Flight Centre Acquires GoVoluntouring Taking Industry Lead in 'Voluntourism'

VANCOUVER, Feb. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Global travel agency Flight Centre is pleased to announce it has acquired GoVoluntouring, an online Canadian pioneer in the voluntourism sector.

The collaboration takes advantage of Flight Centre's bricks and mortar retail selling strength and air expertise combined with GoVoluntouring's existing platform of world recognized volunteer and humanitarian organizations.

For Flight Centre, the investment into GoVoluntouring reinforces the company's industry leading commitment to social and environmental stewardship, and was a logical next step.

Together, the two companies have begun developing an integrated site that will improve the user interface while embedding greater tools of connectivity, as well as steps towards increasing accessibility, and transparency.

"With an increased demand for volunteer-based travel worldwide, we see a responsibility to proactively contribute to this emerging sector," says Flight Centre Canada President Greg Dixon.  "GoVoluntouring has worked extremely hard in developing a valuable resource that is currently being used by thousands of people worldwide."

"As a social enterprise, our objective was to transform one million travellers into one million volunteers," says GoVoluntouring Founder & CEO Aaron Smith. "The sheer breadth of distribution will make Flight Centre's GoVoluntouring a massive change agent. I'm excited for the future of voluntourism, and thrilled to be a part of Flight Centre's commitment to growing this sector responsibly." Smith will remain as Business Leader, based out of Flight Centre's Vancouver office.

About GoVoluntouring
GoVoluntouring is a leading online community for volunteers, overseas teachers, and learners' abroad. Its unique search filters allow users to perform detailed and customizable searches from a huge database of projects and programmes in over 60 countries around the world. www.govoluntouring.com

About Flight Centre
Flight Centre (Canada) is a leading retailer of travel products and services for the leisure and corporate markets. Flight Centre's presence in Canada includes more than 180 shops & businesses and over 1,000 staff across the country. www.flightcentre.ca