Who are we & what do we do?

It was a bright, sunny morning in 2003 when four young women, their backpacks slung over their shoulders, rolled up to our small desk on Dunk Island in far north Queensland, Australia.

(travel junkies).

“We’re travel junkies going round Australia and New Zealand and we wanna go jet skiing” the pretty blond said in her unmistakeable American accent.

That simple, spontaneous answer did more than make us laugh, it painted a picture. It captured the essence of restless wanderers chasing adventure, collecting stories, and finding joy in faraway places.
And these girls had just inspired our new trading name – Traveljunkies.

But 3 years later everything changed when Larry paid a visit.

Cyclone Larry tore through Mission Beach and flattened the resort that supplied our customers. We lost our business and surrounding communities and local tourism operators faced devastation. Boats were gone, accommodations were damaged, and livelihoods were suddenly uncertain. Yet one thing remained strong: the determination of small businesses who refused to give up.

Traveljunkies decided to shine a light on those businesses. We set out to connect travellers with local tour operators, family-run accommodations, adventure guides, and passionate hosts who simply wanted to keep sharing their corner of paradise with the world.

The idea was simple: put small operators on the map, make them visible, and help them welcome back the travellers they depended on.

From those beginnings in far north Queensland, Traveljunkies has grown into a global platform. Today, we support small and emerging businesses in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors around the world. Whether it’s a boutique guesthouse in Greece, a dive operator in the Philippines, a community lodge in Kenya or pubs in the UK, we champion the entrepreneurs who bring authenticity, sustainability, and heart to their work.

Travel Junkies: seeking adventures.

While Traveljunkies supports small businesses, Travel Junkies are the people who inspired our name.
They are the explorers who set out with little more than a backpack and an appetite for discovery. They are the divers chasing coral reefs at dawn, the trekkers following mountain trails, the surfers searching for waves and the curious souls eager to taste local food at a family-run café.

Travel Junkies aren’t just looking for landmarks, they’re looking for experiences. And when they find them, they share them. A single traveller posting about a hidden island tour or an exciting night dive can bring a wave of visitors to a small operator who might otherwise struggle to be noticed.

They bring something else too. Time and again, it’s the flow of travel junkies, backpackers, digital nomads and adventure seekers that help small businesses bounce back after natural disasters, political challenges or global downturns. They spend where it matters, directly with the businesses on the ground.

Where business meets passion.

On that day on Dunk Island in 2003, four backpackers reminded us that tourism is, at its heart, about people. Their phrase, “we’re travel junkies” encapsulated both the hunger of travelers for authentic adventures and the lifeblood of the small businesses that host them.

And that’s what Traveljunkies continues to stand for. 

We are a business that exists to amplify the voices of small operators in travel, tourism, and hospitality. We help connect them to the travelers who value authenticity, personal service, and genuine connection. We believe the future of travel belongs not to the biggest players, but to the boldest dreamers, the entrepreneurs who take risks, care for their communities, and offer experiences you simply can’t find anywhere else.

And we thank the Travel Junkies around the world who help us keep our dreams alive.

An invitation to small business owners

If you run a small or emerging business in travel, tourism or hospitality, this is your story too. You know the challenges of competing with global giants, of keeping your doors open in uncertain times and of wearing every hat in the business. You also know the joy of welcoming guests, the pride of sharing your local culture and the satisfaction of seeing travelers leave with memories they’ll carry for a lifetime.

Traveljunkies is here for you. We are your platform, your advocate, and your connector to the very people who inspired our name, the Travel Junkies of the world. Because they are still out there, backpacks on, ready to walk up to your desk, your boat, your lodge, your café, and say: “We wanna …”

What next?

We invite small and emerging travel, tourism, and hospitality businesses to join us. We will display your business around the world with a free listing in our Traveljunkies global travel & adventure directory.
Completely free, no fees, no subscriptions & no time limit, just a genuine opportunity to connect with the Travel Junkies of the world.

The only question is: will you be ready to say, “Great, who are you, and what are you doing in our corner of the world?”

List your small business in Traveljunkies here – it’s free.

I wish you a very warm welcome.

Cliff Chapman
Traveljunkies

PS. You can easily find us. traveljunkies.com is on Google Page 1.