With 20+ years of experience in tourism and technology, a trip around the world, a major burnout, and a Phoenix-style recovery, Alex Farlander started Travelhood as a place to share real-life lessons of building a mindful tourism business.
Tourism, like so many other things in life, can be beautiful or ugly.
For many years, I believed in the power of tourism to do good: connect cultures, educate travelers, bring money to remote communities.
But we all can clearly see now that tourism without balance creates more harm than good. Overtourism is a challenge, undertourism too.
I owned a successful, award-winning travel company, but our financial success led me to an existential crisis: how can I develop a business that destroys the very places I love?
I spent years looking for an answer, studying everything I could find about sustainability and regeneration, experiences and transformation, mindfulness and meaningfulness.
And then, I understood that the answer is not in a single concept, but finding the right balance between customer satisfaction, business optimization, impact on our places, and personal passion.
That's how I developed EPIC framework, which helps business owners in tourism & hospitality find areas of growth and develop more balanced, purposeful and profitable businesses.
I don't have all the answers, but we can find them together, sharing practical experiences. That's what Travelhood is for.
If you love travel and you want to make it better, join me in this journey.
Alex