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NEWS AND FEATURES
Travelers' Philanthropy

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Boulder, Colorado (July 2004) - Internationally, a new concept is evolving in the field of responsible tourism - Travelers' Philanthropy. Conscientious consumers and responsible travel companies are donating financial resources, time, talent and economic patronage to protect and positively impact the cultures and environments they visit.

This voluntary movement is helping to support community development, biodiversity conservation, and other environmental, social and economic improvements including providing jobs, educational and professional training opportunities, health care and environmental stewardship.

Travelers' Philanthropy programs differ, but they tend to encompass a number of similar important attributes that benefit environmental conservation, cultural preservation, and socio-economic development including:

• Educating travelers and travel companies about environmental, socio-cultural and economic issues and inspiring them to donate financial resources and / or their time.
  
• Encouraging a constructive interaction between travelers, travel companies and the communities and local and indigenous people who are being visited.
  
• Determining the needs of local and indigenous people and empowering them to get involved in the management of funding resources and related community development and conservation initiatives.
  
• Establishing partnerships between the travelers, the tourism industry, non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies and complimenting their international development and aid programs with grassroots efforts.
  
• Facilitating economic patronage from travelers and offering new opportunities for socio-cultural and environmental stewardship.
  

As evidence of this new movement, "More than 500 million people travel for leisure each year and there is an increasing demand for travel as airfare prices fall and remote corners of the world become increasingly accessible," explains Brian T. Mullis, STI's President. "International travel clearly contributes to globalization. However, if estimates are accurate, charitable giving by Americans alone could exceed $300 billion annually by 2020, providing a real opportunity to reduce the economic inequalities that exist in the 21st Century."

STI provides conscientious consumers and responsible travel companies with opportunities to directly support Travelers' Philanthropy programs through donations of time and money. For more information, contact STI.