A Builder Redefining Travel

🎓 MSc in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship & Technology, Class of 2025

📍 Vienna, Austria

🌱 SDGs: 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities, 12 – Responsible Consumption & Production, 13 – Climate Action

💼 Co-Founder, Symbiotic Guides | Founder-in-progress, Liqon | Learner Assembly Alumni Officer 2025/26

A Builder Redefining Travel

Raffael Winkler has been to over 70 countries. It wasn't the passport stamps that stayed with him. It was a feeling he couldn't shake: that something about modern travel was fundamentally broken.

"A lot of tourism feels like consuming a destination rather than experiencing it."

That observation became the foundation for Symbiotic Guides, a travel company built around a simple but radical idea: the best trips are the ones where something flows back to the people who actually live there. Immersive hiking experiences through the Jordanian desert in partnership with Bedouin families. Local workshops in Vienna blending nature, movement, and human connection. Travel that leaves something behind, rather than taking it.

From observation to action

The idea for Symbiotic Guides didn't arrive in a single moment. It accumulated over years on the road, watching how tourism too often passed through communities without investing in them.

Back in Austria, Raffael also noticed a structural problem closer to home. Winter tourism is under serious threat from climate change, leaving most operators with a business model that only works a few months of the year.

"I wanted to create a business that supports local communities and offers something meaningful whatever the season."

The result is a model built on sustainability, resilience, and genuine cultural exchange. One that doesn't depend on snow.

The hardest lesson: you can't force it

Ask Raffael about his biggest challenge and he doesn't hesitate: staying focused.

He's been splitting his time between Symbiotic Guides, the early-stage development of Liqon, an energy-focused venture he's building on the side, and his degree. It's a lot to hold at once. And he has learned that moving fast isn't the same as arriving somewhere.

When conditions weren't right for the team's first trip to Jordan, they made the call to postpone rather than compromise on quality or safety. The trip is now planned for March 2027.

"It's better to wait and deliver a high-quality, safe experience than to rush something just to say it's done."

It's a lesson that cuts to the heart of what responsible entrepreneurship actually looks like in practice: knowing when not to launch.

Why Tomorrow University

For Raffael, the MSc wasn't just an education. It was a shift in how he thought.

"Tomorrow University taught me that you don't have to choose between building a profitable business and doing good. You can do both."

The program gave structure to ideas that had previously existed only as instincts. And the community around him, a cohort of impact-driven people building things that mattered, gave him the confidence to stop overthinking and start.

The remote-first format suited his life perfectly too.

"I wanted a program that was relevant to the future, not the past. And the setup meant I could keep working and traveling while I studied."

Advice for anyone thinking about starting

Raffael's advice is straightforward:

"Don't wait until you have the perfect plan. Just start. Use your time at ToU as a sandbox to test your ideas, ask for feedback, and connect with your peers."

Starting small, learning from real feedback, and iterating. That's the philosophy behind every pilot project Symbiotic Guides runs. And it's the same philosophy Tomorrow University is built around.

Want to follow Raffael's journey? Connect with him on LinkedIn.

👉 Raffael at a Glance

Career: Co-Founder of Symbiotic Guides, developing Liqon, previously traveling and building across 70+ countries.

Why Tomorrow University: Wanted a future-focused education that combined sustainability, technology, and the freedom to keep working and exploring.

Mission: Make adventure travel a genuine force for community connection and impact.

Advice: "Don't wait for the perfect plan. Start small, get feedback, and build from there."

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