Who are we?
responsibletravel.com was co-founded by Justin Francis and Harold Goodwin in April 2001 to enable travellers to buy real holidays from the growing number of travel companies that are economically, socially and environmentally responsible. We are based in Brighton, England, one of the birth places of beach tourism!
Justin Francis, Chief Executive and Co-Founder justin@responsibletravel.com
Justin worked in advertising and marketing with J.Walter Thompson and The Body Shop before setting up responsibletravel.com with Harold Goodwin in 2001. He is a trustee of the Government's new Foundation for Sustainable Tourism and has carried out consultancy work for ABTA and AITO. Justin has a passion for wildlife and Africa and spent a year travelling independently from Kenya to South Africa (with a tent and some luck).
Richard Skinner, richard@responsibletravel.com
Richard has over 10 years industry experience, including particularly tough assignments in the Maldives, and here in the Milford Sound, New Zealand! Richard undertakes the search engine optimisation of the site and manages relationships with new and prospective members of responsibletravel.com.
Paul Snudden, Finance and Operations Director paul@responsibletravel.com
Father of twins Paul is a former Director of Saatchi & Saatchi and other ad agencies. He has travelled extensively and spent time as a 'rep' in his youth. His family have been closely involved with the industry for many years, his father having been Chairman of Monarch Airlines and Cosmos Holidays. Paul has also held Directorships in Private Equity, Events and a Wine company.
Olly Wheatcroft, olly@responsibletravel.com
Olly previously worked in the charity sector and has a strong interest in overseas development. He is responsible for managing our relationship with the accommodations. Olly spent some time working in Malawi and is keen to explore more of Africa. He is looking forward to meeting more of our members, especially in places where the paragliding is good.
Lyn Hill, lyn@responsibletravel.com
Lyn is our finance and office manager. After becoming ACCA part-qualified, Lyn decided to leave her job and travel for eight months visiting Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. She has a passion for anything wood and trying to tame her allotment!
Suzanne Piggott, suzanne@responsibletravel.com
After finishing her degree in International Tourism Management at Brighton University (many moons ago) Suzanne headed off to see the world teaching English along the way. She has now worked in the travel industry since 2000 is part of our Account Handling team. Her main passion in life is still travel although yoga, meditation & complementary therapies follow closely behind.
Nicola Keen, nicola@responsibletravel.com
Nicola loves travel and languages; she spent 2 years living in France and briefly worked as a tour leader for school trips abroad before deciding she wanted to do something more responsible! She has an MSc in Computer Science, and is our Web projects & content manager.
Holly Foat, holly@responsibletravel.com
Holly is our policy & web content manager and has a passion for wildlife, the environment and conservation. She has previously worked in animal care and web development and she has also volunteered in dolphin research and researching badger population dynamics. She has a BSc in Zoology and an MSc in Ecotourism and she is a trustee for a children’s charity.
Christopher Nott, christopher@responsibletravel.com
Sales Manager, Christopher is a passionate & well traveled man with sales experience in fashion, media & publishing. Having spent long periods in Asia, Australasia, The Americas and South Africa, he has a genuine interest in the environment & believes each of us can make our own difference. He also loves penguins because they make him laugh and smile.
Krissy Roe, krissy@responsibletravel.com
Krissy has travelled in Asia and Latin America; lived in Sydney; taught English in a Japanese village; volunteered in Guatemala and learnt Spanish in Honduras. She has been inspired by the people she has met along the way. She now looks after our PR - combining her love for travel with over five years experience in Marketing Communications.
Amelia Shepherd , amelia@responsibletravel.com
Passionate about travel and people Amelia started her 10 years travel industry experience as cabin crew in order to travel and use her languages. Over the years she has travelled extensively in Asia, South and Central America and is never far from her camera. Passionate about photography Amelia has recently completed a BA Hons degree in Photography. Amelia’s diverse skills are put to use as our Customer Services Manager.
Lisa Joanes, lisa@responsibletravel.com
Lisa is our web editor/designer. She has a background in art with a BA in Illustration along with 2 years web experience after working as a web designer. She brings to Responsible Travel her love of wildlife, travel and design in nature.
Jerrine Barnett , jerrine@responsibletravel.com
Jerrine has travelled widely around 4 continents and spent almost a year volunteering, first on an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia and later on a conservation and community project in Kenya. A recent graduate of Geography and International development, Jerrine brings her long-term love of travel and ethical tourism to the Customer Services team.
Kate Moore, kate@responsibletravel.com
Kate's travels include a year in Central America where she taught English in Guatemala, and her favourite job was working on a horse ranch in Australia. She loves riding and her cat. After 5 years experience working for the likes of the Fairtrade Foundation and Firefly soft drinks she now looks after our marketing.
Lani Watson, lani@responsibletravel.com
Lani has recently graduated in philosophy. She has a passion for thinking and travel and thinking about travel and has been planning a fantasy 200 year round the world trip for the past 12 months. She is currently in fantasy Moscow. She plays the drums, loves throwing pebbles in the sea and is one of our web editors.
Alison Brookes Day, alison@responsibletravel.com
Having spent over 13 years in the travel industry, Alison is passionate about Asia and Australasia. Alison has lived and travelled extensively in both Australia and New Zealand and loves the outdoors. A recent trip to Bhutan has reignited her passion for photography and painting. Alison is part of our Account Handling team.
Sophie Tanner, sophie@responsibletravel.com
Sophie is inspired by other cultures and what we can teach each other. She studied world theatre and worked in tourism marketing. After spending an awesome time exploring Africa and Mexico and teaching English, she decided to settle by the water, in sunny Brighton, where she has recently completed a journalism post grad. Sophie is part of our Account Handling team.
Alex Lyons , alex@responsibletravel.com
Alex is the baby of the team. He works part-time and recently finished his MA in English Lit at Sussex Uni, where he aimed his brain in the direction of Queer Theory, Feminism and Creative Writing. Previously, Alex spent 10 months in New Zealand volunteering for a gay youth group. Alex works in the web team, and is Manager for the Responsible Tourism Awards.
Anne Williams , anne@responsibletravel.com
Having travelled all over the world onboard various yachts and ships in her twenties Anne decided to combine business with pleasure and began her career within the travel industry back in 1994. These days she has put down roots in Brighton and is a proud working mum of two young boys and now the manager of our exciting new travellers' community
Lorraine Grant, lorraine@responsibletravel.com
Lorraine graduated from Brighton University with a languages degree & spent 2 years working in France as an English Teacher & Au Pair. After a stint as a Eurostar Stewardess she worked in Australia & Asia, then returned to London to embark on a sales career, firstly in travel, then in recruitment whilst continuing to see the world on well-deserved breaks. She's now delighted to be part of Responsible Travel, helping set up & working on the new Sales Team.
Jeremy Levitsky, jeremy@responsibletravel.com
Jeremy joined responsibletravel.com's web team straight from working with Global Vision International, which developed his passion and interest in responsible travel, as well as sustainable conservation work abroad. He hopes one day to return to Nepal, where he spent 6 months living and working as a volunteer English and music teacher near Kathmandu, and to volunteer on a Wildlife Conservation Expedition in South Africa.
Mark Nicklin (Community, research & page building) Steven Jarvis , Rosie Davis and Pia Muzaffar Dawson (Responsible Travel News)
Justin Francis, Chief Executive and Co-Founder justin@responsibletravel.com Justin worked in advertising and marketing with J.Walter Thompson and The Body Shop before setting up responsibletravel.com with Harold Goodwin in 2001. He is a trustee of the Government's new Foundation for Sustainable Tourism and has carried out consultancy work for ABTA and AITO. Justin has a passion for wildlife and Africa and spent a year travelling independently from Kenya to South Africa (with a tent and some luck).
Richard Skinner, richard@responsibletravel.com Richard has over 10 years industry experience, including particularly tough assignments in the Maldives, and here in the Milford Sound, New Zealand! Richard undertakes the search engine optimisation of the site and manages relationships with new and prospective members of responsibletravel.com.
Paul Snudden, Finance and Operations Director paul@responsibletravel.com Father of twins Paul is a former Director of Saatchi & Saatchi and other ad agencies. He has travelled extensively and spent time as a 'rep' in his youth. His family have been closely involved with the industry for many years, his father having been Chairman of Monarch Airlines and Cosmos Holidays. Paul has also held Directorships in Private Equity, Events and a Wine company.
Olly Wheatcroft, olly@responsibletravel.com Olly previously worked in the charity sector and has a strong interest in overseas development. He is responsible for managing our relationship with the accommodations. Olly spent some time working in Malawi and is keen to explore more of Africa. He is looking forward to meeting more of our members, especially in places where the paragliding is good.
Lyn Hill, lyn@responsibletravel.com Lyn is our finance and office manager. After becoming ACCA part-qualified, Lyn decided to leave her job and travel for eight months visiting Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. She has a passion for anything wood and trying to tame her allotment!
Suzanne Piggott, suzanne@responsibletravel.com After finishing her degree in International Tourism Management at Brighton University (many moons ago) Suzanne headed off to see the world teaching English along the way. She has now worked in the travel industry since 2000 is part of our Account Handling team. Her main passion in life is still travel although yoga, meditation & complementary therapies follow closely behind.
Nicola Keen, nicola@responsibletravel.com Nicola loves travel and languages; she spent 2 years living in France and briefly worked as a tour leader for school trips abroad before deciding she wanted to do something more responsible! She has an MSc in Computer Science, and is our Web projects & content manager.
Holly Foat, holly@responsibletravel.com Holly is our policy & web content manager and has a passion for wildlife, the environment and conservation. She has previously worked in animal care and web development and she has also volunteered in dolphin research and researching badger population dynamics. She has a BSc in Zoology and an MSc in Ecotourism and she is a trustee for a children’s charity.
Christopher Nott, christopher@responsibletravel.com Sales Manager, Christopher is a passionate & well traveled man with sales experience in fashion, media & publishing. Having spent long periods in Asia, Australasia, The Americas and South Africa, he has a genuine interest in the environment & believes each of us can make our own difference. He also loves penguins because they make him laugh and smile.
Krissy Roe, krissy@responsibletravel.com Krissy has travelled in Asia and Latin America; lived in Sydney; taught English in a Japanese village; volunteered in Guatemala and learnt Spanish in Honduras. She has been inspired by the people she has met along the way. She now looks after our PR - combining her love for travel with over five years experience in Marketing Communications.
Amelia Shepherd , amelia@responsibletravel.com Passionate about travel and people Amelia started her 10 years travel industry experience as cabin crew in order to travel and use her languages. Over the years she has travelled extensively in Asia, South and Central America and is never far from her camera. Passionate about photography Amelia has recently completed a BA Hons degree in Photography. Amelia’s diverse skills are put to use as our Customer Services Manager.
Lisa Joanes, lisa@responsibletravel.com Lisa is our web editor/designer. She has a background in art with a BA in Illustration along with 2 years web experience after working as a web designer. She brings to Responsible Travel her love of wildlife, travel and design in nature.
Jerrine Barnett , jerrine@responsibletravel.com Jerrine has travelled widely around 4 continents and spent almost a year volunteering, first on an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia and later on a conservation and community project in Kenya. A recent graduate of Geography and International development, Jerrine brings her long-term love of travel and ethical tourism to the Customer Services team.
Kate Moore, kate@responsibletravel.com Kate's travels include a year in Central America where she taught English in Guatemala, and her favourite job was working on a horse ranch in Australia. She loves riding and her cat. After 5 years experience working for the likes of the Fairtrade Foundation and Firefly soft drinks she now looks after our marketing.
Lani Watson, lani@responsibletravel.com Lani has recently graduated in philosophy. She has a passion for thinking and travel and thinking about travel and has been planning a fantasy 200 year round the world trip for the past 12 months. She is currently in fantasy Moscow. She plays the drums, loves throwing pebbles in the sea and is one of our web editors.
Alison Brookes Day, alison@responsibletravel.com Having spent over 13 years in the travel industry, Alison is passionate about Asia and Australasia. Alison has lived and travelled extensively in both Australia and New Zealand and loves the outdoors. A recent trip to Bhutan has reignited her passion for photography and painting. Alison is part of our Account Handling team.
Sophie Tanner, sophie@responsibletravel.com Sophie is inspired by other cultures and what we can teach each other. She studied world theatre and worked in tourism marketing. After spending an awesome time exploring Africa and Mexico and teaching English, she decided to settle by the water, in sunny Brighton, where she has recently completed a journalism post grad. Sophie is part of our Account Handling team.
Alex Lyons , alex@responsibletravel.com Alex is the baby of the team. He works part-time and recently finished his MA in English Lit at Sussex Uni, where he aimed his brain in the direction of Queer Theory, Feminism and Creative Writing. Previously, Alex spent 10 months in New Zealand volunteering for a gay youth group. Alex works in the web team, and is Manager for the Responsible Tourism Awards.
Anne Williams , anne@responsibletravel.com Having travelled all over the world onboard various yachts and ships in her twenties Anne decided to combine business with pleasure and began her career within the travel industry back in 1994. These days she has put down roots in Brighton and is a proud working mum of two young boys and now the manager of our exciting new travellers' community
Lorraine Grant, lorraine@responsibletravel.com Lorraine graduated from Brighton University with a languages degree & spent 2 years working in France as an English Teacher & Au Pair. After a stint as a Eurostar Stewardess she worked in Australia & Asia, then returned to London to embark on a sales career, firstly in travel, then in recruitment whilst continuing to see the world on well-deserved breaks. She's now delighted to be part of Responsible Travel, helping set up & working on the new Sales Team.
Jeremy Levitsky, jeremy@responsibletravel.com Jeremy joined responsibletravel.com's web team straight from working with Global Vision International, which developed his passion and interest in responsible travel, as well as sustainable conservation work abroad. He hopes one day to return to Nepal, where he spent 6 months living and working as a volunteer English and music teacher near Kathmandu, and to volunteer on a Wildlife Conservation Expedition in South Africa.
interns
We're grateful to our small team of interns who are fab at what they do...