The Places of Travel

From our roots of helping destinations in times of need, we have created a movement of travel professionals united in making a difference.

Tourism Cares has always placed destinations at the center of its mission. Whether it's been helping in disaster relief efforts, volunteering in national parks, or funding projects to build community capacity, when travel comes together, destinations see tremendous positive impacts.

Hover and scroll on the images below to see how Tourism Cares has supported destinations around the world:

Since 2003, Tourism Cares has organized events specifically for travel industry professionals to give back to tourism destinations. Through our “Meaningful Travel Summit”, we’ve paired education with volunteerism to create positive impacts economically, socially and environmentally for nearly 50 destinations around the world.

After Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean, Tourism Cares launched a fundraising campaign to aide in tourism recovery to more than a dozen organizations throughout the islands. In the USVI, a grant supported My Brother’s Workshop, an organization that provides hope, faith, and purpose to at-risk and high-risk young people in the USVI by offering mentoring, counseling, paid job training, education, and job placement. By strengthening destination communities, destinations remain stronger and more resilient in the wake of any future disasters.

Tourism Cares has supported conservation efforts in many of our public lands and spaces. As part of our grant fund with Globus Family of brands, Tourism Cares supported a grant to the Vital Ground Foundation to support permanent protection of 10 acres adjacent to Glacier National Park in an area of high priority grizzly bear habitat. More than 3 million visitors traveled to Glacier in 2019, many of them passing through the now protected area to hike, float, fish or view wildlife. Beyond tourist pressure, Montana’s booming housing market poses an additional risk to open space and wildlife habitat, but land conservation projects like Glacier Gateway and waterway protections are helping to protect and conserve the natural ecosystems. 

The biggest impact we can create are in the choices we make. By choosing to work with restaurants like Casa Borrega in New Orleans (whom Tourism Cares partnered with in 2018), our dollar goes farther. Casa Borrega, a B-Corp, values environment, social responsibility, music and culture, and urban and historical revitalization. By working with B-Corps and social enterprises, we can ensure that something as simple as eating a meal can create ripple effects for a community.

Tourism Cares supported REEF with grant funding and volunteer support of their fish surveying in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. A simple way to take a favorite vacation experience into a way to give back – volunteers and visitors can dive with REEF guides to count species of fish frequenting the coral reefs, which provides vital information on the health of our oceans.

 

Tourism Cares left a legacy in Peru in 2014 after a Summit that brought 30 travel professionals to the country to explore social enterprises, famed tourist sites and volunteer at the historic Mercado Central de San Pedro. As a result of the program, Turismo Cuida was established, the first sustainability-focused tourism non-profit in Peru.

The National Parks of the United States are some of our most coveted natural spaces. But with a lack of funding and constant challenges with overtourism, the NPS system requires both dollars and volunteer support. In 2016, Tourism Cares launched 5 events over the course of the centennial year, deploying nearly 500 travel industry professionals at beloved – and lesser known – parks around the United States. Their efforts provided NPS with more than $100,000 in volunteer value.

Tourism Cares supported Lindblad Expeditions to provide matching grants that directly benefit the communities of the Galápagos Islands. The people of Galápagos, where 80% of the economy depends on tourism, were plunged into crisis when COVID-19 abruptly halted travel in March 2020. And now, a year later, the slow and protracted recovery has left families, businesses and the community at large struggling with profound and sustained hardship. With this economic devastation, conservation is threatened.

SPOTLIGHT: PEOPLE + PLACES OF TOURISM CARES

Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) | Tourism Cares with the Florida Keys 2018

During our event in the Florida Keys, volunteers worked with CRF an organization actively restoring coral reefs on a massive scale, educating the public on the importance of our oceans, and using science to further coral research and coral reef monitoring techniques.