Destinations Looking to a More Sustainable Future of Travel

This year has put a lot into perspective. More people than ever before have been adjusting to working remotely and becoming better at time management; others have had to learn how to do schooling online or help their children do school while they themselves work. More people are spending quality time with family and exploring the outdoors like they never have. With this will certainly come a push to travel to sustainable vacation destinations, where people can relax, rejuvenate and explore a lush (or not so lush) paradise while doing good for the local communities that live there. Flip through this slideshow to see twelve of the destinations choosing to focus on sustainable travel, and what good they're doing for their communities and environment.

Napa Valley is famous for its wineries. Napa Valley Vintners, a nonprofit trade association located in the region, developed a scholarship program for students of color to study in fields such as winemaking, marketing and business. They've currently invested $1 million into the program.

UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa in the ecologically magnificent Trancoso, Brazil trains locals who have no prior experience in hospitality. The program provides language training and university tuition reimbursement to help empower locals to new heights. Three staff members completed the training in 2019, with 2020's goal to be twenty graduates.

Peru is an incredibly ecologically diverse country. The Q'omer Wasicha Project helps teach locals to farm organic crops and use fair trade practices. Several communities near Cusco are now trained to grow organic crops that would normally not survive the Andes' high altitudes.

andBeyond and the Africa Foundation partnered together to offer local children and adults a Conservation Lesson, teaching locals about the important work of conservation and helping them experience things like turtle hatchings and riding along with rangers at game parks. For many, this is the first opportunity for them to learn about conservation in such a hands-on way and inspires local communities to take part in these efforts.

Botswana's Belmond Eagle Island Lodge located in the Okavango Delta has brought potable water to local communities where before there was none. The lodge has provided them with two water tanks that store water brought in from the lodge itself. They also assist in providing medical clinics. Guests to the lodge can visit the Nxhoga village and learn about net-making, basket weaving and about the village culture.

Belmond's Road to Mandalay cruise in Myanmar hosts Dr. Hla Tun, the onboard doctor who disembarks for three days a week to head Belmond's free clinic that launched in 2011. The clinic serves many people in Myanmar who don't have access to medical services, many of them traveling on foot for miles to reach the clinic.

Luxury cruise line PONANT is launching a completely green ship in 2021 for its Antarctic cruises, Le Commandant-Charcot. The first-ever electric ship will have on-board scientists who will guide guests in scientific research about the uninhabited continent. The ship will also be able to cut through seven feet of thick ice, giving guests and scientists access to Peter I Island, where fewer people have set foot than the moon.

Costa Rica really embraces eco-tourism. Once, the country had the highest rate of deforestation in Latin America, but not anymore. Now, it is illegal to chop down a tree without governmental permission. The government also launched PES, a program that pays local farmers for protecting local biodiversity and watersheds. National parks and protected areas cover over a quarter of the country's landmass. Nayara Resorts' Nayara Tented Camp is located in a spot that had been completely deforested, but with the resort's help, over 40,000 indigenous trees have been planted.

Jamaica is home to an incredible coral reef system. The Oracabessa Foundation, created by Chris Blackwell, replants corals and has seen an increase in fish presence by 1,800 percent. The foundation's work is being replicated throughout other parts of Jamaica's reefs by other organizations, too. Blackwell's hotel, GoldenEye, offers guests the opportunity to plant coral, with profits from the diving excursion going back to the foundation.

Coral bleaching in the Maldives from factors such as tropical storms and climate change has led 60-90 percent of the reefs to die. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi is the only property located both on the beach and a coral reef. The resort gives guests the opportunity to adopt a coral frame, on which broken coral will regrow, for $175 per frame.

Belmond's Hotel das Cataratas, located near the Iguazu National Park, invested millions of Brazilian reales to renovate the park, creating a bike path and restoring the electricity supply. The hotel also invested in the Jaguars of Iguazu Project, which helped to track and conserve these incredible creatures, which were once down to only nine and are now slowly growing.

andBeyond's Phinda Private Game Reserve helps to conserve the endangered pangolin species from extinction. They are the most trafficked creature in the world, known for the keratin scales that cover their bodies. Locally extinct for decades, the andBeyond's reserve gives guests the opportunity to help in conservation efforts, replacing tracking tags and monitoring pangolin behavior.