We have had a great few weeks here at The Great Projects, with visits to Berlin and Brighton by two of our team! Firstly, Sam our Marketing Executive and Harriet our Project Developer were out visiting the ITB travel conference in Berlin a few weeks ago. The show was vast and is renowned as being one of the biggest travel shows anywhere on the planet. People from all over the globe vsited and exhibited, and it was fantastic to see what their countries had to offer!
Both Harriet and Sam greatly enjoyed their time there and, excitingly, Harriet has found numerous ideas which she is working on developing into new volunteer projects and voluntours. With potential projects and tours being developed in countries including Ethiopia, Canada and Belize, there is plenty to be excited about in the coming months for The Great Projects – watch this space!
To add to the ITB, Harriet and Sam also visited WhaleFest in Brighton last weekend. As one of the world's largest whale and dolphin festivals, this was a fantastic show - showcasing some of the UK's finest marine conservation companies and charities as well as discussing the importance of marine conservation.
The festivals main aim was to emphasise the cruelty of killer whales and other cetaceans being kept in captivity, highlighted by the brilliant and shocking documentary 'Blackfish' last year.
Numerous influential conservationists were present, including the founder of 'Born Free' Virginia McKenna and Dr Ingrid Visser – a key figure in whale and orca conservation.
Harriet and Sam both really enjoyed listening to the talks by all involved, and aside from learning alot, it only helped to further fuel their passion for marine conservation.
Harriet was even lucky enough to help release 'Morgan' (a life-sized inflatable model symbolising Morgan the killer whale, who is sadly being held in captivity in Loro Park in Tenerife) back into the sea on Friday afternoon. Even though it was slightly cold, Harriet loved the experience, and here is what she had to say for herself:
"It was incredible being a part of a demonstration so close to my heart in terms of animal welfare and marine life – there was an incredible turnout and it was so great to see so many people turn up to help support this really important cause".
