The Power of Non-Profit Travel Programs to Promote Ecotourism
NGO Travel—the “quietly growing” sector of travel • More than 200 organizations have organized travel programs • Nearly 275,000 travelers make trips through non-profit organizations • Trips tend to be “higher-end” travel and tours, air, trip insurance, and related expenses total well over $1 billion Source: Educational Travel Conference Resource Directory, 2006, 2007
NGO Travel—the “quietly growing” sector of travel • NGOs include alumni associations, conservation organizations, museum membership societies, friends of zoos and aquariums, garden clubs and more • Travel offered is not only more expensive, but more focused on education and missions
Who Travels? You travel in the company of like-minded NWF members. We attract great people to our tours…people who are, well, like you! NWF members are curious and adventurous. They enjoy life and treasure the natural world. Sound familiar? If we are describing you, then you would find yourself in terrific company on our programs.
Who Travels? • Within the organization, travelers often represent the “Cream of the Crop” • For National Wildlife Federation, traveling members: – Give twice as much in donations to the organization as compared to a regular member – Are 2.5 times more likely to have an active subscription to Ranger Rick – Are 7 times more likely to have NWF in their will
Travelers—Externally and Internally • Have financial resources to travel on high-end tours • Have self-identified an interest in a cause(s) • Are most interested in experiential learning
• Represent some of the best prospects within the organization (whether you know about them or not) • Have self-selected travel through the organization
The perfect match The industry’s top travelers in terms of income, interest, and awareness
The NGO’s top prospects in terms of income, interest and awareness
How do you get them? And what do you do with them?
EDUCATE ABOUT ECOTOURISM!
The NWF Model • Program, program, program • Work with outstanding partners who meet our standards for sustainable tourism • Go from the implicit to the EXPLICIT • Let the trip speak for itself (with a little help)
The NWF Model—Program, Program, Program • What does NWF do and how can we highlight that through travel? • Finding the partners who not only understand the question, but can help answer it in new or unexpected ways – Connect People to Nature – Restore Wildlife and their Habitats – Confront Global Warming
Connect People with Nature
Restore Wildlife and Habitats • 70% of tours are to North American destinations. NWF works to restore North American wildlife and habitats
Confront Global Warming Frankly, you can’t realistically talk about global climate change, pollution, overpopulation, or any other planet-wide environmental issue without first understanding China. China’s approaches, successes, and challenges on every conservation front are some of the biggest pieces to the puzzle for solving Planet Earth’s ecological problems. This Expedition is more than just hugging a cute panda (although we have that for sure!) It is also about exploring and understanding these topics and more.
Deviating from Program, Program, Program...the TRUST factor
Confront Global Warming Don’t contribute to global warming! In 2008, every tour price includes the cost of a carbon offset, eliminating your carbon footprint during the Expedition. But our commitment doesn’t end there. Traveling responsibly and sensitively, with economic benefits to local communities, are core values on all programs. Working with a variety of partners we strive to make the world—natural and otherwise—a better place through education, discovery, experience, and firsthand knowledge.
The NWF Model—Outstanding Partners • Finding partners within the Ecotourism communities, including TIES – Alaska program was offered solely to members of the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association (AWRTA) – Working with other NGOs like Oceanic Society Expeditions
Outstanding Partners Type “wildlife tours” into an Internet search engine, and you’ll find more than 750,000 entries. Instead of wading through all that, you can rest assured we have selected the world’s best programs…there is no guesswork for you. We’ve found the best tour operators, the best destinations, and the best values. The only work you have to do is pick out a wildlifeviewing tour (or two or three) that is right for you.
Outstanding Partners You learn from expert guides on every tour. This is what it is all about, isn’t it? You travel to learn and explore—and discover. We’ve made sure that when you travel on a NWF Expedition, you go home not only with snapshots or souvenirs, but also knowledge, understanding and valuable experiences. Our guides make sure that happens on every trip.
Making the implicit EXPLICIT THE NWF CONNECTION The sight of hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes on the Platte is a testament to one of North America’s most comprehensive conservation movements. Despite the progress, North America continues to lose ground every day as wetland and native grassland habitats are destroyed. This Expedition underscores the importance of maintaining and enhancing protections provided under laws such as the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Farm Bill conservation title.
Making the implicit EXPLICIT
The Actual Trip • Letting the tour company’s best practices speak volumes • Conversational education • Impromptu messaging
The Actual Trip #11: We encourage a broad view of nature in its many manifestations and forms. Of course Expeditions highlight the kinds of animals we all love to see, like wolves and whales and bears. But our tours also take a more eclectic philosophy, embracing a wider definition of nature, and yielding infinite surprises from birds to bugs, wildflowers to wild animal tracks. Our travelers connect with everything around them when they travel, and come to appreciate all the guises that inspiration can take.
Summing it up... • The Power of Non-Profit Travel Programs to Promote Ecotourism • Moving past discussions and strong programs to the next step