Cooee Keeping Tour Guides in Virtual Business

Cooee, a travel platform developed in New Zealand, is finding ways to keep tour guides in business during the pandemic – and let people get a view of somewhere besides their own house, Adele Peters reports for Fast Company.

Cooee connects would-be travellers with tour guides in Cambodia, Croatia, Nepal, and elsewhere. It was launched by Aspiring Adventures, a small tour company early in the pandemic.

“My immediate thoughts went to our guides,” co-founder of Aspiring Adventures Steve Wilson says. The company wanted to make sure that guides could still earn a living, and decided to quickly move tours online, Peters writes for the American business magazine.

Through the tours, you can choose to walk on a beach in Fiji, join a woman currently travelling around Australia in an RV, or explore the foothills of the Himalayas. After picking a time that works in both time zones, you’ll call your guide over Zoom.

Original article by Adele Peters, Fast Company, December 23, 2020.