Impact Report 2024
Foreword
From humble beginnings during an unprecedented global crisis, The Conscious Travel Foundation has grown into a vibrant, global community united by a shared belief in tourism’s power to support local livelihoods, protect wildlife and ecosystems, and champion meaningful, regenerative travel.
As we enter our sixth year with over 100 members, our community spans 26 countries and ten industry sectors, from travel designers and tour operators to DMCs, experience providers, accommodation, sales and marketing, representation, consultancies, media, and not-for-profits.
Together, we’ve donated over £193,500 for grassroots causes, hosted over 45 hours of learning through webinars and panel discussions, and engaged with themes ranging from climate action and impact reporting, to inclusive and indigenous tourism.
We’ve also reached some key milestones: winning the PURE Life Experiences 2024 Change Makers Award for our community-led philanthropy programme, publishing three industry white papers, and evolving from making charitable donations to a structured grant-making programme funding four projects through our Community Impact Fund. 2024 also saw us launch our collaborative Climate Fund with Pinwheel, investing in nature restoration and carbon removal projects around the world.
We’ve achieved so much together, and there’s more ahead. In the pages that follow, we’re proud to share the Foundation’s impact in 2024 and our ambitions for 2025 and beyond. To all our members, mentors, partners, sponsors and friends who have joined us and supported us, thank you.
The Conscious Travel Foundation Team
Our Pillars
Connecting Good People
Our members share a common goal prioritising purpose alongside profit so that travel leaves a net-positive impact on cultures, communities, wildlife and habitats around the world
Learning Together
We provide educational content and contacts that empower o members to make changes in their businesses and destinatio through our programme of thought leadership, mentorship a collaboration with industry experts.
Philanthropy
The Conscious Travel Foundation is a registered Community I Company (CIC) and grant-making organisation, supporting gr roots projects around the world through our Member Directe Giving and Community Impact Fund initiatives.
Connecting Good People
2024 Highlights
12 thought leaders in our mentorship team
160 people connected via an inspiring and helpful Whatsapp Group
90
travel businesses connected from 26 countries
1
Fundraising Auction raising just under £80,000 at The Lanesborough, London
8 hours of virtual Meet The Members networking events
“At The Conscious Travel Foundation, there are so many inspiring and authentic individuals who are leading how we think, act and change the tourism industry. It drives me to do better and puts me in a room of people who will help teach me and push me to be better”.
Quinn Meyer, Crees Manu, Peru
Our active community of like-minded global travel businesses are at varying stages on their positive impact journey, committed to prioritising purpose alongside profit so that travel leaves a netpositive impact on cultures, communities, wildlife and habitats around the world.
We welcome members from all areas of the industry, including:
Hotels & Lodges
DMCs & Guides
Travel Designers & Tour Operators
PR & marketing businesses
Media Consultants
Not-for-profits
You can find them in our Member Directory
Our Mentors
Our mentors play a vital role in shaping the Foundation’s educational content and impact. In 2024, we welcomed Julie Cheetham and Edmund Morris to the team, expanding our expertise in data, storytelling and systems change. Edmund’s session, “Selling Sustainability: Where Storytelling and Data Meet”, was a standout, and we look forward to hosting more sessions with him in 2025.
Juliet Kinsman continued to be a core contributor, moderating popular learning sessions and editing our Conscious Questions guide. We partnered with members Ahipara to create an inclusive New Zealand adventure for our mentor Sophie Morgan, delivered carbon literacy training with Charlie Cotton, and worked with Portia Hart on our Conscious Conversations series and main stage talk at PURE. Together, our mentors bring a wealth of experience, insight and momentum to The Conscious Travel Foundation, helping our members turn learning into action.
Penny Rafferty
CHAIR, LUXURY LODGES OF AUSTRALIA
Juliet Kinsman JOURNALIST, SPEAKER, SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTAN
Nina Karnikowski WRITER JOURNALIST SUSTAINABILITY ADVOCATE
Portia Hart HOTELIER PHILANTHROPIST
Sophie Morgan TV PRESENTER, WRITER, ACCESSIBLILITY CAMPAIGNER
Ang Tshering HOTELIER
Caliopy Glaros
CONSULTANT
Charlie Cotton CARBON CONSULTANT
Julie Cheetham Milo Putnam COO TRAVALYST ETHICAL WILDLIFE SPECIALIST
Edmund Morris FOUNDER EQUATOR
“This is my third year being part of The Conscious Travel Foundation community and it just keeps getting better. It is such a friendly and welcoming space, and members are always helping each other in a thoughtful and practical way. I have connected with some really excellent and interesting people and I am now collaborating on new retreat projects with other members. The free sessions on offer are also so good - I learn a lot and feel welcomed in a completely non-judgemental way. It is a real testament to Olivia and Maudie that they have created such a productive, supportive and friendly community. I haven’t found anything else like it, it’s been good for me personally and professionally and I am so grateful.”
Jools Sampson, Reclaim Yourself
The Auction
In November 2024, we hosted our second annual fundraising auction at The Lanesborough, generously sponsored by Oetker Collection, SUJÁN and ÀNI Private Resorts. The evening brought together members, donors and friends of the Foundation for a night filled with connection, generosity and purpose with incredible entertainment sponsored by Katie Terrington Private Travel and AW Private Travel. Thanks to the incredible support of our community and the auctioneering skills of Simon London, we raised £77,622 on the night surpassing our £60,000 target. These vital funds will support our continued education and advocacy work, and expand our philanthropy programme, enabling us to fund two more grassroots projects in early 2025. The auction has become a cornerstone of our fundraising calendar, and we look forward to hosting the event once again at The Lanesborough in 2025.
Sponsored By
WhatWeSaidWe’dDo
Grow members to 100 through: proactive outreach, open sessions to engage potential new members, and through partnerships and speaker engagements.
WhatWeDid
Grew membership to 90 members, a slower growth than projected. However, we secured ÀNI Private Resorts as corporate sponsor which helped to fill the deficit in membership fees. We were more active when it came to speaker opportunities, using our Conscious Questions guide and campaign to speak at trade shows, including Around The World and Pure.
Introduce a new corporate membership tier for larger travel businesses in the Tour Operators and Agencies sector.
We introduced two new membership tiers tailored for midsize and large tour operators. We were welcomed The Unforgettable Travel Company and Steppes Travel in 2024, with Jacada and Scott Dunn set to come on board in 2025 in line with their annual budget cycles.
Increase the regularity of our popular ‘Meet The Member sessions to foster deeper connection and knowledge share as our community grows.
We hosted 8 sessions throughout the year, accommodating our members across different time zones. These popular sessions continue to facilitate positive connections amongst our members and allow the TCTF to keep up to date with the needs of our members.
Continue to deepen relationships and participate in other like-minded networks, like Women In Travel CIC, and on strategic partnership with members like Weeva.
We partnered with Weeva and BOUTECO to release our industry-wide Conscious Questions guide, launched our Climate Fund in partnership with Pinwheel, continued taking part of Women In Travel CIC Male Allyship Programme, and attended the IWTTF Forum and Awards, where we were honoured to be nominated for DEI Champions of the Year.
What’s Next
Growing our global community: Following a membership deficit applications, we aim to extend our network to 120+ members in
Expand in-person connections: Host more face-to-face meet-ups members and aligned networks such as BOUTECO and The Cond
Leverage global gatherings: Bring members together around glo WTM through curated pre-, during- and post-show events to stre purpose and industry advocacy.
Champion our community: Proactively apply and highlight indus the Foundation and on behalf of our members — to elevate and our network.
Host our third annual fundraising auction: Return to The Lanesb welcoming 100 guests for an evening of purpose-driven celebrat
Enhance our digital hub: Invest in the Member Portal and websit bios, and create individual member profiles — developing deepe across our community.
Learning Together
2024 Highlights
1 climate action strategy and Climate Fund launched alongside Pinwheel
1
people certified Carbon Literate in partnership with ecollective
2 talks delivered for PURE Life Experiences at Open House online webinars, workshops and panel discussions 11
industry-wide ‘Conscious Questions’ guide released with BOUTECO and Weeva
The Conscious Travel Foundation provides educational content and contacts that empower our members to make changes in their businesses and destinations. From expert-led panel discussions and intimate roundtables to one-to-one consultations, our sessions are designed to inspire, inform and turn intent into tangible action.
In 2024 we explored critical themes from the ethical and geopolitical forces shaping tourism today, to designing inclusive and accessible travel experiences. Members have engaged in hands-on sessions covering everything from supply chain evaluation to crafting effective wildlife policies, alongside creative webinars on marketing and storytelling — ensuring our approach remains holistic and actionable. While we actively encourage live participation, we know our global community needs flexibility due to time zone constraints, so we record sessions where possible, making them available on demand in our Member Portal for continued learning and team training.
“Wild Paths joined the Foundation to be part of a community of like-minded businesses and hoped there would be learning opportunities through idea sharing and peer engagement. Those have been prevalent, however our business has hugely benefited from mentor Sophie Morgan and the focus on accessible travel. We now have a programme of Adaptive Safaris; with itineraries created for wheelchair users to explore southern Africa. None of this would have been possible if we hadn’t joined The Conscious Travel Foundation!”
Open House At PURE
In September 2024, The Conscious Travel Foundation co-curated and presented two sessions at PURE’s Open House in Marrakech. On the main stage, our session “Redefining Philanthropy: Finding New Ways to Make Your Money Have an Impact” featured a powerful discussion between mentor Portia Hart and philanthropy committee member and filmmaker Kuba Nowak. The conversation examined how to rebalance the power dynamics that often exist in traditional philanthropy — where funders typically hold the majority of decision-making authority and explored how to foster equitable, respectful partnerships between donors and recipients. Through short film clips, we brought the voices of project leaders from Kenya, Colombia, Morocco and Nepal directly to the audience, spotlighting the transformative potential of collaborative philanthropy.
TheFoundation deliveredaworkshop,“Conscious Questions:WhattoAskandWhyWhenSeeking SustainabilityinTravel”,alongsidementorsJuliet KinsmanandJulieCheetham.Designedasaprecursorto theensuingmeetingsthroughthePUREshow,the sessionencouragedthePUREcommunitytoprioritise conversationsaroundimpactacrosstheweekahead, offeringpracticaltoolsandpromptingpeer-to-peer sharingamongPureists.
Capping off a meaningful week, The Conscious Travel Foundation — alongside sponsors and co-founders Joro Experiences — was honoured to receive the 2024 Change-Makers Award. The recognition celebrated our community-based philanthropy strategy and white paper, developed with mentor Caliopy Glaros and funded by Joro Experiences. This work underpins our trust-based approach to philanthropic funding, designed to support self-sustaining tourism initiatives that prioritise community empowerment and long-term impact.
"When considering conscious travel and how to take steps towards sustainability, the amount to consider feels overwhelming and it's a struggle to know where to begin. Enter The Conscious Travel Foundation. The team are always on hand with sage guidance, the right contact, acting as fonts of knowledge on important topics. It's invaluable to have this incredible network of likeminded people and businesses around the world who have formed a true community, going above and beyond to share their personal experiences and lift and encourage one another's progress and successes, no matter how small. We are proud to be members."
Rebecca Gawley, The Unforgettable Travel Company
Climate Action
As part of launching a wider climate action strategy, in 2024 introduced The Conscious Travel Foundation Climate Fund partnership with leading platform Pinwheel a simple, im way for our members to fund leading climate and biodivers restoration projects around the world. With the industry responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions, 3% of which from aviation, our climate action programme was designed make education, reduction and repair as simple, yet effecti possible for our members.
From Carbon Literacy training with ecollective and educatio reduction strategies, to collaborating with Pinwheel to deve vetted portfolio of best-in-class GHG and carbon removal, a as biodiversity projects, we aim to fund these initiatives as community through a contribution-based model.
AspartofournewClimateFund,memberscanparticipatein oursharedFoundationfundorabespokeportfolio,allowing theirteamorclientstochoosewhichprojectstosupport, makingclimateactionpersonalandengaging.Impactistracked inrealtime,visualisedonaninteractiveglobe,andaggregated impactreportsareproduced sowecanseethedifference we ’remakingasacommunity.
Six members Joro Experiences, AW Private Travel, Senderos, Katie Terrington Private Travel, Lemongrass Marketing took place in our pilot, participating in initial meetings to shape the scheme for different types of travel businesses and revenue models.
For the initial pilot, £13,106 was allocated and paid to projects, with 840 tonnes of C02 avoided. Participating members receive bi-annual reports accessed via the Pinwheel dashboard and reporting system.
Rainwater harvesting bunds by JustDiggit
2024 Climate Projects
From seagrass and mangrove restoration in Puerto Rico to carbon removal through enhanced rock weathering in the UK, our global portfolio focuses on high-quality, science-backed solutions.
£32,160 worth of funding was committed by members in 2024 but was not paid-out to projects within the 2024 reporting period. The full impact of credits and payments to projects will be reported in our 2025 Impact Report. Interim reports are accessed by members participating in the scheme.
GreenhouseGasDestruction
USA, SAUDI ARABIA, THAILAND
SeagrassandMangroveRestoration
PUERTO RICO
RainwaterHarvestingBunds
KENYA & TANZANIA
“Obsessing over language and playing around with how to maximise the power of words is my reason for being, and I’m deeply grateful to the Conscious Travel Foundation community for giving me the space to not only express original ideas but for us all to help move the conversation forward — together. I'm not just a big believer in the kind of travel that changes us but also the kind of conversations that make us uncomfortable so we can grow. Hosting our ETHICS, ECONOMICS AND GEOPOLITICS session in 2024 gave me the rare opportunity to bring together four big-thinking global citizens Kate Bloomer, Gaurav Sinha and Hjörtur Smárason so we could reflect on the transformative potential of tourism in regions marked by controversy and conflict and widen worldviews where we might carry our own biases. The depth of that dialogue will stay with me forever — from their personal stories of perspective-shifting journeys to weighing up the ethics and trade-offs of travelling to places with questionable human rights records while remembering regular people are not necessarily their countries’ politics.
My aim isn't just to be an agitator I’m ever trying to listen, to learn, and to keep evolving myself in a world where politics, economics, inequalities can be really hard to wrap heads around, and as a freelancer who spends much of their working time solo, it’s oxygen to be able to connect internationally with those who might have different takes on topics to navigate the nuance and so, so respectfully.”
Juliet Kinsman, BOUTECO
WhatWeSaidWe’dDo
Launch certified Carbon Literacy Courses in partnership with ecollective for members.
WhatWeDid
Hosted 5 Carbon Literacy courses for our members as part of our Climate Action education and strategy for our members. 40 people certified via two in-person training days at Google HQ, and 3 online courses for our global members.
Research and create a shared Climate Fund for members of the Foundation to work with a portfolio of verified projects for balancing unavoidable travel emissions.
Launched a Climate Fund for members alongside Pinwheel, creating a pilot group of 6 members. Codeveloped a verified gold-standard portfolio of 6 biodiversity and carbon/GHG removal projects for a shared Foundation portfolio, with the option for members to create bespoke portfolios. Ran 2 introductory live sessions for members to introduce the Climate Fund, produced a how to’ guide and facilitated one-toone meetings between members and Pinwheel to find out more.
Curate a talk on Philanthropy for Open House at PURE, based on the research from our industry-wide whitepaper and learnings from our programme.
Delivered a session on the main stage that brought the projects to the Pure community through recorded video contributions from the leaders of grassroots initiatives. These insights not only shaped the talk itself but continue to inform and strengthen our evolving approach to trust-based philanthropy across the Foundation.
Develop and launch ‘Conscious Questions’ as an opensource guide for the travel industry covering the best questions to ask and why when seeking sustainability in travel.
Published Conscious Questions on Earth Day 2024, alongside BOUTECO and Weeva as an open source industry guide. We delivered workshops at Around The World, PURE and hosted the guide on our website as an open-source resource promoted via our database and that of partners such as BOUTECO and Lemongrass Marketing. The guide had over 320 downloads in 2024.
What’s Next
In 2025, our learning programme will balance thought-leadership with practical workshops that support our members in achieving their impact goals.
Elevate peer-to-peer learning: Based on feedback from our 2024 member survey, we’re increasing opportunities for peer-led sessions. This includes roundtables on topics like social media and inclusivity, and sharing gold-standard resources such as member-created Impact Reports and policies to facilitate real-world knowledge exchange.
Expand our Climate Action: We’ll continue our partnership with ecollective, offering Carbon Literacy courses, aiming for over 50% of our member businesses to have at least one team member certified by the end of 2025. We aim to grow the Climate Fund particularly by onboarding tour operators and agent members, in partnership with our members and Pinwheel we’ll share strategies and case studies to showcase how funding projects can be implemented by different types of travel businesses.
Create practical, reusable training tools: As more members use our content for internal ‘lunch and learns’ and team development, we’re committed to creating more workshop-style materials that can be easily adapted and shared in-house by our members.
Celebrate and share member stories: Introducing a monthly newsletter to continue to spotlight inspiring work and news from our members. We invite the community to share their successes, which we’ll amplify across our platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn to educate, and inspire others.
2024 Highlights
2
new Community Impact Fund projects selected
members, mentors and grant-making experts on our Philanthropy Committee
£19,500 donated through our Member Directed Giving initiative
11 keynote on Philanthropy delivered at PURE’s Open House
1
£48,000 funding committed to two new grantees
2 projects continue to be supported through year two of funding
PhilanthropysitsattheheartofTheConsciousTravel Foundation.Throughmembershipfeesandfundraising events,wechannelresourcesintograssrootsprojects aroundtheworld supportinginitiativesconnectedto tourismthatdeliverreal,lastingimpactforcommunities andtheenvironment.
continued to support Phaplu Mountain Bike Club in Nepal and s Brasília through our Community Impact Fund grants and membership dation. With support from our philanthropy committee, we also wo new grantees: Fundación Green Apple in Colombia and the Foundation in New Zealand.
th our members and mentor Caliopy Glaros, we are committed to r approach — ensuring our philanthropy remains thoughtful, transparent nity-led, with funding decisions rooted in trust and long-term impact.
Member Directed Giving
Our Member Directed Giving programme allows members on the ground to identify and support grassroots projects in their community, and develop meaningful philanthropic partnerships. Members give through us, donating half of their membership fees directly to projects, with many members giving significantly more funds to increase their impact.
Where members already have partnerships or foundations in place, we can raise the profile of these projects within our community, and they can apply for our Community Impact Fund grants. Where members are seeking to develop philanthropic partnerships, our criteria and framework provide a robust guide to doing so.
In 2024, our members supported 31 projects in 19 countries around the world through our Member Directed Giving scheme.
Impact Map
Environment Society of Oman HUD HUD TRAVELS
Polar Bears International NORDFOLK
Responsible Tourism in Hawaii
THE COCONUT TRAVELER
Dar Taliba PLAN IT MOROCCO
Reef2Reef TRULY PANAMA
Frente Insular de la Reserva Marina de Galapagos MONTEMAR ECO LUXURY VILLAS
Chilcabamba Florilegium Project TROPIC ECO
CreesFoundation CREES MANU
South Island Trust DM AFRICA
Ripples International PATCHWORK TRAVEL
Makurian Community Project
THE SAFAR SERIES
Mara Elephant Project LH TRAVEL
Oceans Alive SEAS4L FE
Bridges For Music AMADI
The Lanka Foundation for the Blind THE FABULOUS GETAWAY
Phaplu Mountain Bike Club BEYUL EXPERIENCES & TIGER MOUNTAIN POKHARA LODGE
The Shakti Foundation BANYAN TOURS
Only One DIVE BUTLER
Villa Joali AMILLA VACD
TEARDROP HOTELS
Upgrading homes of elderly community members
GANGTEY LODGE
New Light SAMPAN
Special Education Center School ÀN PR VATE RESORTS
The Datai Pledge THE DATAI LANGKAWI
Junjungan Village ASIA CONC ERGE
Makingtrax Foundation
AH PARA
SwaVana SABI SABI
Cattle Protection
TEARDROP HUMMINGBIRD
Kandurata Lama Niwasa AUTHENTICIT ES
The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust
WILD BUSH LUXURY
Community Impact Fund
Our Community Impact Fund is funded by membership fees fro travel designer, tour operator, marketing and consultant memb alongside funds raised by events and donations. Driven by our Member Directed Giving programme and nominations from ou community, we select two beneficiaries per annual award cycle receive a comprehensive award spanning three years. The Community Impact Fund comprises a grant of £24,000 (£10,000 year 1, £8,000 in year 2, £6,000 in year 3), membership benefits vital networking support, all aimed at ensuring the long-term fin sustainability of these projects.
The Foundation's approach champions grassroots initiatives worldwide, emphasising their potential to generate income thro tourism activities. All members are able to nominate organisatio and projects, in addition to the Member-Directed Giving project being invited to apply for The Community Impact Fund. We see members in destination providing a vital channel for identifying projects.
“KAI is proud to be a member of such an engaged community of industry difference makers. It's a massive honour to serve on the philanthropy committee and it’s been humbling to see how many worthy projects are being spearheaded by Foundation members. While choosing only two grant recipients proved incredibly difficult, the collaborative approach to reviewing the applications for the Community Impact Fund is inspiring. Learning about these incredible efforts instills confidence that the future of our industry, and planet, is in good hands. It's exciting to think about what the future holds for the Fund, and the Foundation as a whole.”
David Kartagener, KAI
2023/4 Grant Update
TransStories Brasilía
BRAZIL
Sama Sama International is on a mission to support marginalised communities by providing opportunities through tourism and tour guiding training around the world. They received one o our Community Impact Fund grants to bring a bold, necessary vision to life: a tourism experience in Brazil led by trans women, centred on their stories, and grounded in their lived realities. A year in, TransStories Brasília has laid powerful foundations for what promises to be transformative initiative for the trans community it serves. Against a backdrop of rising antitrans rhetoric and shrinking funding landscapes, the project has made space for dignity, employment, and visibility in Brazil’s capital.
Year One Highlights:
Strategic Pivot: Successfully shifted the project to Brasília after initial setbacks in São Paulo, forging a lasting partnership with LGBTQIA+ centre Casa Rosa.
Community-Led Design: Engaged directly with the local community to co-create safe, relevant, and resonant tour formats.
Training Launch: Prepared to deliver a fully-funded, 30-session leadership training for six trainees, shaped by community workshops in May 2025.
National Recognition: Awarded Silver at the 2024 LATA Responsible Tourism Awards; featured in multiple Brazilian media outlets.
2023/4 Grant Update
NEPAL
One year since receiving a Community Impact Fund grant, Phaplu Mountain Bike Club is proving just how far a bike and a bold vision can go. In the remote Himalayan town of Phaplu, PMBC has become a dynamic force for youth opportunity, community pride, and rural regeneration. Founded by TCTF member and mentor Ang Tshering Lama, the club has transformed mountain biking from a passion into a pathway — one that is guiding a new generation away from outmigration and toward leadership, sustainability, and joy.
Year One Highlights:
Trailblazing Development: Built two new trails with the Himalayan Trust and launched Nepal’s first online GPS trail map, showcasing Phaplu as a premier adventure tourism destination.
Global Spotlight: Doubled international participation at the Enduro Ratnange Race, attracting pro riders and boosting local income across guesthouses, shops, and families.
Youth Acceleration: Two teenage riders placed 4th and 6th in Nepal s Asia Enduro Race; youth trained alongside pros in leadership and sustainability sessions.
Creative Roots: Though construction of the Express Yourself Centre is delayed due to governmental restrictions, arts and creativity sessions have continued—keeping the vision alive and community engaged. The Centre will be build once planning has been resolved.
Conservation Through Collaboration: Trails are now tied to reforestation pledges and protection agreements with local forest groups.
Phaplu Mountain Bike Club
Philanthropy Committee
Bringing invaluable hands-on experience and grant-making and fundraising expertise, our Philanthropy Committee comprise a dynamic group of members, mentors, and friends of the Foundation that help us select our Community Impact Fund projects.
Using our award-winning framework, they were tasked with selecting two impactful projects to receive the Community Impact Fund: a three-year grant of £24,000, alongside essential networking support through our membership. Thanks to the help and consideration of this inspiring team, we were able to select two more exceptional initiatives, chosen from an outstanding pool of nominations submitted by our community.
Typically, serving on the committee is one-year position, to provide opportunities for other members to take part. We have asked some Committee Members to stay on as they bring a great deal of experience of grant-making and operating not-for-profits to the process. All members are encouraged to register interest.
Cris Nogueira
CRIS NOGUEIRA TRAVEL BRAZIL
Dave Kartagener KAI ASSOCIATES USA
Duncan Grossart
JOURNEYS WITH PURPOSE UK
Jascivan Carvalho TROPIC ECUADOR
Jessamy Gould TREEBEARD TRUST UK Kuba Nowak FILM MAKER UK
Emily Schulman SOCIAL IMPACT LEADER USA
Quinn Meyer
CREES MANU PERU Simon London Zoe Cox
PRODUCER UK MARINE BIOLOGIST MALDIVES
4/25 Grantees
tearoa, New Zealand
Y: AHIPARA
ngtrax Foundation, the Adapting Aotearoa project is set adaptive cycling in New Zealand’s South Island. y Jezza Williams, a trailblazer in inclusive tourism and ure, this project is a direct response to his vision of ure truly accessible to all. The Community Impact Fund e purchase of two Bowhead Rogue adaptive e-assist paving the way for inclusive cycling tours. As part of the trax will be developing partnerships with tour operators esses, refining itineraries and ensuring safe, adaptive aying the foundation for a long-term shift towards ure tourism across the region.
2024/25 Gran
Fundación Green Apple, Colombia
NOMINATED BY: BLUE APPLE
Fundación Green Apple is transforming waste into become Cartagena’s primary glass recycling centre Apple will be processing over 100 tons of glass mo tourism sector. The project will also be launching a training, carbon-neutral brick production, and layin for Colombia’s first zero-waste island. Over the nex project will create at least five jobs and train 100+ businesses in sustainable waste management. Gla commercialised, with 10% donated for environmen as reef and mangrove restoration.
“As members of The Conscious Travel Foundation, Ahipara’s core values have been influenced to include building a business with a keen focus on our impact on our communities and how we can empower our team to connect with their respective communities and make a valued contribution. As a member we were keen to demonstrate how inclusive and accessible New Zealand can be as a destination. In November 2024, we hosted Sophie Morgan (a British disability advocate for inclusive travel) in New Zealand and also nominated a key partner of ours, Jezza Williams of Making Trax Foundation, for the Community Impact Fund grant — for which he was successful. With this money we hope to grow the accessibility of the NZ Cycle Trails and provide inspiration to others to develop more inclusive product, so that our destinations are more accessible to a broad range of travellers. An inspirational goal shared with The Conscious Travel Foundation.”
Karen Jefferson, Ahipara
WhatWeSaidWe’dDo
Refine the philanthropy process and accompanying documentation, taking into account feedback from our philanthropy committee, applicants and grantees.
Review the number of grants we can support. Our goal is to support 2 new projects annually, eventually with 6 projects running at anyone time.
Host a second fundraising auction in November 2024, with a dual focus on fundraising and connecting our members. Seek further sponsorship and auction lots from our members and wider network.
WhatWeDid
Based on our experience and feedback we made the following amends to the process:
Adjusted the nomination and selection timeline to allow more time for nominations, shortening the review period to keep momentum for Committee members. Successfully reviewed and simplified the nomination communciations with Caliopy, to increase nomination engagement within given time frames.
Amended the full application form:
To allow applicants to expand on how their projects meet the criteria and explain and add clarity on each point, rather than a simple yes/no. Making it easier for committee members to score and review.
Simplified key activities and indicator metrics from 5 to 3 to avoid the repetition in previous forms. Removed reference to UN SDGs because they were unhelpful in supporting selection, versus additional material that was project specific.
Allowed for more supporting documentation to be shared and gave the option to add a video (selffilmed or otherwise) to support their application.
Due to the success of our fundraising auction, we were able to support two further projects through our Community Impact Fund grant, now supporting four throughout the 2024/5 cycle.
Hosted a gala-style fundraising auction at The Lanesborough in London, generously sponsored by the Oetker Collection, SUJAN and ÀNI Private Resorts. We raised £77,622, surpassing our £60,000 target.
What’s Next
Refining the criteria: Having completed two rounds of project selection, we are consulting with Caliopy to review the application process. This will enable us to remove any potential ambiguity around the project criteria, providing total clarity on the types of projects we aim to support. The goal is to make the project selection in round one more thorough, so we have less projects going through to the full application stage (respecting the time commitment of both applicants, and committee members).
Make the application process more inclusive: Give applicants the opportunity to apply via video, voice note or Zoom meetings, removing barriers to entry that may arise due to accessibility or language.
Power a Project: We receive many more applications for our grants than we can fund, and members are actively looking to further support philanthropic projects as part of their impact strategy. We plan to create a programme to promote the projects that narrowly miss out on our grants, providing them with further visibility and potential funding avenues from within our community and network.
Support two more projects: Raise the funds through membership and our fundraising auction to start the cycle again in September 2025 supporting two new projects. This would fulfill our goal of funding six projects, as we hoped to be able to do when we launched the grant-making programme in 2023.
Auction 3.0: Return to The Lanesborough in November for what has become a popular annual industry event, increasing the capacity to 100 guests.
Inside The Foundation
Membership
As of 2024, we have three tiers of membership to The Conscious Travel Foundation
Tier 1: £1,200 per year (accommodation, DMCs, operators, sales and marketing, PR and independ travel designers)
Tier 2: £3,000 per year (mid-size tour operators with 50+ staff)
Tier 3: £5,000 per year (larger agencies and operators with100+ staff)
Benefits include:
Connection with global network of travel businesses
Participation in online learning programme
Carbon education with our carbon partner, ecollective
Participation in our philanthropy programme, including the opportunity to sit on the Philanthropy Committee
Option to contribute to our next-generation offsetting Climate Fund working with next generation biodiversity and carbon/GHG removal projects to mitigate unavoidable emissions
Access to a members-only resource library, populated with videos of previous sessions, and a curated selection of articles, books, films, reports and podcasts
Connections with experts and consultants to help members increase their positive impact
In The Press
Conscious Questions Launched on Earth Day
The Conscious Travel Foundation Launches Online Auction
The Conscious Travel Foundation Launches New Climate Fund
The Conscious Travel Foundation launches online auction to support the work of its Community Impact Fund
The Conscious Travel Foundation, Weeva and BOUTECO launch Conscious Questions, a resource for tourism businesses
The Conscious Travel Foundation launches a collaborative Climate Fund for members – in partnership with Pinwheel
The Conscious Travel Foundation Ignites Global Change with a Powerful Auction Supporting Grassroots Travel Innovation
Do some countries deserve our tourist dollars more than others?
Our Partners
Our partners help power a growing movement, enhancing our efforts in learning, advocacy, and transforming intent into tangible action. We are proud to work with some of the most innovative and impact-driven businesses who support our work.
As part of their B Corp journey, Lemongrass support the Foundation by running our press office. They also support our members by offering complimentary consultations to discuss anything from sustainability marcomms strategies and PR, to social media, influencers, press trips and more.
Our partnership with Bouteco and founder Juliet Kinsman has been instrumental in the evolution of the Foundation, collaborating with us on strategy, events, collateral and member sessions with a focus on impact-driven storytelling.
Our Sponsors
Sponsoring The Conscious Travel Foundation means investing in a positive future for travel. The Conscious Travel Foundation is proudly sponsored by Joro Experiences and ÀNI Private Resorts.
unding we receive from our sponsors ensures we can continue our programme and invest in our learning initiatives, driving meaningful upporting long-term positive change within our community and the ndustry.
Financials
As a Community Interest Company (CIC), The Conscious Travel Foundation is committed to transparency and accountability in all aspects of our work, including our finances. In accordance with the statutory obligations outlined by the UK government for CICs, we are required to submit an annual community interest report alongside our financial accounts.
This ensures that we continue to operate for the benefit of our community and uphold our mission-driven purpose. Our 2024 financials reflect this ongoing commitment, providing a clear account of how our resources have been used to support and grow our impact.
These accounts are a summary of information extracted from full financial statements for the calendar year 1st January to 31 December 2024. Accounts are prepared by Veracity Accountants. *Includes two
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