Meet ImpacTrip Team: Global Business Manager
Ana Lagoa is our global business manager. After opening Split’s programs in Croatia she is now the one in charge to manage the external relationships with commercial partners of ImpacTrip, marketing and communication management, and all the pre-arrival support of our volunteers before they start their journey with us. Besides her job is more at the back office, her sense of creativity and her person-driven personality can’t stop her to get along with volunteers every time she can, to remind her how amazing it is to be part of this project.
3 curiosities about you: (1) I have already lived in 4 different countries; (2) played church organ for 5 years; (3) addicted to dance
Describe yourself in 3 words. “Kindness, resilience and idealism”
What does traveling mean to you? “In one sentence: “Traveling allows you to become and discover so many different versions of yourself”; I would say that it is all about learning and teaching”
Why did you choose to be part of ImpacTrip Team? “Volunteering is part of my life since I become a person, with my own will. Then, after finishing my master’s in Sustainable Development I felt that I really wanted to integrate those two loves of my life. ImpacTrip was the perfect junction and the perfect fit on my values.”
The most remarkable moment for you at ImpacTrip: “Definitely my last week in Croatia, after 7 months opening the ImpacTrip programs in Split. It was a mixed feelings week, with so many goodbyes and hugs but also very rewarding to feel the love and respect from everyone that I met and worked with.”
What is for you the biggest challenge in the tourism sector nowadays? “I would say to change the paradigm of massive tourism to responsible tourism by making a shift on the way people travel. More then anything it is urgent to make travelers understand the impact of their choices locally while traveling.”
The most unforgettable experience abroad and why? “The 6 weeks I spent in São Tomé, Africa, doing a volunteer project with my best friend. It represented a big turn over in my life”
The 3 things you admire more in people “Humility, kindness, empathy”
What’s your favourite travel time and type? “Even if I like all kind of places and timings for traveling, I would always choose warm and beach places.”
Three things you always take with you when you travel: “(1) my hammock, 2) my yoga mat, 3) my bikinis” and three things you never take with you when you travel: “(1) my laptop, 2) hair drier, 3) my agenda”
Leave your motto: “If you can dream it, you can do it”
