Why not save the world while you’re on vacation?

The Travel Industry Association’s “Voice of the Traveller” survey from last fall found that 24 percent of travellers are interested in taking a volunteer or service-based vacation.

“People will pay their own way to travel to a place, then donate their time to anything ranging from rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina, to helping orphans, to teaching English,” said Travelocity’s Ziff. The American Hiking Society organises volunteers to fix up national parks, while groups like Global Volunteers and Cross-Cultural Solutions send volunteers to help communities around the world.

And don’t forget eco-tourism. Garlick was surprised to find that a third of travellers had heard of environmentally correct vacations when asked about them in a recent Internet-based survey conducted by Maritz Hospitality.