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Manchester, United Kingdom — 22-25 September 2009

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Meet our new member: Go Discover Abroad

Mar 2, 2018

Tell us your story. How did Go Discover Abroad get started?

Go Discover Abroad is the brainchild of Mr. Saurabh Sabharwal, who has been in the field of volunteer traveling for the last 11 years. With an enriched experience of collaborating with local NGOs and organizations to provide meaningful opportunities to travellers, Mr. Sabharwal decided to come up with Go Discover Abroad, which focuses on providing effective gap year travel options to those who want to travel responsibly and contribute towards the sustainable development of their host nations.

What makes Go Discover Abroad different?

To put it simply, Go Discover Abroad aptly justifies its name by offering the youth with an array of options to travel abroad and find something unique about their journey. One can choose to volunteer in an underprivileged society, or get involved in an internship project, as well as improving other skills from learning a new language, to surfing, to learning salsa and much more.

Go Discover Abroad was created with the vision to redefine the way in which the youth of this century wants to travel: having a preference for budget accommodation, more emphasis on meeting travellers from other parts of the world, indulging in community immersion, having flexible travel schedule and longer term plans rather than brief holidays. Our focus would solely be on providing the best experience that one can have while traveling to a faraway land.

What is your favourite success story from your agency?  

Operating two successful companies, Volunteering Solutions and Volunteering India for more than 10 years, we have successfully hosted more than 18,000 volunteers from different parts of the world, and contributed towards the well-being of people in developing countries. Success, we believe, is quite relative, and for us, success lies in the smiles that we got to spread, the happiness we shared and the good memories that our volunteers share with us every now and then.

What are your future plans?  

Currently, Go Discover Abroad is operating in 40+ countries with 200+ tours, but in the next couple of months, we are looking forward to adding more destinations to the list with more diverse programs, so that we have a palate including everything that youth would be interested in. We would also include facilities for booking flights, budget accommodation, hostel booking, work abroad opportunities, language learning courses, as well as TEFL Programs.

Which trends do you see in educational and active youth travel?

Today, more and more millennials are keen on becoming responsible travellers. They wish to spend adequate time living close to the local communities of the host country, eager to adapt their way of life, and wanting to contribute towards the underprivileged societies in their own ways. The concept of traveling has changed manifold and people are focusing more on sustainable tourism. Also, the concept of conventional volunteering has undergone a paradigm shift, as youth now are interested in adventure clubbed with volunteering, what they coin as ‘voluntourism’.

How do you work to ensure the health and safety of young people joining your programmes?

We have our in-country team in all the respective destinations where we currently have our programs, and we ensure that all those who are traveling with us can make the most of their journeys. Since we provide homestay facilities in many of the locations, we conduct thorough checks so that our participants never land up in any sort of trouble. Thankfully, in the last 10 years, there have been no such adverse experiences and we have been operating quite safely in all the countries. Our team also keeps the contact details of the parents and guardians, so that we can reach out to them whenever necessary.

What was your motivation to join WYSE Travel Confederation?

There’s no doubt that WYSE Travel Confederation is one of the best organizations to partner with and we’ve been lucky to be associated for such a long time. Volunteering Solutions has been a member of WYSETC for years, and Go Discover Abroad, being a wing of the same company, is privileged to be a part of such an elite and advanced group of organizations providing the best opportunities for students and travellers who are keen on experiencing something worthwhile.

Member snapshot

Go Discover Abroad helps GenY travellers make their traveling more engaging, with a preference for budget accommodation, an emphasis on meeting travellers from other parts of the world, indulge in community immersion, flexible travel schedules, and expanded plans rather than brief holidays. As a part of Volunteering Travel Solutions, they operate in more than 45 countries, and offer nearly 200 tours and activities including gap year packages, responsible tours, adventure tours, internships, language courses abroad, group tours, and more.

For more information visit their website www.godiscoverabroad.com

Membership: WYSE Travel Confederation Subsidiary Member

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