CESD Presents the 2008 Travelers' Philanthropy Conference

The Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD) announces plans to hold the next Travelers’ Philanthropy conference in Arusha, Tanzania, on December 3-5, 2008. The conference, entitled “Making Travelers’ Philanthropy Work for Development, Business, and Conservation” will focus on the growing trend among responsible tourism businesses to support community and conservation projects in the host countries where they operate.

The 200 to 250 conference attendees will include representatives from tourism companies from around the world, as well as experts from development and conservation organizations, representatives from the UN and other international agencies, academics, government officials, and others interested in how responsible tourism can contribute to poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation.

The conference will be held at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in Arusha, a vibrant tourism town near the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru that serves as at gateway to Tanzania’s world renowned game parks. Arusha is also the headquarters of many NGOs and is close to Nairobi, Kenya, another popular safari destination.

“Over the last decade, we’ve seen a growing trend among tourism companies and tourists to donate funds, material support, and expertise to assist health clinics, schools, protected areas, libraries, and other development projects in communities and countries where tourism takes place,” says Dr. Martha Honey, CESD Co-Director. “We believe that, done well, this sort of ‘give back’ to local communities is an extremely important new source of development assistance – and our Travelers’ Philanthropy program is dedicated to helping to promote this type of responsible tourism.”

In April 2004, CESD hosted its first and highly successful Travelers’ Philanthropy conference at Stanford University. Previously, two smaller meetings had been held to draw attention to this growing practice by responsible tour operators.

“We need to recognize that philanthropy is not always beneficial. It needs to be done in ways that meet real community identified needs, supports economic and social empowerment, and is transparent in its operations. The role of CESD is to work with tourism businesses to help ensure that they employ the best methods in developing programs and supporting projects in host communities,” explains CESD Co-Director and Stanford University professor Dr. William Durham.

The Travelers’ Philanthropy conference in Arusha will also showcase the best in socially and environmentally responsible travel through safaris with leading East African ecotourism operators. These trips will combine local community and conservation projects that are supported by tourism businesses, with visits to East Africa’s world renowned game parks and the island of Zanzibar.

In Arusha, CESD has hired Fred Nelson of the Maliasili Initiatives to handle local logistics. CESD is also soliciting endorsements and sponsorships from a variety of companies, NGOs, and international agencies.

For more information about the Travelers’ Philanthropy initiative, conference, registration, speakers and program, pre- and post- conference trips, latest updates, as well as background information on the previous conference, please visit our websites: www.travelersphilanthropy.org and www.ecotourismcesd.org.

For More Information

Contact Whitney Cooper, CESD Washington, DC
Tel: 202-347-9203 x414
Email: wcooper@ecotourismcesd.org