Ask a well-travelled friend about the best moment of their last big trip and there’s a good chance they’ll tell you about a person. The woman in a Peruvian village who sat them down at her loom. The cocoa farmer in Ghana who split open a pod and handed it over to taste.
Explore Worldwide has built a whole program around moments like these. The company calls them Positive Impact Experiences, or PIEs. As of August 2026, Explore offers more than 50 of these experiences, each one included in the itinerary of one or more of its small group tours. They direct some of the value of your trip to a local community or conservation project, and give you time with the people behind it.
Here’s a closer look at what PIEs actually involve and where in the world you’ll find them.
What are Positive Impact Experiences?
Positive Impact Experiences are visits and activities built into Explore itineraries that benefit the people, wildlife or environment of the place you’re travelling through. Some are as simple as a shared meal in a farming village or a craft workshop run by a women’s cooperative. Others take you behind the scenes at centres caring for orphaned elephants or researching wild cheetahs.
None of this is new for Explore. The company was founded in 1981 and has included community visits on its tours for decades. What has changed is the focus. Explore’s product teams now actively look for new local partnerships to add to existing trips and build into new ones, and in 2025 alone the company introduced 46 new PIEs.
Why travel that gives back matters
Tourism can bring plenty of money into a country without much of it reaching the villages along the way. PIEs are Explore’s way of changing that on its own trips. When your group spends time in Misminay in Peru’s Sacred Valley, the visit helps fund projects such as the village’s community greenhouse. When you buy a bamboo piece on the Indonesian island of Flores, you’re supporting a small local business that gives young villagers a trade.
There’s something in it for you, too. Explore says the moments its travellers remember most vividly are usually the ones where they met local people and saw another way of life up close. That lines up with what we’ve seen in more than 40 years of sending people off the beaten track. A cooking lesson in someone’s kitchen, or a workshop where your attempt at a coconut-shell bowl didn’t quite go to plan: these are the stories people bring home.
It’s also a way to see a destination from the inside. You won’t find a coconut-shell cooperative in the guidebook, and you’d struggle to arrange a meal with an Andean farming family on your own.
Positive Impact Experiences in South and Central America
Misminay community visit, Peru
High in Peru’s Sacred Valley, the community of Misminay has run its own tourism program since 2010. The income has helped pay for a community greenhouse and for education programs designed to give local children a future in the village.
Explore has a personal stake in this one. More than 15 years ago it part-funded the project’s creation with a local supplier, as a way to support the families of Inca Trail porters. Visits today involve sharing an Andean meal with your hosts and trying your hand at weaving or working the fields. You’ll find it on Explore’s Peru adventure itinerary.
DAMARTES women’s cooperative, Colombia
In La Boquilla, a coastal community on the edge of Cartagena, a group of local women turn discarded coconut shells into jewellery and homewares. DAMARTES (Ladies and Mothers of Art) was founded by seven mothers and grandmothers, and it helps women in the community earn their own income while keeping traditional skills going.
Explore travellers join a hands-on workshop with the women and leave with something they made themselves. It’s part of Explore’s Colombia adventure.
Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize
“Baboon” is the Belizean name for the black howler monkey, and this sanctuary exists because local landowners decided to protect them. In 1985, people in the area signed pledges to look after the monkeys’ habitat on their own land. Today more than 170 landowners take part, safeguarding over 5,000 hectares, and the sanctuary is recognised around the world as a model for community-led conservation. It features on Explore’s Belize wildlife holiday.
Positive Impact Experiences in Africa
Kuapa Kokoo cocoa cooperative, Ghana
Kuapa Kokoo is a Fairtrade cooperative that makes sure Ghanaian cocoa farmers receive a fair price for their harvest. What sets it apart is ownership. The cooperative holds a 44% stake in Fairtrade brand Divine Chocolate, so farmers share in what happens further down the chain.
On Explore’s Best of Ghana trip, you follow the process from pod to chocolate bar and hear how producer ownership is helping farming families build more secure futures.
Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia
The Cheetah Conservation Fund is an internationally recognised centre for research and education on cheetahs and the ecosystems they depend on. Its visitor centre explains the threats these cats face in the wild and the work being done to protect them.
It sits on Explore’s Namibia safari itinerary, and it adds real context to the game drives. Seeing a cheetah in the wild means a lot more once you’ve met the people working to keep them there.
Positive Impact Experiences in Europe
Rural Women of Prespa, North Macedonia
In North Macedonia’s Prespa region, a local woman named Ana brings women together through the Rural Women of Prespa organisation (the project is also known as the Spirit of Prespa Orchard). Its members come from different ethnic backgrounds but share a rural way of life. Older women pass on traditional recipes and farming know-how, while younger members bring fresh ideas and hospitality skills.
Explore travellers spend time with the women and hear how tourism is helping keep their knowledge alive for the next generation. It’s included on Explore’s North Macedonia adventure.
Solheimar Eco Village, Iceland
Most people head to Iceland for glaciers and waterfalls. Solheimar shows you a different side of the country. It’s a sustainable community where people with and without special needs live and work together, making handmade candles, ceramics, woodcraft and herbal products, and growing organic vegetables.
On Explore’s summer Iceland trip you’ll learn about the village’s philosophy of inclusion and environmental care, then have time to wander and settle into its cosy café. Your visit supports local jobs and the craftsmanship that keeps the community running.
Positive Impact Experiences in Asia
Elephant Transit Home, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a large population of wild elephants, and as farms and villages push further into their habitat, conflict and injuries follow. The Elephant Transit Home cares for orphaned and injured elephants with the aim of rehabilitating them and returning them to the wild.
On some of Explore’s Sri Lanka tours you’ll visit this educational centre to see the elephants up close and learn about the pressures they face.
Bamboo workshops, Flores, Indonesia
On Flores, a local artisan has turned bamboo craftsmanship into an opportunity for more than just himself. Alongside making handmade pieces, he mentors young villagers who might otherwise struggle to find work. Explore travellers spend time learning the basics from him, then head home with a souvenir that has a story behind it.
As one Explore traveller, Doreen, put it, she “especially appreciated visiting locals in their home setting or small businesses.” This one is part of Explore’s Bali, Flores and Komodo itinerary.
Explore Worldwide’s wider commitment to responsible travel
PIEs sit within a bigger picture. Explore is a certified B Corp and has calculated and published the carbon footprint of every one of its trips. Its latest Purpose Paper reported a 15% reduction in carbon intensity in 2025, and through the Explore Foundation, established in 2023, the company donated $200,000 to 11 community and conservation projects around the world.
For a company running more than 400 trips in 100 countries, those numbers carry weight. They also tell you something about the people who’ll be leading your trip.
Why book your Explore tour with Back Track Adventures
We’ve been doing this since 1984, and Explore shares a lot of our thinking: small groups led by people who know the place, and a belief that travel should leave something good behind. That’s why Explore is one of the select operators we work with.
With hundreds of Explore departures to choose from, we help you narrow it down. We’ll talk through the pace and activity level that suits you and point you to the trips that include a Positive Impact Experience. Once you’ve chosen, we look after the booking and any arrangements either side of the tour.
Contact our team to start planning your Explore adventure.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Positive Impact Experience?
A Positive Impact Experience (PIE) is a visit or activity included in an Explore Worldwide itinerary that directly supports local people, communities, wildlife or the environment. Examples include a community visit in Peru’s Sacred Valley and a Fairtrade cocoa cooperative in Ghana.
How many Positive Impact Experiences does Explore offer?
Explore reached more than 50 Positive Impact Experiences in August 2026, after adding 46 during 2025. The company is actively developing more and adding them to both existing and new tours.
Do I need to book a PIE separately?
No. PIEs are part of the itinerary on the Explore tours that feature them. If having one on your trip matters to you, our team can tell you which departures include a PIE.
Which destinations have Positive Impact Experiences?
PIEs feature on Explore tours across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Peru, Colombia, Belize, Ghana, Namibia, North Macedonia, Iceland, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Explore’s interactive map shows every PIE and the trip it’s part of.
Ready to travel with a bit more purpose?
Fifty experiences is a solid start, and Explore is already looking for the next fifty. If one of these has caught your eye, or you’d like help finding an Explore tour that suits the way you travel, get in touch with our team. We’d love to help you plan it.
