The leading non-profit organisation is marking its 20th anniversary by unveiling its Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Map, a tool to help the trade easily source authentic and community-led experiences to empower sustainable journeys.
As the demand for responsible travel heats up, the tool offers a competitive advantage by offering more than 150 vetted sustainable experiences throughout the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Columbia and Jordan. The Travel Map includes pin-pointed locations of the best community-led experiences, products, services, accommodations and tours that can be added to itineraries, creating a more sustainable holiday.
Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares, said: “Through our innovative programmes, 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.”
John Sutherland, director of community impact at Tourism Cares, commented: “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 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 organisations to benefit from tourism dollars.”
The Travel Map is free to use for any industry professional and can be viewed here. Destinations that participate in the Travel Map will also benefit from the Tourism Cares’ membership programme which provides one-on-one consulting opportunities, professional development resources, and access to educational materials.
