Beyond Booking Travel: Where the True Impact Lies
A suitcase. It’s a simple travel accessory that most everyone possesses. And yet, one travel advisor in New Bern, North Carolina, came to learn that none of the foster kids in her community owned one. Instead, when these children and teens were transferred to new homes, they were provided with a black trash bag to carry their belongings in. The realization struck a disconcerting chord in Anita English, who felt the process sent a damaging message to these adolescents that they were as disposable as their belongings. English wasn’t willing to let that happen and she rallied two fellow advisors (who just happen to be her competitors) to put their differences aside for a greater purpose in the world of travel.
Anita English of My Travel Advisor, Debby Lutz of Travel by DebbyL, and Maureen McNeill of Travel Leaders, all home-based advisors, founded “Luggage for Kids,” a year-old, non-profit organization that collects gently used suitcases and duffel bags from their clients and community so that every child in foster care can have their own luggage — and the dignity that goes along with it.
The cause these advisors took up had immediate results: Within just one week of spreading the word via email and flyers in town, they had collected 125 suitcases. Their efforts have also resulted in the establishment of a room at the Easter Seals foster facility in New Bern that is solely dedicated to storing and providing a showcase for luggage for kids between homes.
“We talked about the fact that we would love to do outreach programs, but for one person, it can sometimes be difficult to do anything,” said English. “Even though we are competitors, we knew we could come together as advisors and do something to help our community. It took me just five phone calls and an hour of my day to find the foster care contact I needed. That was a productive hour!”
English said the initiative has snowballed into further outreach efforts, including a book bag drive in August that led to every foster kid in their community starting off the school year with one of their own in hand.
“As an industry, we are selling experiences and travel. What better connection can we make than suitcases for children? I want to put a call out to fellow advisors to find out who runs the foster care in their community and ask them to collect luggage, book bags, toiletries and such from their clients. Even hotels and suppliers can spearhead drives like this and make a difference in these children's lives.”
This is just one example of how those in the travel industry have the power to enforce impactful change that may start small but has lasting effects. And there are more …
Reducing the travel footprint
On the environmental side, we have all witnessed the shift among suppliers and associations to combat a multitude of challenges, doing everything from eliminating plastic to taking up recycling and conservation efforts. According to Paula Vlamings, CEO of Tourism Cares, it’s predicted that there will be 800 million additional travelers by 2030. While that is good news for business, it also reminds us that destinations are becoming increasingly crowded, and fragile environments are under pressure.
Tourism Cares, which was founded by NTA and USTOA in 2003, along with representation from ASTA, IATAN and many of the industry’s leading companies and associations, has recently expanded its initial mission on the preservation of tourism assets to include social impact and sustainability.
“Tourism Cares believes that we, as an industry, must unite to create positive impact on the people and places we depend on,” said Vlamings. And the organization has come far in its efforts. Last year alone, it successfully connected communities through “Tourism Cares with Jordan,” a program that brought together 70 cross-sector travel industry representatives to connect with social enterprises — locally owned businesses with a social focus that go beyond charity for lasting change.
“In just one day there, we spent $1,000 at a women’s co-op community — enjoying their delicious food and buying beautiful handmade goods. These women normally earn $300 a month to support 40 families. By connecting them to the tourism economy — to operators and companies who can help them build capacity and drive visitors to them — we created a ripple effect of positive impact for this one community.”
Hurricane relief efforts
Tourism Cares has also been behind many of the mobilization efforts for destinations hit hard by the hurricanes this year and in 2017. Along with more than 250 companies and individuals from all sectors of travel and tourism, they raised close to $380,000 for Florida, the Caribbean and the Texas Gulf Coast. The organization is also in the midst of designing a program for Puerto Rico that celebrates the island’s progress, working with grassroots organizations on the island that are helping to develop community-based tourism to connect them to the travel industry.
In fact, in May 2019, they will host over 100 industry representatives from major travel associations, the cruise industry, tour operators, hospitality, airlines and travel advisors together for “Tourism Cares for Puerto Rico,” a multi-day program combining volunteering with knowledge exchange and exploration of business integration.
Advisors can play a role
Taking the first step towards making a difference can be the hardest part, but even one person can have an impact. For travel advisors, Vlamings suggests they offer their clients choices that make positive impacts in travel, provide a value add to their itineraries and give their clients a way to make a difference where they travel. Still not sure how to get started? Tourism Cares has a “Good Travels Advisor” program, a primer in how to do that with access to resources of recommended impact operators and responsible travel guidelines once the course is completed.
The Travel Corporation (TTC) — parent company of well-known brands such as Trafalgar, Luxury Gold, Insight Vacations, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, and many others — has spent the past ten years “making travel matter” through its TreadRight Foundation, which has supported more than 50 sustainable tourism projects worldwide to date, with the focus of helping to safeguard people, wildlife and the future of the planet for generations to come.
One project, in particular, that TTC’s Chief Executive Brett Tollman has spearheaded is the company’s partnership with “One Tree Planted,” a not-for-profit organization focused on global reforestation. Since 2014, for every TTC guest that opts to receive e-documents rather than printed travel materials, One Tree Planted plants a tree in destinations such as northern California, Vietnam and Tanzania, helping to replenish forests that have been hit by fires, droughts and logging.
“Travel is a force of good. We, in the industry, need to help reduce our footprint in different ways and support the communities we are visiting to help them sustain themselves and for the next generation of travelers. We all need to do our part and the best thing to do is to start today,” said Tollman.
The TTC executive implores advisors to get behind this program, which since its inception in 2018 has resulted in 74 percent of guests opting for e-docs over printed and an impressive 350 acres of reforestation. As an added bonus, the initiative has also created less work in fulfillment by travel advisors.
Tollman said he isn’t stopping until TTC reaches its target goal of 99 percent of clients using e-docs. “Some advisors are resisting the program because they don’t want to hand over the client’s email to us. But over 90 percent of our business comes from travel advisor partners. We are one of the advisor’s best friends. I personally signed a guarantee that in 60 years I never have and never will steal a customer from a travel advisor.”
To back up that promise, TTC has created the Travel Wallet program, whereby a first-time client is introduced to TTC’s family of brands upon their return and if they book another trip with one of the brands, TTC sends the advisor on record the full commission.
And further to its “go green” effort and desire to lessen the workload of advisors, TTC has created “My Travel Portal,” an online, easy-to-use resource that eliminates the need for paper and provides clients with access to all of their travel information digitally.
Tollman added that TTC intends to remove paper and plastic from its chain of supply by 2020.
Whether the change is environmental, social, or personal, there are suppliers, organizations and travel advisors across the nation doing their part behind the scenes every day in making a positive impact through travel. Will you be next?
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