Bio Paul Miedema is the Director at Calabash Tours and Co-founder of Calabash Trust, a development NGO.
Paul has a post graduate degree in Development Studies, and started Calabash Tours in 1997. The company is a commercial venture, with a strong social agenda, with a particular focus on poverty reduction in the Urban Townships of Port Elizabeth. Paul also founded the Calabash Trust, in 2000, which is a developmental NGO, focusing on Education issues, and uses Travel Philanthropy as a method of funding. Calabash Tours has been at the forefront of innovative, “pro poor” and sustainable tourism practice in South Africa. Calabash Tours specializes in ethical volunteer travel, for individuals, international schools and universities, as well as a variety of day and evening township experiences. Paul has extensive experience in product development that serves poor communities, and taking innovative product into the market. In 2004, the company won the Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM. The company has numerous products accredited with Fair Trade Tourism, and the Calabash Tours model has often been studied, used as a case study, and has been shared wherever possible. Paul also works as a tourism consultant in the area of Heritage, Sustainable Tourism and Volunteer Tourism. Paul has spoken on numerous panels, at conferences and workshops around his practical experiences of using tourism as a development tool in poor communities. Paul is passionate about transforming the tourism industry into an industry that truly creates “better places for people to live in, and visit”.
Paul Miedema
