What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable tourism is defined by the UN Environment Program and UN World Tourism Organization as activities that take into account its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. People and companies are now promoting the idea of sustainable tourism by committing to travelling in a way that has the least impact possible. With this approach to tourism and travel, we can reduce the effects of overtourism, support local and indigenous communities, protect natural resources and wildlife, and more.
The Role of Travel Companies
Travel companies like booking agencies, airlines and travel platforms like Villa Finder play a key role in promoting sustainable tourism. Meet Villa Finder and its mission to help people find the perfect villa, for a perfect holiday.
The Villa Finder founding team is very conscious of the effects of tourism on the planet and wanted to do their part in reversing the effects of climate change. Villa Finder introduced the “one booking, one tree” program, which plants one tree for every villa booked on their platform. The challenge, however, was to source the right projects, have visibility on their positive impact and be able to communicate their actions to their conscious travelers.
The Solution: Vetted Projects and Regular Impact Reporting
Villa Finder has subscribed to Handprint’s Impact Platform to find curated and vetted impact projects that tackle the most critical ecosystems in the planet. They decided to work with Mangrove Reforestation in Indonesia, planting one tree for every customer booking a Villa on their website.
“We have been planting trees before with other companies, and we were frustrated by the lack of transparency and reporting. By accessing Handprint’s Impact Platform, I can have real time reporting of my positive impact, and use different visualization tools to showcase the impact with employees and clients” says Daniel Rouquette – CEO & Cofounder at VillaFinder.
Handprint’s Impact Platform enables companies to access regular updates of their positive impact. Companies like Villa Finder can benefit from reducing impact data collection, improving their ability to quantify, benchmark, and trust their positive impact.
Villa Finder’s favourite aspect of Handprint’s Impact Platform is that the mentality goes beyond offsetting negative actions. “It’s more than just a patch on the negative effects of travelling” they say. It’s about leaving the world a better place than we actually found in the first place.
Telling Your Impact Story With Confidence
Villa Finder leveraged on their impact reporting dashboard and visualizations by creating a public impact page where they showcase photos, updates and stories of the project they support, making it a fantastic engagement tool for their customers. People searching for their next holiday home can see that when booking their perfect villa, for their perfect holiday, actually has a real positive impact on the planet too.
Villa Finder Leads the Sustainable Travel Narrative
Villa Finder has restored +6,000 mangrove trees in Indonesia with Handprint’s Impact Partners Yakopi and Yagasu. Their “little forest” has created huge benefits to the planet in terms of climate, biodiversity, health and employment. Villa Finder is a true example of sustainable tourism, aiming to reverse the negative effects of climate change by focusing on regenerating the planet at scale.
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