For travelers who want to take some kind of meaningful action on issues of environmental destruction and sustainability, hotel booking website Wander.io provides a way to make a positive contribution to sustainability every time one books reservations.
The company offers more than 250,000 hotels in 47,000 destinations and donates a portion of the profits from each booking to the customer's chosen cause. And it doesn't cost anything extra to make the donation.
"We try to have the most competitive prices," said Clementina Oliveras, founder and CEO of Wander. "We do a lot of price comparison every day, and we do have good prices."
But Wander is not selling itself on rock-bottom prices.
"The differentiator is that we're giving travelers a choice to select from five different causes they can help through their booking," said Oliveras. "They choose what cause to help, and it doesn't cost extra."
Wander donates up to 40 percent of its profits to organizations that support sustainability in one way or another: Vitamin Angels provides vitamins for children; Light of the World, which helps provide electricity in places that don't have it; Opportunity International, helping small entrepreneurs get started in places like Nicaragua and Africa; The World Wildlife Fund helps to protect nature; and Care International, which brings rescue, aid and assistance to disaster areas.
It's all about how you feel when you travel: When you feel you have done some good for the world, it makes you feel good.
Here is the scenario as Wander envisions it:
"You finally make it to Peru. The beautiful hotel you booked at wander.io a couple of months ago is everything you'd hoped for and you enjoy its charms while eagerly awaiting tomorrow's long-awaited adventure. An early start gets you to Machu Picchu where you excitedly climb steep slopes and feed off of what feels like a mystical energy. The landscape is mind blowing. Moved by the magic of the site, you smile.
At the same time, a family living off the grid just a few miles from where you are is smiling too. They are getting a solar panel that will provide clean energy for their home. It will help them save time and money. It will create a healthier environment for them and the entire planet and will foster education for their children. The best part is that they're getting the solar panel because of you and your trip.
[READMORE] READ MORE: Sustainable Travel Isn't Too Much to Ask [/READMORE]
With a background in economics, Oliveras earned a Masters degree from New York University in sustainable tourism. Born in Mexico, she is now based in Vancouver.
Previous to starting Wander, Oliveras operated a hotel near Playa del Carmen. She built the hotel, Le Reve, from scratch, starting in 2006 after Hurricane Wilma had destroyed the beach in the tourist area of Riviera Maya during October 2005. It took two years to build the hotel. By the time they were finished, the beach had restored itself.
After five years operating the hotel, she decided to move on to other projects.
"It was a very challenging project," she said. "I learned a lot. I learned that I wanted to continue doing something with tourism. I started to think about what I wanted to do. The urge to give something give back was overwhelming. I wanted to feel like doctors do when they go to their jobs every day. It's nice to feel like you're doing something besides just for yourself. It's a rewarding feeling."
Growing up in Mexico City, Oliveras had seen a lot of poverty and she wanted to do something to help alleviate the problem.
"I love children," she said. "I have two of my own. I love all children. I thought maybe I could build a shelter."
She had a sense that attitudes were changing among travelers and consumers, and she wanted to explore those changes. In her research, she saw signs that travelers are increasingly conscious of environmental protection and sustainability, and it was noticeably influencing their behavior and purchasing decisions when traveling.
For example, she discovered that 61 percent of travelers use their towels more than once in hotels before sending them to laundry. Almost a third of travelers use public transportation to conserve when on the road. When on vacation, one in three travelers dine at restaurants that use locally sourced ingredients.
"I believe things are changing," said Oliveras. "People are changing their spending habits. People are becoming very concerned with sharing what we have. I hear it all the time: a drive for people who need nonperishables, a coat drive in winter. From an early age, I believed that you become richer if you share what you have. If I am able to help someone, it's going to make me richer than if I have more money in the bank."
Oliveras is trying to make it easy for others to make purchasing decisions that will help causes they care about.
"We're trying to get people to change what they normally do," said Oliveras. "If you normally book with Expedia, come with us. Nothing changes in terms of what you can do on your vacation. Get to know us, and you can be part of this experience too."
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