Around 15 years ago and before YPDR became a concept some of our members were involved in the adventure, or so called Dark Tourism sector. For them this involved facilitating travel to places such as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, to unrecognised countries such as Transnistria.
To read about Transnistria click here.
As things progressed this led to an expansion of destinations covered, visited, or researched, with bi-partisanism, security conciseness, risk assessments and general relationship building and organization in some of the most difficult places to reach in the world were achieved.
What is bi-partisan?
From the YPDR perspective being bi-partisan has meant not making any overt comments about any regime, nor taking sides during any conflict. This is not merely done as a tactical move, but is also part of what we believe in, nothing can be achieved without dialogue and few wars have been stopped without it.
To read about our services click here.
In this respects our reputation precedes us and thus we are able to arrange travel, meetings and business opportunities where others simply could not. Quite simply we are the people who can open doors.
Business consultancy and industrial intelligence
Investing in, or doing business in parts of the world others are not tread can often be a very lucrative affair simply because no one else is there. China and their extensive network in Myanmar is one example, as is the many Asian companies that have done business in North Korea.
Even Cambodia 20 years ago was a relative minefield in doing business, yet has since seen a 7.7% yearly rise in GDP (Covid notwithstanding).
The problem usually is the question of who you should talk to. in Countries suffering difficulty, or under sanctions for example knowing the right person to speak to is of paramount importance. We not only arrange the meetings that you need, but more importantly make sure they are with the right people.
During our work consulting in multiple jurisdictions we have a number of success stories that most if not all would not even have heard of.
Media and Journalism with YPDR
Another key area of our experience and expertise is within the media and journalism world. From a media point of view we have arranged journalistic trips, interviews and meetings in some of the most isolated nations on earth, as well as some of the most logistically difficult to reach.
We also have members of our team that have and do work in frontline journalism which means we know what we need to provide to our clients, but more importantly also where the boundary is when it comes to safety.
The YPDR Company
While we have a number of different extremely close partner companies, we are entirely independent as a registered organisation. We view our independence as key to being able to achieve the goals of our clients, but are also happy to utilise our contacts to achieve these goals.
We are not purveyors of War Tourism
When it comes to the different terms used to refer to agencies that deal with travel to conflict zones there are many words thrown around such as dark tourism and war tourism, with the line often being muddied.
This muddiness comes from many places such as South Ossetia for example being frozen conflict zones. We fit into none of these categories.
What we arrange is travel to conflict areas for those embarking in trips that are not touristic in nature, be it journalism, humanitarianism, or journalistic work. We are though also not zealots when it comes to travel to war and conflict cones and appreciate that some people are looking to travel in order to simply see what is happening and research their next move.
With these things all taken into account, YPDR is your only option for traveling to the most hard to reach places on earth.
