Social travel – what does that mean?

Sustainable travel, responsible travel, conscious travel – you are confused and unsure about all these different terms and you are wondering what exactly we mean when we say: we focus on social travel? Then this post is exactly the right thing for you. Today, we highlight for you how we define social travel and what this means specifically for you when booking on socialbnb. Stay tuned.

Why tourism needs to change

Unfortunately, tourism also has its negative side in many places around the world. Far too often, the revenues from the tourism industry do not benefit the region itself, but flow into the pockets of individuals. Environmental pollution through CO2 emissions, exploitation of labor and overtourism are just some of the many negative aspects that tourism can cause. Overtourism often leads to the disruption of the fragile ecological balance on the one hand, and to “touristification” on the other. Touristification is a process by which a city, region or place becomes an object of tourist consumption.

This means that changes are made to the city, the region or the place by and for tourists in order to be more attractive for them. For the locals, however, their own environment becomes more foreign as a consequence. Due to the numerous visitors, who obviously all need a place to sleep, accommodations as well as touristic facilities are needed. As a result, housing becomes scarcer and housing prices rise. Because the places have been changed for the tourists, conscious travelers often have disillusioning and inauthentic experiences. Honestly, this kind of tourism is not fun either for the travelers or for the locals.

Social travel – our definition

At socialbnb, we want to change that and have made it our mission to create authentic encounters for travelers on the one hand and a real benefit for local people on the other. For us, social travel means advancing equitable tourism based on the three pillars of sustainability. We have explained the three pillars of sustainability in more detail for you here. Thus, it can be said that social travel, but also responsible and conscious travel, can be assigned to sustainable tourism as subcategories.

We create tourism in such a way that the local community and the region as a whole benefit from it. Thus we can create equitable tourism together that benefits everyone.

Let’s change tourism

To drive progress towards social travel, we develop ecological and social projects around the world that have an impact on the respective region. On site you get to know the people behind the unique projects. People who want to make a difference and make the world a better place through their work – true impact hosts. Your stay supports the financing of the valuable project work and thus makes a positive social contribution to the region and the local community. Find out more about our projects on our website. Get inspired by our sustainable socialbnbs for your next trip. Be part of socially equitable tourism by traveling socially and staying in impact socialbnbs and not supporting mass tourism. Trust us, it’s worth it.

Oye LENA, Peru

We would like to give you a specific example of how you can travel socially using socialbnb. Our beautiful socialbnb Oye LENA in Curahuasi was founded on April 15th 2012 and has been an officially registered NGO in Peru since February 8th 2013. Oye LENA is the abbreviation for “Oye Loquitas EN Acción!”, which loosely translated means “Listen, we take action!”. Here, they work for education and equality by advocating for equal opportunities. Your overnight stay thus supports an educational project that allows children with and without disabilities to participate equally in quality education in order to fight poverty and social inequality.

Every child has the right to a quality education focused on personal development, regardless of his or her own abilities and limitations and regardless of the place and culture in which he or she grows up.

The sustainable accommodation for your unique stay is located in the heart of the Andes at an height of 2,600 meters – amazing view included. If you like doing outdoor sports, you will find countless activities here, such as playing volleyball and soccer, hiking, bungee jumping, river tubing, horse riding, rafting, mountain biking or kayaking. You’ll definitely find plenty to do here. To relax in the evening, you can end the day in a cosy atmosphere at the barbecue area.

If you’re interested in other ecological or social projects you can support with your social travel through socialbnb: click here and read about this blog post about an eco-lodge in Ecuador.