Prominent explorer hosted in Colombo
Since July of last year, De Pecol
has been to 74 countries across 6 continents, addressing over 4,000
students and dignitaries. She is simultaneously volunteering for an
organization called Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation,
collecting water samples to test the world’s waterways for micro
plastics.
On an exciting mission to visit 176 countries while covering her carbon
footprint by planting one tree in every country she visits, Cassandra De Pecol
Founder, Explorer & Producer of Expedition 196, was hosted by the iconic Galle
Face Hotel while in Sri Lanka. Keen to gain insight into the heritage of the
country, The hotel provided her with just the right historical springboard to
launch her travails in the island, driven by her inner yearning to experience
cultures and environments around the world. Promoting responsible tourism along
the way, De Pecol hopes to inspire the youth and Millennial Generation in Sri
Lanka to incorporate sustainable tourism within their respective ambits.
Cassie presenting the Credo |
Sri Lanka is one of the 196 countries she must visit to break the Guinness World
Record. She is backed by the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism
and Skal International, along with 12 sponsors including AIG and Air New
Zealand, and a solid handful of supporters.
Since July of last year, De Pecol has been to 74 countries across 6 continents,
addressing over 4,000 students and dignitaries. She is simultaneously
volunteering for an organization called Adventurers and Scientists for
Conservation, collecting water samples to test the world’s waterways for micro
plastics.
The dynamic adventurer is also filming an educational documentary geared towards
high school and university students, so that her message can continue to reach
the youth long after her Expedition has successfully been completed. She has
plans of a universal project that will aim towards addressing the UN Sustainable
Development Goals. Her key to success has been keeping an open mind to new
opportunities.
During her sojourn in Sri Lanka, she met tourism students, Minister of Tourism,
dignitaries and Skal Associates.
She also embarked on an interesting journey, collecting footage from local
people, asking them what their definition of ‘Kindness’. She plans to promote
Sri Lanka in the US-based Hooplaha Good News media.
Cassandra De Pecol said, “The purpose of my visit to Sri Lanka is to inspire and
educate the tourism students, plant the tree with the students and dignitaries
to signify responsible tourism, and promote Sri Lanka in the international media
on my end.” She belies that companies practicing sustainable tourism hold many
advantages.
By supporting organizations that follow sustainable/regenerative policies, the
communities and economy will benefit because the core mission of organizations
who practice sustainability is to give back to communities through job
employment and increased infrastructure.
“By developing infrastructure centered on sustainable development, the company
has the opportunity to lessen costs of energy output through use of solar, low
flow shower systems, lessening water usage costs, using local products and
produce that decreases transportation costs and emissions and so on,” she points
out.
In the past, she has completed a survival challenge for Discovery Channel for a
21-day experiment to survive in the wilderness of Panama along with three
teammates. “This was the best, worst experience of my entire life!” she says. “I
learned a lot about myself and how I work with others. The experience itself was
life changing and I do not regret the survival experience.” The self-starter
even obtained a prestigious internship with Solimar International, funded by
USAID, in the Bolivian Amazon for two months as a Sustainability/Marketing
Advisor to small tour companies.
De Pecol has many accomplishments to her name despite her young age. She was
invited to attend the IIPT World Symposium in Johannesburg, South Africa, to
meet with Naomi King (Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister-in-law), Nandi Mandela
(Nelson Mandela’s Granddaughter) and Taleb Rifai, the UN Secretary General for
Tourism. She also had her first TEDx Talk in front of students at a high school
in Los Angeles.
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