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Travelers' Philanthropy Conference 2004: A Big Success
The Travelers' Philanthropy Conference, which took place on the Stanford University campus April 12-15, 2004, brought together leaders of socially responsible travel businesses involved in corporate giving programs to support community projects in tourism destinations. Sponsored by the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD), the conference was co-sponsored by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and Conservation International, as well as by a number of eco-tourism companies, and the Ford Foundation.
A half dozen keynote speakers addressed issues surrounding the impacts of externally-funded projects on local communities, Travelers' Philanthropy's relationship to national parks, lessons from United Nations development projects, the psychology of giving, and consumer demand for responsible tourism companies. One of the most provocative talks was given by David Abernethy, Stanford Professor Emeritus in Political Science, who discussed what can be unintended "bad consequences" that come from "doing good." Dr. Abernethy suggested criteria that travel companies undertaking charitable work should consider, such as partnering with well-established local NGOs.
William Barnett of Stanford's Graduate School of Business also gave a lively presentation on the likely trajectory and organizational challenges that will face Travelers' Philanthropy as it becomes a more visible social movement. And, on the final morning, William Durham, CESD Director at Stanford and Chair of the Department of Anthropological Sciences, challenged donors to choose projects that empower local communities, including ones that help them to maintain control over their land. "It was worth flying all the way from Australia just to hear one of these presentations by the Stanford faculty," commented one enthusiastic participant.
In the wake of the conference, CESD has received dozens of other unsolicited accolades. Just a few samples: "I am deeply inspired," wrote Nancy Rivard, President of Airline Ambassadors. Julie Snyder of READ Nepal called the conference "illuminating, inspiring and motivating, with an intriguing blend of people," while Dennis Pinto of Micato Safaris commended the organizers on "an exceptionally well-organized conference. You were brilliant!" Jane Crouch of Intrepid Travel in Australia wrote, "Most conferences I've been to - maybe if you're lucky 50% of the content is of relevance and interest. In this case I'd say 95%! It was fantastic!" Ok, enough…
This Travelers' Philanthropy conference evolved from two earlier gatherings - in November 2001 and September 2002 - organized by Michael Seltzer of Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (BEST). In a White Paper prepared for these meetings, Seltzer described Travelers' Philanthropy as providing "3 T's" of support - time, treasure and talent - to host communities. In mid-2003, when Seltzer left BEST, CESD assumed leadership of Travelers' Philanthropy and began preparations for a larger conference that would combine expertise from Stanford and other academic institutions, as well as travel businesses, foundations, government and the UN, NGOs, and host communities
Conference participants endorsed a variety of follow up activities, and 11 people volunteered to be part of an expanded steering committee. In addition, Richard Weiss, of Weiss Associates in Berkeley, agreed to devote part of his time to running Travelers' Philanthropy. It was also decided that Travelers' Philanthropy would continue to maintain links to CESD, TIES and CI, but would develop its own, expanded website and set of activities. Those include publishing a book about Travelers' Philanthropy (using some of the conference presentations), online discussions (being organized by Peter Gibbs of Sea-Change in UK), producing a pamphlet and a "tool kit" on Travelers' Philanthropy, creating a list of experts who can work with companies starting philanthropic programs, doing media outreach, and creating a non-profit organization to handle donations from travelers and companies and funnel them into community projects. To this end, Richard Weiss established a new 501c(3), Travelers' Philanthropy Fund, under the auspices of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, and opened a bank account in the name of the fund.
Conference Brochure (in PDF format)
Conference Agenda (in PDF format)
In addition, CDs of the presentations and conference packets and papers can be purchased for $25; conference participants can get the CD of presentations for $10. Please send payment to Clair Nelson, CESD, 733 15th St., NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 or email her at [email protected].
This page was last updated December 26, 2007