by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:00 AM ET, Sun December 9, 2018
With each passing day, an increasing number of travelers become interested in making sustainable and socially conscious choices with their travel dollars.
Unfortunately, many travelers are unclear about the best way to do that and research bears that out.
Impact Travel Alliance's 2018 Thought Leadership Study "Bringing Sustainable Tourism to the Masses" found that while demand for sustainable travel experiences continues to grow, "of those who want to travel sustainably, more than one-third (35 percent) found it difficult and half didn't know how."
Kind Traveler, the world's first socially conscious 'Give + Get' hotel booking platform, has come up with an answer to that dilemma.
The company has just announced a new partnership with Steller, the world's leading storytelling app (think: cousin of Instagram). The app was co-founded by Richard Bangs who, for those not in the know, was part of Expedia's founding team and is often viewed as the father of modern adventure travel.
Together Kind Traveler and Steller have launched a slate of new travel "stories" that are designed to inspire travelers to vote with their travel dollars in ways that benefit local communities, the environment, and animals.
The stories, a collection of 10 trips, are now being featured on Steller's 'Explore' page and allow travelers to take an educational, insiders' journey into each getaway, viewing what it actually looks like to travel kindly and consciously, giving back to destinations and causes when booking via Kind Traveler.
"The partnership between Steller and Kind Traveler provides inspiration and an actionable pathway to empower travelers to foster sustainable travel experiences," Kind Traveler CEO and co-found Jessica Blotter explained to TravelPulse.
"People want to travel sustainably but they don't know how. This bridges a gap and creates a solution," added Blotter. "By featuring each getaway as a storybook, travelers can get a perspective on what it looks like to give back to the destinations they travel to when they book hotels on Kind Traveler."
The 10 getaways featured on Steller showcase recently launched hotels, local charities, and more.
Among the currently featured destinations are trips that allow you to travel kindly in Sonoma County, California; Belize; Costa Rica; the Florida Everglades; Jamaica; Maldives, and even Seattle, Washington.
Beyond the initial collection of 10, new stories are going to be created weekly to provide an even wider range of inspiration for those seeking examples of how to travel with a positive impact.
In addition, when booking hotels through the Kind Traveler platform, customers can make a $10 nightly donation to a local charity in the destination they plan to visit, establishing a direct, tangible way to give back.
There are 60 charities listed on Kind Traveler to choose from, Blotter said. Among them are such notable organizations at Animal Defenders International, which is involved in wildlife conservation efforts around the world, and the Manta Trust, a local charity in the Maldives focused on the conservation of the ocean's manta rays, their relatives, and their habitats.
What's more, that $10 nightly donation made through Kind Traveler immediately gives the traveler access to exclusive hotel rates that are anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent off the nightly rate.
"Our mission is to empower everyday travelers to become a force for good in ways that benefit local communities, the environment, and animals," said Blotter. "Because the travel industry is the second largest economic contributor in world, it's really important for the travel industry to take responsibility. Education is important. And creating a pathway to save what's important as it relates to communities, the environment, and animals is very important."
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