The Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD), a nonprofit research institution based in Washington D.C and at Stanford University, is organizing an international conference on Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM. By bringing participants together in Arusha, Tanzania, December 3-5, 2008, CESD aspires to promote and strengthen this emerging form of development assistance generated by travelers and the tourism industry.

CESD’s Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM program promotes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the travel industry, and encourages individual businesses and their travelers to give “time, talent, and treasure” to support social service and conservation projects in host communities. This is an increasingly important source of development assistance for communities located near tourism destinations.

2008 Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM Global Conference

Tanzania, a world leader in ecotourism, and Arusha as the gateway to Mt. Kilimanjaro and the northern safari circuit including the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, provide an ideal venue for this conference. The Tanzania conference builds upon the initial international Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM conference held at Stanford University in the USA in 2004.

The three-day conference in Arusha will bring together 200-300 practitioners from socially responsible tourism businesses, experts in the field of sustainable tourism and philanthropy, community based organizations and global and regional NGOs doing development work, the United Nations and other development agencies, philanthropic foundations, government, and the media. A growing number of leading tourism businesses, organizations, and international agencies are co-sponsoring this important conference.

The Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM Conference 2008 will provide a venue for collective learning and exchange among the group of global participants. It will facilitate discussion of the tools and capacity needed for effectively running and evaluating community projects. A goal is to move Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM from a mere set of ideals to applied best practices.

More generally, the conference will build media and public interest in socially responsible travel. The conference will include presentations on some of the leading Travelers’ Philanthropy^SM initiatives around the world. It will also offer a range of optional safaris before and after the event, hosted by leading East Africa tour operators that include visits to community and conservation projects.

Register Now! Early Bird price- $395, After August 1, 2008- $495