The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries, according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, 2019 represented its tenth consecutive year of growth. And with the industry representing 10% of world GDP and 30% of services exports its clear that as the Decade of Change gets underway, such a powerful industry will have a huge impact, be that direct or indirect, on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Therefore, we must start to think about how we can help to encourage long-term sustainability of the industry. A sustainable tourism model needs to take into account the views of all stakeholders, including host communities and tourists whilst evaluating the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural impacts. And that is exactly what the innovative online travel platform socialbnb offers : a sustainable and authentic travel experience for everyone involved.
So what is socialbnb?
Co- founders Alexander Haufschild and Nils Lohmann’s idea was born out of a personal and inspiring story. Seng Chanty was a local tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia who wanted to build a school in his village to provide free English lessons for children. Unfortunately, as is the case with many small projects, he lacked the funding. Together Seng, Nils and Alexander were able to think outside the box to see past the obstacles and realise that the solution to their problem was right there in front of them. In Seng’s accommodation he had a large number of empty rooms at his disposal. So they worked together to harness the potential of the tourism industry in order to create a real positve impact in the community. But this type of tourism would be different, as the income from the renting of the rooms went directly to funding the school project whilst travellers would benefit from an authentic experience of life in the village. Within three months, this simple lodging scheme had generated enough income to hire English teachers.
It was amazing to see how harnessing the power of the tourism industry could bring real life benefits to the local community.
And after researching the issue it became clear that this was not an isolated case. So many NGOs and social ecological projects are very reliant on donations and very often lack the funds that would allow them to reach the full potential of their projects. But the issue is twofold because not only do they lack funding they also lack any means of getting their projects out to the public. So Alex and Nils decided to pursue their idea and found that there were also like minded individuals who wanted to travel with a positive impact- evident by the fact that they are currently cooperating with 180 projects in 45 countries!
But how can tourism ever be sustainable ?
The tourism industry is often criticized for being un environmentally friendly, at least 8% of global greenhouse gases are attributable to the tourism industry – 5% solely caused by transportation in the tourism sector. But it is important to understand that sustainable also encapsulates social and economic perspectives. So thanks to the tourism industry locals are able to benefit both economically and socially. And besides tourism isn’t an industry that is going away any time soon, so why can’t we harness its potential for good?
What are the benefits of socialbnb?
The key benefit is that NGOs are able to become less dependent on donations. But socialbnb also allows local organizations to truly benefit from the profits gained, as the profits made from the overnight stay go towards funding local project. It also offers a genuinely sustainable alternative to ‘ voluntourism’. A practise that can be harmful to local communities, as it can deprive locals of jobs and income. So socialbnb offers travellers the opportunity to counteract the negative effects of voluntourism whilst generating income that benefits local projects.
As mentioned before, socialbnb online platform allows people to connect from all over the world. Their site gives so many NGOs and grassroots organisations the visibility that they would never have dreamed of. So in turn, their projects are given visibility and travellers are able visit a local community and fund amazing projects. The profits gained through these overnight stays go straight to the local projects and thus helps to finance education, animal rescue, environmental protection and so many more. In this way, they are creating a completely new market segment available to the tourism market that is sustainable and that benefits everyone. On socialbnb.org NGOs and social projects can register, advertise their spare rooms as accommodation and present their aid project to tourists.
The great thing about socialbnb is that it not only allows NGOs to become less dependent on donations but also provides a network for these NGOs and grassroots organizations to connect with via the online platform
What are some of the challenges that socialbnb has suffered and how were they overcome ?
Of course as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel and tourism was one of the hardest hit industries. But Alex tells us that they had faced challenges before and so they knew the importance of sticking to their vision of creating a sustainable tourism that everyone benefits from. For example, in the beginning, he explains that due to the novelty of socialbnb it was difficult to get in touch with social and ecological projects that were both able and willing to offer accommodation on our platform. Alex tells us that at times it was hard to inspire confidence and interest both for travellers and non-profits as it was such a new concept and people did not know much about it.
It can be a long and complicated way to convert an idea into a real and functioning business, but with the help of our team determined to drive positive change we made this conversion possible.
In the end came up with a detailed process on how to reach out to different projects and managed to cooperate with 180 projects in 45 countries and counting…
