Tourism is a multi-trillion-dollar industry, yet many of the local communities that make travel so meaningful still lack access to its benefits.
That’s the opening line of Planeterra’s new community impact report and it’s worth letting that sink in. The local communities and places around the world that host tourists are often not benefiting from tourism dollars.
But Planeterra, a Canadian-based non-profit that supports community-based tourism models, is focused on helping to ensure that reality changes. And it’s doing so with the help of tourism industry heavy-hitters and partners like G Adventures, Iberostar Foundation and the online marketplace for tailor-made tours Evaneos.
In 2024, the non-profit made significant progress in promoting community tourism endeavors around the world.
According to Planeterra’s just-published Impact Report 2024, community tourism efforts created tangible, lasting change for communities around the planet last year, including:
Over 30,000 people earned income through Planeterra-supported tourism and climate initiatives 191,000-plus individuals benefited from extended impacts like job creation, education access, and improved infrastructure133,340 travelers engaged in community tourism experiences2.65 million trees were grown through nature-positive tourism efforts
As conversations around equity and sustainability in travel continue to grow and generate buzz, the experts at Planeterra say their report offers bit of insight into what’s possible when tourism is designed with communities, rather then travel being designed around communities.
“Community tourism is reshaping how we travel, by ensuring that the people who live in the places we visit are also the ones shaping and benefiting from tourism,” says the impact report.
“When communities lead the way, tourism becomes a tool for self-determination: generating income, strengthening local leadership, preserving culture, and building more inclusive and sustainable economies,” the report adds.
What’s more, according to Planeterra community tourism doesn’t just improve lives—it also contributes to Sustainable Development Goals that are also critical in a world being upended by such things as climate change and mass extinctions.
What is community tourism?
Community tourism is a term that may mean different things to different people. But the widely held definition is that community tourism is a model of tourism in which the money earned directly benefits the whole community, whether that community is a village or a collective.
As part of supporting local economies, community tourism can help reduce what the report calls “economic leakage,” which is when tourism dollars leave the local economy.
“Unlike conventional tourism, which often relies on imported goods, community tourism prioritizes local providers,” explains Planeterra’s impact report.
Planeterra’s partners helped illustrate what this looks like in action in 2024 with 66 percent sourcing most or all goods from local shops and 51 percent sourcing goods from local farms.
“This keeps more money in the community, strengthens local businesses, and often lowers the carbon footprint through shorter supply chains,” explains the report.
At its best, community tourism also helps to protect and restore nature. and Planeterra’s community partners also helped to do this in 2024 by building systems that work in harmony with nature and investing in the future of nature.
Those efforts included: 63 percent of Planeterra partners reconnecting people and nature, 59 percent protecting animals and their welfare; 87 percent supporting sustainable value chains, and 59 percent are investing in nature.
These are merely a few of the highlights of Planeterra’s Impact Report 2024. Some of the additional community tourism wins for 2024 thanks to the support of Planeterra and its partners and donors included:
119 community tourism enterprises connected to travel companies$668,488 in grants distributed globally88 communities benefitting from climate and biodiversity initiatives
“Together, we are transforming travel into positive impact, creating
livelihoods, celebrating cultures, protecting the environment, and
uplifting communities to shape their futures,” Jamie Sweeting, president
of Planeterra said.
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