More clarity required in travel philanthropy

Filed in archive Ethical travel on May 1, 2008

Elevate Destinations pays a proportion of the profit from every trip it sells to benefit the environmental preservation and community development of the host country. The company offers "extraordinary travel with a philanthropic intent, travel combined with social and environmental education inviting travelers to new levels of awareness and investment".

© Paul Mannix

I would be a lot happier if Elevate Travel put a figure on what percentage of their profits are donated to non-profit organisations in the host country, just saying "a percentage" is meaningless. If you really want to help you could forgo your trip and donate the whole trip spend to a worthy cause. To me it smacks a bit of have your cake and eat it, you can have a luxury tailored holiday giving you an insight into local culture but you have the additional feel good factor of being a philanthropist.

Elevate Destinations came to my attention when I was looking at the travel writing Bounty Board at Matador Travel and noticed that Elevate Destinations were looking for marketing agents to promote their trips thereby "earning you 5% of the net costs of each trip, while an additional 5% will go to grassroots NGOs to help advance social and environmental well being in the countries we travel to." Strange that's it easier to find out about Elevate Destinations donations policy in a marketing job advert than on their own site. Maybe the non profits in the host country get a higher percentage if Elevate Destinations sell a trip directly to the traveller?

I think that Elevate Destinations should have a clearly stated transparent written policy on their site about their donations policy.

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Response from: Peter Daams (05/01/08 4:35am)

You have a good point Karen.

It always rings alarm bells when causes are used as part of a sales pitch. It can generate a lot of press and goodwill. That is worth something, so if the company is only donating token amounts - it could end up being a pretty cheap form of advertising for them.

Openness goes a long way to building consumer confidence though and I certainly would be the kind of person who wouldn't be convinced unless I knew more details.

At least they are trying to do something though and 5% is actually a pretty decent percentage.

Response from: James (05/01/08 4:56am)

Historically, the worldwide travel industry has generated large profits and delivered culturally insulated travel experiences while ignoring the welfare of the local communities their clients visit. Those greedy corporate practices excluded economically challenged communities from sharing a reasonable percentage of the prosperity created when travelers visit their World Heritage Sites, enjoy their culture and recreate in their unique environments.

Today, there are old line travel companies announcing their philanthropic programs and advertising a token 'giving back,' trip (of the year) or new companies donating to charity if you sign up by X date -just so they can market to you.

Please support the travel industry's rush to embrace the marketing value of Philanthropic Travel by gently reminding them to increase their commitments to community in at least direct proportion to their marketing campaign budgets. Defining and demanding the full potential of philanthropic travel lies quietly in the hands of you -the enlightened consumer.

http://tinyurl.com/57tx43

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito." -Anita Roddick

Response from: Karen (05/01/08 5:53pm)

Peter, that' a good point that unscrupulous companies could use a "good cause" as a cheap form of advertising.

Yes Elevate Destinations are trying to do something, it would be good to have a figure put on that, clearly displayed on their site.

Response from: Karen (05/01/08 6:02pm)

James, I also think that pressure from travel consumers for cheap holidays is as much to blame for not giving back to communities as corporate greed.

You're right it is in the hands of the consumer to ensure that they themselves as individuals as well as travel companies behave ethically and have a conscience.

Do you work for Exquisite Safari, can you confirm that they donate $250 for every traveller who books one of their trips.

Response from: Dominique (05/03/08 12:18pm)

Hi--I am the founder and director of Elevate Destinations. Although the exact percentage of trip costs we donate is not sited in the introductory text on our home page, copy on specific destination pages (Africa and India) clearly states that we give 5% of trip costs to NGOs in the countries we visit. This is a good reminder to add this statement to all of our web pages.

We are happy to be a member of the growing philanthropic travel community, and feel that we have made a positive contribution in growing the voice of "giving back" through travel.

In addition to our donations, we organize donor travel for many leading international organizations, catalyzing large scale giving for urgent causes around the world: http://www.elevatedestinations.com/donortravel.html

As such, we perform a valuable service for small to mid size non-profits who would be strapped to organize this travel themselves.

Dominique Callimanopulos

Response from: Karen (05/03/08 1:03pm)

Thanks for you comment, Dominique. I think it would be a good thing if you mention the 5% on all the Elevate Destinations web pages. I did look for a figure on a few pages of the site and didn't find it.