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!
responsiblevacation.com was launched in 2010, taking UK-based sister site responsibletravel.com's 10 years of outstanding tourism experiences to a new generation of responsible travelers.
Directors
Justin Francis, Chief Executive and Co-Founder
Justin previously worked in advertising and marketing with J. Walter Thompson and The Body Shop before completing a MSc in Responsible Tourism and co-founding responsibletravel.com in 2001. Justin founded The Responsible Tourism Awards in 2004. Read
Justin's biography » 
Richard Skinner, Operations Director
Richard has over 20 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 & responsiblevacation.com.
Destination partnerships
Trudi Pearce (
contact me)
Since graduating in Tourism Trudi has worked in the industry with experience in product, contracting, marketing and sales with Thomas Cook, Kuoni and First Public Relations. She has also worked overseas in Andalucía and the Middle East. Trudi now heads up our Destination partnerships department, building relationships with tourist boards and agencies to help them enhance their reputation as advocates of green and responsible tourism and increase sales.
Marketing
Sarah Bareham (
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A geography degree, volunteer projects in Tanzania & Swaziland and a trek to Everest Base Camp cemented Sarah's desire to explore all 4 corners of the world. A 6 month adventure through South America led to work in a gap year company – an eclectic mix of marketing, volunteer coordination and leading expeditions in Malawi, Peru & Bolivia – before bringing her enthusiasm for ethical travel to responsibletravel.com's marketing team.
Krissy Roe (currently on maternity leave)
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 and campaigns, combining her love of travel with her experience in Marketing Communications for brands such as Rough Guides, BA and Expedia. Krissy is currently on maternity leave.
Lara Solomon
Lara has spent the last 12 years living and working in Australia where she got to explore much of the country. Lara has been running her own social media consultancy for the last 2.5 years is very passionate about travel and online. She moved back to the UK to be closer to family and currently manages our
Awards and affiliates.
Customer services
Rosy Everitt (
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After years of travelling throughout the world, visiting each of the continents but not quite making it to Antarctica Rosy was finally able to put her knowledge to the test and began work in the travel industry with Virgin Holidays. More recently she's now our Customer Services Manager on our helpdesk, combining her love of travel and her passion for responsible tourism.
Frances Armitage (
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Fran grew up in rural Devon but moved to Brighton to study Sociology and loved it so much she decided to stay! She loves visiting new and exciting places - she's travelled round India, Sri Lanka, South East Asia and went down the east coast of Australia in a camper van. She has a never-ending list of places she wants to visit but South America is currently top of the list! She enjoys walking, going to the beach, being outdoors and swimming.
Saul Greenland (
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Saul caught the travelling bug whilst backpacking in Asia when he was just 16, something that has never left him. Since, he has travelled across South America, much of Europe and Asia. His passion for great new adventures inspired him to protect what he has come to love and he completed an MSc in Tourism, Development and Policy, specialising in sustainable tourism. Saul has previously worked with the National Trust and has a keen eye for great customer service.
Account managers
Alison Brookes Day
Having spent over 18 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.
Elfie Burgess
Elfie grew up in Wales and is a fluent Welsh speaker. She studied French at Oxford University and has spent time working in Paris as an English teacher, and in a translation agency, becoming a "professional language geek". She loves learning about languages and cultures, and is excited to discover the things that make each destination so special. Elfie is part of our Account Handling team.
Ellie Rodriguez
Ellie always dreamed of travelling and other cultures and languages, such as English and Italian. She came to the UK then travelled and lived in different countries around the world, Nepal and Cambodia being closest to her heart. She has worked in the language and travel industry managing accounts and customer service and has now come back to Brighton as one of our Account Managers for sunsets by the beach and to nice walks with a great pub meal at the end!
Suzanne Piggott
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.
Web team
Nicola Keen
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 IT projects manager.
Lisa Joanes
Lisa is our web editor & graphic designer. After a few months inter-railing and camping round Europe post sixth form, she pursued a BA in Illustration at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. Before coming to responsibletravel.com in 2007 Lisa spent 2 years working as a web designer for another travel company. She brings to responsibletravel.com her love of wildlife, travel and design in nature.
Jordan Paul
Jordan works on our web team as a web assistant, and has a background in online advertising and search engine optimisation. Jordan spent two arduous years travelling in large parts of South-East Asia and Central & South America, and came to live in Brighton in 2012 to put all this hard work to good use by working for responsibletravel.com. When not dreaming about far-away lands he can be found on his yoga mat, taking photos or trying to paint.
More fantastic people
Lyn Hill
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!
Kate Shepherd (Currently on maternity leave)
Kate's passion in landscape storytelling led to her career as a travel writer then editor of one of the first books on European green places to stay. She soon found herself on the campaign trail and has lead several global comms. campaigns on sustainability. All of her energy is now channelled into her first love, the British countryside, as project manager for
Our Land. Kate is currently on maternity leave.
