Bright Future Global Tours believes that global interpersonal connection and creative initiatives by peoples of all nations are key to a brighter future and to greater personal and collective happiness. Community-based tourism brings small groups into communities and directs tourism money into communities through partnering with locally owned accommodations and businesses and donating a portion of the profit to community organizations.
BFGT works with local guides, artists and artisans, healers, small businesses, cooperatives and collectives, human rights activists and environmental groups in providing fun, inspiring and responsible custom and small group tourism.
BFGT is a small company, based in Guatemala since 2011. As our blog and pictures show, Guatemala is home to stunning natural and cultural wonders and yet remains "off the beaten track" of tourism.
Guatemala is known for it's rich legacy of ancient Maya sites and its living, vibrant Maya culture. The twenty-two different groups of Maya in Guatemala today account for 60% of Guatemala's population. The contemporary Maya continue ancient traditions in farming, weaving, clothing, food, community and spiritual practices. Our Guatemalan friends welcome you into their communities to learn more about their traditions and to participate in the beauty of their culture.
Now more than ever, Guatemala, like many less-developed resource-rich countries, is endangered by corporate mining, oil, agricultural and pharmaceutical interests as well as the ongoing violence of the war on drugs. This does not mean Guatemala is a dangerous place for travelers -- to the contrary. Outside of Guatemala City and some remote places along the borders, Guatemala is safe and has an enormous number of polite, helpful and good-hearted people among it's largely poor population.
I believe that bringing interested travelers to Guatemala, now, while there is still so much to appreciate and to learn can help stop some of the mindless destruction of natural resources and can help provide residents with a employment opportunities in community-based tourism and global exchange. BFGT offers a unique opportunity to see beneath" the surface; and to experience archeological, cultural and natural wonders found nowhere else in the world. We hope you will join us on a cultural adventure you will long treasure.
COME NOW AND EXPERIENCE THIS UNIQUE AND RARE COUNTRY.
Louise, "Luisa" Wisechild
is the founder and bilingual facilitator for Bright Future Global Tours. She is a lifelong solo and group traveler who first began her travels when she was a high school exchange student to Australia in 1970. Since then she has journeyed to Bali, Thailand, Mexico, Guatemala and Europe as well as throughout the US and Canada. Before starting Bright Future Global Tours, Louise co-ed tours to Oaxaca, for the Day of the Dead, as well as with Global Awareness through Experience, exploring the feminine dieties in archeological sites around Mexico. Louise first visited Guatemala in 1995 as a member of the Vashon Island - Santiago de Atitlán sister city committee. She began her study of Spanish in Quetzaltenango. Louise returned to Guatemala in 2011 where she has lived for the last twelve years in Flores, Antigua and San Pedro La Laguna. She is passionate about the natural beauty and indigenous cultures of Guatemala and in her time here has made many Guatemalan friends. Louise is the author of several books, including The Obsidian Mirror and The Mother I Carry as well as the editor of She Who Was Lost Is Remembered. She has written numerous essays including travel articles about indigenous healing and newspaper columns which discussed economic globalization and promoted local economy and global understanding. . Louise has a lifelong passion for social justice and individual and collective healing. She has extensive experience in leading enjoyable and inspiring small groups and has lectured and taught internationally. Committed to a life of learning by experience, Louise has worked as an author, university professor, counselor, workshop leader and trainer, columnist, writing teacher, massage therapist, ritual leader and minister, tarot reader, elder caregiver and jewelry designer. She earned a PhD in Creative Arts and Communications. Bright Future Global Tours combines Louise's enthusiasm for cross-cultural connection and natural beauty with her belief in the regenerative nature of travel, ceremony and creativity. |
