Today, Tourism Cares, a leading non-profit dedicated to advancing sustainable tourism, celebrates 20 years of uniting the travel industry to create positive social and environmental impact in communities around the globe. In 2003, the organization hosted a volunteer clean-up event on New York City’s Ellis Island, which ultimately set the foundation for what Tourism Cares is today – a mission-driven global non-profit focused on empowering travel and tourism companies in their sustainability journeys by providing resources, education and programming.
As part of Tourism Cares’ 20-year milestone, the organization is excited to announce the unveiling of its new Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map, marking a significant step in transforming the industry into a collective entity focused on using travel as a force for good. The newly relaunched Meaningful Travel Map is a B2B tool that helps the travel trade and sustainably minded visitors easily source authentic, community-led experiences, products, services, accommodations and tours that can be added to itineraries, creating a competitive advantage to the growing consumer demand for responsible travel and providing direct impact on the people and places of travel. The platform is hosted by Tourism Cares’ partner Wander, which empowers destinations with technology to deliver exceptional map experiences.
“At Tourism Cares, we consider ourselves a pioneer in the meaningful travel movement – driving the industry to conduct business in a way that directly benefits host communities, protects cultural and environmental assets, and engages guests in a deeper, more responsible way,” shared Greg Takehara, CEO, Tourism Cares. “Through our innovative programs, such as our Meaningful Travel Summits and the development of our Meaningful Travel Map, we have been able to generate significant impact for local communities and social enterprises around the world. We are excited for this next phase of programming with our expanded map and its ability to diversify the travel supply chain to incorporate more impactful, locally led tourism experiences that will benefit destinations and the people that call those places home.”
As part of Tourism Cares’ strategic vision to protect the long-term survival of the travel industry, the organization has reconfigured its Meaningful Travel Map program to provide a single, one-stop global source of vetted impact partners. This interactive, user-friendly online platform provides industry professionals with a turn-key resource for discovering and contracting with impact-driven businesses, organizations and social enterprises, and contains enhanced features, such as category filtration, curated sustainability information, group booking offerings and embed capabilities.
“We developed this tool as a way to easily provide operators, advisors and other trade professionals with a one-stop global resource for sustainable product development while widening the impact of tourism to include businesses and non-profits that are not often marketed or packaged to the travel trade,” said John Sutherland, director of community impact at Tourism Cares. “While there are several consumer-oriented resources for sustainable travel experiences already out in market, this is the first B2B platform of its kind that not only includes vetted products, but also serves as a destination development tool that can help scale social enterprises and other community-led organizations to benefit from tourism dollars.”
“Our travelers today are looking for inspirational experiences that provide a positive impact in the communities they visit,” explained Allison Villasenor, managing director, travel product, partnerships and innovation at AAA Northeast. “Through the Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map, we now have a single source to find vetted sustainable businesses for our clients. We are thrilled to have this tool and know that we can deliver authentic products for travellers.”
Currently, the Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map contains more than 150 vetted sustainable experiences placed throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Jordan. Tourism Cares partner destinations that have committed to participate include, Destination Greater Victoria, Explore Asheville, Jordan Tourism Board, NYC Tourism + Conventions, Panama Tourism Authority, ProColombia, Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Willamette Valley Visitors Association.
The map is free to use for any industry professional and can be easily accessed via the Tourism Cares website at tourismcares.org/meaningful-map. Destinations that participate in the Meaningful Travel Map will also benefit from Tourism Cares’ membership program, which provides one-on-one consulting opportunities, professional development resources, access to educational programs and networking opportunities with more than 160 like-minded businesses in the travel trade.
Malia Asfour, Chair of the Tourism Cares Board and Director of the Jordan Tourism Board, North America, expressed her enthusiasm for the re-launch, stating, “The Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map represents a pivotal tool in our efforts to create a more sustainable travel industry. We have already seen significant success in countries like Jordan and Colombia and look forward to creating more impact in other destinations around the globe. We invite everyone to explore the renewed Meaningful Travel Map and join us on this transformative journey.”
Since its inception in 2003, Tourism Cares has been at the forefront of fostering sustainable tourism practices and empowering communities worldwide. As the organization looks ahead into the next two decades, it is imperative that the travel industry works together to protect its most critical assets – the people and places that we depend on.
