Why Travel Companies Support Passports With Purpose

Posted on | December 17, 2009 | Comments Off

This is a guest post by Caitlin Fitzsimmons of Roaming Tales. Caitlin procured a four days/three nights at the all inclusive Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa in St Lucia and three nights in a beachfront cabana at Tranquility Bay in Belize

There is no doubt that building a school in Cambodia is one of the very best of good causes. But with so many good causes bidding for support, it can be hard for a business to know where to channel its corporate social responsibility dollars. Why is a school in Cambodia more worthy than fighting malaria in Africa or repairing the devastation of floods in Bolivia?

Let’s face it, all businesses are in the business of making money. That is true for even the most socially responsible companies. While the motivation for corporate giving is often genuine compassion, it is all the better if it helps with marketing as well. It’s win-win.

One route that some companies in the travel industry take is a policy of only supporting charities in their local areas. It helps narrow the choices – important when the options are so numerous – and strengthens the company’s association with their local communities and regions. That’s all well and good, but clearly if this approach were universal it would mean that popular tourist destinations such as Costa Rica and the Caribbean get more charity money, as well as more tourist dollars, than somewhere like Cambodia. (Of course, a huge number of travellers visit the Angkor Wat ruins in Cambodia every year, but the tourism numbers for Cambodia are a fraction of the number of sun-seekers holidaying in the Caribbean). And it’s not only travel companies in developing countries that adopt such policies – when I was approaching potential sponsors for Passports with Purpose, I found that even travel companies in California would often only donate locally. I think this is a shame. They say charity begins at home and I know there are families doing it tough in California but most of these people still have a better quality of life than the poorest people in Cambodia. I also think there is room for both – which is why I’m donating to the San Francisco Food Bank this Christmas.

Another route that travel companies can take is to attempt to connect with their audience. I have been amazed by the impressive prize list in this year’s Passports with Purpose. On the one hand, I want to thank all the wonderful donors for their generosity. On the other hand, I also think the travel blogging community deserves kudos. It’s not just that Pam, Michelle, Beth, Debbie organized Passports with Purpose. It’s not just that the rest of the participating travel bloggers backed it so enthusiastically, organizing prizes and promoting it endlessly. Nor is it just that all of YOU made donations (and if you haven’t yet, get over to the donations page and make a donation already – it’s the last week!). It’s also the fact that we as a travel blogging community have reached sufficient critical mass and credibility that companies – airlines, hotels and resorts, camera makers, outdoor equipment brands, and so on – want to donate such awesome prizes for our fundraiser. They could support any number of worthy charities but they want to work with us! How awesome is that? Whether you want to work with brands or not, it is still a vote of confidence in what we do.

Take Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa in Saint Lucia, for example. They have donated a fantastic package valued $2,160 for a family of four to stay three nights at the resort, via my travel and food blog Roaming Tales. A quick scan of the company’s Facebook fan page shows that the resort is no stranger to charitable endeavours. Their generosity is not in doubt. But why did they want to work with us in particular?

Let’s hear it from Mark Adams, president of National Continental Hotels, the parent company of Coconut Bay. “At Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa, we love to give back to the travel community. Passports With Purpose is a great way for us to show our support to travel bloggers and travel enthusiasts while helping a great cause. We are so glad the contest grew so rapidly, and I look forward to it continuing to grow over the years.”

Well done, fellow travel bloggers! We’ve come a long way.

Thank you Caitlin, it really was a little bit magical watching all the prizes roll in on Nov 30th. We’ve been pleasantly overwhelmed by the support of our fellow bloggers and the travel industry and our donors. It really is a testament to how far we’ve all come in the past two years, and how much we can accomplish when we work together.