LOS ANGELES—Kind Traveler, an internationally awarded responsible travel platform empowering travelers to positively impact local communities through a collection of 350+ hotel, charity, and destination partners, is evolving the travel industry with the launch of its highly anticipated Every Stay Gives Back (ESGB) community impact program. Launching following a successful six-month global pilot, where $73,000 in donations for seven local charities were mobilized by just 15 boutique hotels, ESGB marks a significant leap forward in responsible tourism.
Since the pilot program, the ESGB collection has doubled to represent 32 hotels and 17 charities in 19 global destinations. The program empowers travel dollars to fund local charities critical to the communities travelers visit with every guest stay—whether the booking occurs directly with the hotel or on a third-party platform with participating hotel and destination partners. In advancing responsible tourism principles, 100 percent of the proceeds raised are donated directly to the participating local charities advancing the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
“Coming out of a summer travel season marked by devastating wildfires, record-breaking heat across large parts of the globe, and ongoing social justice movements, travelers are more aware than ever of the need for travel that goes beyond doing no harm and gives back to support local communities and the environment,” said Jessica Blotter, CEO and Co-Founder of Kind Traveler, who also serves as Board Member for the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST). “Through the launch of Every Stay Gives Back, Kind Traveler has created a powerful program that makes it easy for every guest stay with participating hotel and destination partners to plant native trees in Hawaii, support wildlife rehabilitation efforts on Catalina Island, fund local schools in Belize, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica, and much more.”
Celebrating Positive Impact Metrics
According to Kind Traveler’s 2022 Impact Tourism Report, 97 percent of travelers want their travel dollars to positively impact the communities they visit and 75 percent agree traveling sustainably enhances their vacation experience. Despite this, half of travelers say they don’t know how to start.
As a pioneer in responsible tourism since 2016, Kind Traveler has empowered travelers to positively impact the communities they visit when they book through its Give + Get platform. Now, with the launch of Every Stay Gives Back, Kind Traveler takes its commitment to responsible travel one step further by mobilizing charitable funding and easy-to-share positive impact metrics with every guest stay. Hotels, tourism boards, and travelers can easily communicate and celebrate positive impact metrics through a live community impact report that displays as a digital dashboard displaying the funds raised and the details of the positive impact created.
For example, in the Hawaiian Islands, 1,400 carbon-sequestering breadfruit trees were planted with Hawaii Farm Trails; 7,000+ servings of Sonoma County-grown fruits and vegetables were provided to families facing food injustice while solving food waste with Farm to Pantry in Sonoma County, Calif.; 6,200 meals were provided to individuals facing food insecurity with The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert in Greater Palm Springs; 775 hours of enrichment programs were provided to students in an after-school program with Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center in Coastal Oregon and Washington; 5,500+ square feet of wetlands were created by Blue River Watershed Group providing habitats for wildlife and wildfire protection in Silverthorne, Colo.; 153 families received food for three days with Their Future Today working in Sri Lanka; and 250 students received school supplies for an after-school program with Abriendo Mentes in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.
Transformative Travel Awaits
The Every Stay Gives Back program boasts a collection of exceptional destinations, boutique gems, glamping experiences, and luxury resorts from around the world for travelers to choose from, all committed to promoting responsible tourism principles through the ESGB program. In California, lodging and destination partners are encouraged with special incentives to participate through the Visit California x Kind Traveler Kind Destination program launched earlier this year.
For destinations and hotels, ESGB represents a formalized, third-party validated giving program where a portion of every guest stay is donated to a local charity the hotel designates, regardless if the booking is directly with the hotel or originates on a third-party booking platform. What sets Every Stay Gives Back apart is its dedication to transparency and accountability. As third-party validation, Kind Traveler verifies and tracks monthly donations to local charities, where a digital ESGB dashboard makes it easy for lodging and destination partners to communicate their initiatives to guests and stakeholders effectively. Wood plaques representing the ESGB membership seal and QR codes are provided to lodging partners to easily communicate the positive impact metrics garnered and ways to get involved with every guest stay. A “How to Travel Kindly” section shares additional opportunities for travelers to get involved with volunteering and stewardship activities with charity beneficiaries.
“The travel industry has a unique opportunity to mobilize travel dollars in a way that fights the climate crisis, reduces economic inequality, strengthens community leadership, conserves the environment, and preserves the heritage of destinations. Kind Traveler’s new Every Stay Gives Back community impact program provides a valuable pathway for destinations and lodging partners to fund local charities, measure, and report positive impact metrics, and promote the adoption of more responsible travel practices,” says Wesley Espinosa, Interim Executive Director of Center for Responsible Travel (CREST).
With the launch of Every Stay Gives Back, Kind Traveler reinforces its position as a trailblazer in responsible tourism. By seamlessly integrating giving into the travel experience, Kind Traveler empowers travelers and hospitality partners to leave a legacy of positive change in the places they visit.
To learn more about Kind Traveler’s new Every Stay Gives Back community impact program and explore the positive impact you can make on your next vacation, visit:
