How to Get Your Responsible Tourism Project Funded

Learn how Khwela benefited from €150,000 in funding to develop a hospitality academy in South Africa for disadvantaged women, and how your responsible tourism project can get funding from the Booking Cares Fund.

Do you have an ambitious project and team that believes that technology and innovation can accelerate positive change within the travel industry at large?

Booking.com has opened applications for their 2019 Booking Cares Fund, which supports innovative ideas in responsible tourism.

Tuan Pham, Program Manager for the Booking Cares Fund, answers our questions about the program. Originally from Australia, Tuan is a true believer in the power of tourism to do good and is excited to work with others in sustainable travel who believe the same.

What is the Booking Cares Fund?

The Booking Cares Fund is Booking.com’s grant fund dedicated to championing non-profit projects in sustainable tourism that present new and unexpected solutions to reimagine the global travel industry.

Based on the strength of their grant applications and their project plans, last year, 12 amazing projects from all around the world were awarded grants.

This opportunity is open right now and starts with a simple application form that describes your project concept. Following that, if aligned with the Booking Cares mission and if scoring well against the criteria, the Booking Cares Team will ask for more details and an interview.

If you’d like to get funded in July, the deadline to apply is April 30.

(If you have a commercial idea, or are launching a startup, then have a look at the Booster programme – the Fund is specifically for non-profit projects.)

What projects does the Booking Cares Fund support?

Projects can come from and take place all over the world, for example, representing universities, non-profits, research institutes and governments.

Those that present bold, ambitious plans to truly transform the travel industry will be invited to Amsterdam to develop their project plan with the support of Booking.com and have the chance to receive funding to fuel their progress over the course of the following year.

🌱 Apply for the Booking Cares Fund (applications for July close April 30)

Here are Tuan’s top tips for a successful application:

Look at past projects (below) to get a feel for what’s been successful
Take a look at our selection criteria
Ask yourself: Is this a new innovative idea?
Have a good understanding of how the lessons from this innovation can push others in the industry towards more sustainable actions.
Make sure your project is clearly impacting one of the four key Booking Cares themes:
- Conserve natural resources
- Inclusive tourism
- Preserve and promote local culture
- Tourism dispersal

Why did Booking.com launch the Booking Cares Fund?

In helping travelers to experience more than 144,000 destinations all over the world, Booking.com also seeks to contribute to the ongoing health of these same destinations so that future generations can continue to enjoy them for years to come.

The Booking Cares Fund supports non-profit projects in sustainable travel that strengthen local communities, preserve and promote local culture, help disperse tourism more evenly and protect natural resources.

To make a positive, lasting impression on the global travel industry, we know that meaningful change can only come about through strategic and deliberate collaboration throughout the entire ecosystem.

As such, we are fostering a future where travel operators, independent researchers, NGOs, institutes, social enterprises, and government entities work hand in hand to further transform the global travel experience into a powerful force for good.

Previous Booking Cares Fund recipients

Grants have been awarded to a variety of different projects around the wold – here’s a few examples:

Parkpass (Canada)
ParkPass is a digital platform that will give park agencies complete control over their visitor flow, and help spread the benefits of tourism more evenly and equally beyond the “must-see” places. The key impact is to disperse tourism effectively and decrease visitors only going to the most popular destinations at peak times.

Aegean Marine Life Sanctuary (AMLS, Greece)
The goal of this project is to create the first marine sanctuary to help rescued dolphins, and to develop a guidebook and methodology for other marine sanctuaries. The organization aims to change public perception about dolphinaria tourism and to rescue more dolphins currently in captivity.

Renewable jet fuel from organic waste (The Netherlands)
The aim of this project is to develop a process to produce sustainable bio jet fuel (SBJF) from food/organic waste. This research will kick-start the production process of jet fuel from organic waste that could change the entire global jet fuel industry.

Mobile App for Polar Travelers (United Kingdom)
The organization plans to engage tourists in citizen science through an app that will collect important data for research in polar areas. Travelers will be more engaged in conservation of polar regions with the collected data able to inform industry decisions and policy.

Khwela Tourism Stars (South Africa)
A cutting-edge hospitality academy in South Africa for disadvantaged women. Through an intensive hospitality course, followed by a 3-week road trip through the country, students will build relationships and skills that will help them become tourism stars.

Watch the video below to learn more about Khwela:

How Travel Massive connected Khwela with Booking Cares Fund.

Cape Town Travel Massive member and founder of Khwela Tourism Stars, Kim Whitaker, was one of the recipients of the 2018 Booking Cares Fund. Here’s what she has to say about the program:

I was about to close my laptop and go on holiday, when the Travel Massive newsletter flew into my inbox – the ONE unread message!

I read the title: “Are you dreaming of transforming the travel industry? Are you a travel changemaker?”

I had been dreaming of launching a tourism academy for young women in South Africa called Khwela (meaning “to climb” in isiXhosa) and this was my golden opportunity.

Our theory of change is to teach young women through an online learning platform, then embark on a 3-week roadtrip through South Africa (including bungee jumping, horse riding, hiking, cooking and eating Durban curry, experiencing the big five in the Kruger, and more) followed by a 6-month internship in a youth tourism businesses.

We made a fun video, applied to the Booking Cares Fund and after a few weeks of interviews, we were delighted to find out we’d received €150,000 in grant funding to make an impact with Khwela.

I recommend anyone with a sustainable tourism-related idea to apply.

– Kim Whitaker, Founder, Once in Cape Town & Khwela

Thanks, Tuan and Kim, for sharing your tips!