation and restaurants’,
together with ‘private sector services’, will create jobs at the
fastest rate among all sectors in the economy over the next five
years.
Tourism has proven to be a resilient economic
activity. In each of the seven years following the global economic
crisis of 2010, the number of worldwide international tourist arrivals
grew at 4% or above.
Tourism is a contributor to the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as a target in Goals 8, 12 and 14. The
sector’s contribution to job creation is specifically recognized in Goal
8, target 8.9. This states: “By 2030, devise and implement policies to
promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and
products”.
Tourism’s voice at the UN level is mirrored in other global
development and policy fora. The 26th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State
and Government concluded in November 2018 with a high-level political
declaration on sustainable development in which tourism plays a key supporting
role. The commitment includes UNWTO as the designated global partner and marks
the first time the tourism sector has been featured in a top-level multilateral
cooperation agenda.
More recently, the G20 Osaka Leaders’ Declaration from June
2019 singles out tourism’s contribution to global economic growth and inclusive
and sustainable development: “Tourism accounts for a significant share of the
world’s GDP and is expected to continue to be an important driver of global
economic growth. We will work to maximize the sector’s contribution to the
creation of quality jobs and entrepreneurship, especially for women and youth
and in the creative industry; economic resilience and recovery; the
preservation of natural resources through sustainable tourism planning and
management; and the achievement of inclusive and sustainable development.”
However, despite representing 10% of the world’s jobs,
tourism’s role in employment generation and entrepreneurship is often underestimated and undervalued in
policy formulation and implementation.
A mismatch between available qualifications
and workplace reality is one of the major factors impacting tourism employment
and talent development. The gap between education and skills/knowledge needs,
and the resulting shortages of labour with ‘future-proof’ skills, continues to
dent economies and harm job creation prospects. Moreover, tourism suffers from
important challenges related to attracting and retaining talent and the
improvement of working conditions.
Tourism Jobs and the Digital Revolution
Globalization, technological progress and demographic change
are trends that, together, have redefined the tourism sector and how it
functions. At the heart of our now hyper-connected, hyper-informed world is a
digital-led revolution in markets, as well as in the demand for skills and the
characteristics of tourism jobs. Recent years have seen the emergence of
digital breakthroughs, including new platform tourism services (the so-called
sharing or collaborative economy), big data and geo-localization.
Some of the main issues the tourism sector faces in adapting
its workforce to the technological revolution are:
The need to review and update outdated legislation and
regulation that supports employment, innovation, entrepreneurship and new
business models
The low level of awareness and expertise of new technologies
and technological trends
A lack of funding to invest in new technologies and training
for the jobs needed for the present and future
The lack of cooperation and communication among relevant
stakeholders
MSMEs Are Key to Decent Work in Tourism
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are now
the major job creators in tourism. OECD/ILO research shows that around
half of tourism employees work in enterprises of fewer than 10 people,
while around three-quarters work in enterprises of fewer than
50 people.
Tourism MSMEs are also an important source of innovation and
economic diversification, helping to shape socioeconomic development in
destination countries worldwide.
However, access to finance, prohibiting business regulations
and inadequate skills are major constraints faced by all MSMEs including those
operating in the tourism sector.
The main challenge related to MSMEs, then, is to create an
enabling environment that at once improves their economic prospects, overcomes
barriers to decent jobs, and ensures that MSMEs’ economic activities are
environmentally sustainable.
Promoting Jobs For All in Tourism – Youth, Women and Rural Communities
The tourism sector employs more women and young
people than most other sectors.
Just under half (47%) of people working
in tourism in European OECD countries are between 15 and 34 years
of age, compared to a third (32%) of workers in the economyas
a whole.
In OECD countries, women account for 60% of
employment in the tourism sector. This is higher than
the share of women employed in the services sector (47%) and
in the economy as a whole(43%).
Women play a leading role in tourism entrepreneurship.
UNWTO/UNWomen research shows that the global rate of women
entrepreneurs in ‘hotels and restaurants’ (36%) is comparatively
higher than in all sectors combined (22%).
Furthermore, tourism creates jobs in rural and remote areas,
not only directly but also indirectly through the preservation and restoration
of traditional activities. Often it is one of the few viable economic sectors in
these areas.
The explicit mention of tourism in Goal 8, target 8.9 of the
SDGs recognizes its transformational potential on livelihoods and prosperity in
rural communities, both through providing access to decent employment and
through reviving traditional local industries.
By providing opportunities for women, youth and rural
communities in a variety of roles, tourism contributes to several SDG
target areas surrounding empowerment of vulnerable
groups and more equal and inclusive societies. More inclusion
strengthens tourism’s power to unite people across cultures in a celebration of
diversity, increasing overall social resilience.
Despite these benefits tourism provides, it must also
address serious challenges surrounding employment for all of these groups.
One is a large gender pay gap. In tourism,
women are on average paid 20-25% less than male workers for
comparable skills. Women are often over-represented in non-standard forms of
employment. Women also suffer segregation in terms of access to education and
training.
Low-skilled women often find themselves in the most
vulnerable jobs, at risk of poor working conditions, inequality of
opportunity and treatment, violence, exploitation, stress and sexual
harassment.
Temporary and part-time jobs are particularly
common among women, young people, and the less-skilled who are employed in
tourism. They can often lead to decent work deficits, including
inadequate social security coverage, low wages and income inequality, and poor
working conditions.
The tourism sector’s variable demand cycle, with irregular
working hours and unpredictable shifts, poses additional challenges for those
(of any gender) trying to reconcile work and family responsibilities. At the
same time, however, this flexibilitymay also provide
opportunities to individuals wanting to combine a job in tourism with
another occupation.
A Policy Framework for Decent Tourism Jobs
New policies are needed to maximize the
potential of the tourism sector to create more and better jobs,
while reducing the risk associated with an increasing skills mismatch.
There is a longstanding tradition of the tourism sector
working in isolation from other key economic sectors. The way forward is for a
more holistic approach to the future of work in tourism,
with clear links to other sectors that are important for
economic development.
The major ongoing changes and challenges around tourism
employment require a new approach to skills development and education, policies
for innovation and job creation.
Policies should:
Encourage the progress of innovation in
tourism that fosters job creation and entrepreneurship, particularly among
women, youth and rural communities, through;
Establishing tourism innovation centres, incentives and
programmes to connect start-ups, leading companies, investors and governments;
Developing research on the changing demand for skills due to
the digital revolution;
Creating initiatives that promote innovation and
technological skills development in tourism;
Bring together educational institutions, the private sector,
governments and technology partners to review educational programmes and help
create the skill sets needed for future work opportunities, including soft
skills;
Further bridge the gap between available qualifications and
workplace skills needed, by supporting opportunities for appropriate
industry experience, such as internships or scholarships, along with
specialized education and training;
Include technology stakeholders in national tourism policy
coordination structures and mechanisms, in order to ensure an holistic
approach that accounts for innovation and job creation;
Include tourism as a key sector in both national and
multilateral agenda for employment, education and skills creation, and
overall economic development, highlighting tourism’s capacity to deliver on the
objectives of creating more and better jobs.
SANTA ROSA, USA – A $50,000 winner-take-all cash prize awaits the first-place team in the 2019 world travel championship. The around the world event, known as The Global Scavenger Hunt, is set to take place between April 12 and May 4, 2019, and is now accepting applications for entry.
Imagine Indiana Jones-types, Amazing Race aspirants and some of the world’s most traveled adventurers, all willing to test their travel IQ against other world class international travelers in an around-the-world travel adventure competition that crowns The World’s Greatest Travelers, can apply for the $50,000 winner-take all prize at GlobalScavengerHunt.com.
The2019 World Travel Championship Fact Sheet:
What: The Global Scavenger Hunt is an annual around-the-world travel competition that takes teams on A Blind Date with the World,tasked with a series of daily culturally-oriented micro adventures designed to test their travel IQ’s.
When: April 2019, 23-days between April 12th and May 4th. Teams will travel from Los Angeles to New York—the long way—around the world.
Who: Limited to teams of two travelers. The $25,000 per team entry fee includes: all international airfare, First Class hotels, 40+% of meals, and special event gear. Travelers are interviewed for suitability and single travelers are welcome to apply.
Prizes: A $50,000 winner-take-all cash prize to the winning teamalong with The World’s Greatest Travelers crown and trophy.
Where: The circumnavigation of the globe will touch down in 10 secret countries—that may include: Brazil, Peru, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, South Africa and Romania. (It is A Blind Date with the World…and participants won’t become aware of their next destination until 4-hours prior to departure!)
Why: Aside from the$50,000 in cash, the Trophy and bragging rights;Teams will be travel a million kilometers to help raise funds for charities that provide micro-loans and build co-ed elementary schools in nations like: Kenya, Niger, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Ecuador.
How: For additional information visit GlobalScavengerHunt.com to apply or call 310-281-7809.
