By Cindy Fan

In Laos, former logging elephants have found new employment and a healthy, peaceful life at camps such as The Elephant Village, 15 kilometres outside of Luang Prabang. At its stunning location overlooking the Nam Khan River, visitors can get up close and personal with Asian elephants, the planet’s second-largest land animal, whose mass is surpassed only by the African elephant. Travellers learn that despite an elephant’s hefty size, it is a remarkably gentle, sensitive and agile creature.

More than 16,000 hectares (nearly 40,000 acres) were destroyed by a fire that forced the closure of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park between December 29, 2011, and January 4, 2012, and caused permanent environmental damage in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Deep in the South Pacific, in the Solomon Islands, is an atoll called Rennell Island. Like so many other natural World Heritage Sites that have gained UNESCO recognition for their unique biogeography, Rennell faces a dilemma: It wants to realise its high potential for ecotourism, but this can only happen if the infrastructure remains basic and little or no development is imposed on the area’s natural and cultural attractions.

The beautiful landscapes of Oman attract more than 1.2 million travellers each year, drawn in by the expansive deserts, ancient cities, majestic mountains and beautiful coastal beaches that combine to offer an incredible range of leisure activities and exciting outdoor pursuits. From the historic capital city of Muscat, with its gorgeous gardens and ancient forts, to the nearby shores of Masirah Island (a popular nesting ground for sea turtles) and the rolling dunes of the Wahiba Sands, Omanis have plenty of national heritage of which to be justly proud.

Borneo is home to the Rungus people, one of the island’s few remaining indigenous ethnic groups who reside in the area surrounding the former capital of Kudat. Organisations like Borneo Ecotourism Solutions and Technologies (BEST) Society help the indigenous Rungus people harness the power of tourism to maintain their vibrant performing arts, customs and traditions. To this day the Rungus live in longhouses, which are extended single-floor structures elevated off the ground on stilts and are designed with an emphasis on community.

Nowhere in Europe are there so many different peoples living in such a small region. Although the cultural wealth is made possible by their peaceful coexistence, the different communities cultivate their unique traits in an effort to preserve their national identities. The Wealth of Diversity project was therefore launched by the Magelan Travel Agency DMC and the Istar 21 Danube Tourism Cluster, with the goal of spotlighting multiculturalism in the Danube region as a unified tourism product on the world market and lend this part of Serbia a recognisable brand.

By Karolyn Wrightson

Aboriginal elder Willie Gordon of Guurrbi Tours offers ancient stories oriented toward the human soul. The wisdom of Willie is what distinguishes his Guurrbi Aboriginal tours from others – his remarkable sense of what each visitor brings to the moment. To ensure that he bridges the gap between his culture and ours, he begins with his family’s story, then relates that to the story the visitor has (or lacks).

By Cynthia Ord

Living in splendid isolation in the remote mountains around Luang Namtha in northern Laos, the country’s most traditional ethnic groups have for centuries cultivated rice and inhabited small rural villages. These tribes, however, are at a crossroads between traditional ways of life and the forces of modernity and tourism. In 1993, the surrounding region was declared the Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area, and since then, streams of tourists plan treks to enjoy the outdoors of Nam Ha and the culture of Laos’ ethnic groups.

In Southeast Asia’s so-called Emerald Triangle, a region of extensive natural forests growing along the tripartite border of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, some of the most beautiful and least touristy landscapes are in southern Laos. Travellers who make it there, specifically to the lesser-known Lao province of Champasak, are always wowed by the region’s attractions and wonders, the first often being the phenomenal World Heritage site of Wat Phou.

The newest subsidiary of the WHL Group, Green Path Transfers (GPT) offers eco-friendly airport and intercity transfers and helps leisure and business travelers seeking cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon footprints. Through GPT’s straightforward online booking system, travelers and businesses can now hit the road confident that, for rates equal to those of other global providers, their transfers are in good hands and that they’ve made a beneficial earth-conscious choice.