Travel can help make the world a better place – just ask Intrepid Urban Adventures.

The tour operator, with help from local NGOs and non-profit organizations around the world, has introduced a range of social enterprise tours that sheds light on important local issues. Called ‘In Focus’, this series of tours takes place in such destinations as Nepal, Taiwan and Romania.

“Some of these social enterprise projects take place far from the usual tourist route. The benefits of tourism don’t reach these people, and that is part of the current problem but also the opportunity,” said Tony Carne, general manager of Urban Adventures. “For the traveller to be welcomed into these places is like being at the forefront of discovery again in a world with fewer and fewer places that are truly off the beaten track.”

The ‘In Focus’ collection currently includes:

Bangalore Solar Slum Tour

Travellers go behind the scenes of Pollinate Energy, a social enterprise bringing solar light to India’s urban poor and reducing indoor air pollution caused by kerosene lamps and wood stoves.

Outcast Bucharest

This tour runs in partnership with the Parada Foundation, a Romanian NGO that provides employment to homeless locals. Travellers will see first-hand what life is like on city streets.

Taipei Sweet Potato Mama Project

This tour introduces travellers to single mothers who earn their living selling potatoes as street snacks as part of an initiative by Taiwan’s Genesis Social Welfare Foundation.

Kathmandu Cooking Class

This tour is presented in partnership with Seven Women, a social enterprise that empowers marginalized women in Nepal through literacy classes, skills training and income generation programs.

To ensure that their goodwill continues long after their return home, travellers have the option to remain in contact with the project and become a supporter, advocate or donor.

For more information visit urbanadventures.com.