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She was inspired by a family holiday with her husband and children in Morocco five years ago. In an interview with THEWEARNESS, she tells us what she enjoys most about her work and what socially responsible travel means to her.
CAN YOU BRIEFLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF?My name is Franziska Diallo, I am 42 years old, married, mother of two children and live with my family in Berlin-Mitte. I studied international business studies and then worked in product management at ebay before founding the travel platform GOOD Travel with my business partner Judith Hehl in 2016.
WHAT IS THE VISION BEHIND GOOD TRAVEL?Judith and I are both passionate travellers, always on the hunt for special, innovative and inspiring places - places that are both environmentally and socially responsible. With GOOD Travel, we want to enable other people with an affinity for travel to choose their holiday destinations consciously and carefully. At the moment we are concentrating on Europe and present accommodations in various countries that meet this demand and that all have "that certain something" - from boutique hotels and B&Bs to holiday homes and apartments or glamping accommodations.
WHAT CRITERIA DO YOU USE TO DETERMINE "THAT CERTAIN SOMETHING" IN AN ACCOMMODATION?We have developed certain sustainability criteria and special icons for them, which we use to label the houses.
These are all criteria with which the accommodations make an important contribution to the environment and the people in their respective regions and at the same time make the vacation an authentic experience for the guests.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU IN YOUR WORK?After all, it is the positive feedback from our users and the hosts. Customers eager to travel are pleased when we show them accommodation where they find exactly what they are looking for, and hosts are pleased when we introduce them to customers who appreciate what they are being offered. After all, owner-managed tourism projects, in particular, have a lot to do with heart and soul and the operators deserve a value-conscious clientele who appreciate their commitment.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DEALING WITH THE TOPIC OF SUSTAINABILITY?My husband David and I have been trying for many years to live our everyday lives in a respectful and sustainable manner. We don't have a car, we buy organic and regional products, we travel by train whenever possible and we support the projects of atmosfair as compensation for the CO2 emissions when we fly. But since we have children, my ambition to use our resources consciously has become even stronger. Especially when it comes to travel.
WAS THERE A SPECIAL KEY MOMENT FOR THIS?Yes, as a matter of fact there was. Five years ago I was in Morocco with my family. We stayed there in a small family-run boutique hotel, whose owner made a lasting impression on me. By providing permanent employment, he gave the people who worked for him financial security, which is not a matter of course in Morocco, and supported various social projects in his town. Moreover, everything there was simply incredibly beautiful and lovingly arranged. Even the food was prepared from the ingredients of his own small fruit and vegetable plantation. When I saw all of this, I thought: How do you actually find more of these special hotels? And the idea for GOOD Travel was born.
FINALLY, CAN YOU GIVE US A SUSTAINABLE HOTSPOTS IN YOUR HOME TOWN OF BERLIN?You can eat very tasty vegan food at the restaurant FREA. Here they cook according to the motto "full taste, zero waste". There are no rubbish bins, but a composting machine that processes the waste into a soil substitute and returns it to the supplier farms.
Ja, ich habe die Datenschutzerklärung zur Kenntnis genommen und bin damit einverstanden, dass die von mir angegebenen Daten elektronisch erhoben und gespeichert werden. Meine Daten werden dabei nur streng zweckgebunden für die Nutzung der Kommentarfunktion verwendet.
