philanthropic and responsibleTRAVEL

How We Give Back

At TCS World Travel, our mission is Enriching Lives Through Travel. With our philanthropic program, we take this one step further by also working to enrich the lives of those living in the places we visit.

 

We support sustainability and community building through a focused giving approach. This focused approach allows us to track and measure our impact on an annual basis, ensuring that our dollars are making a difference in the places and lives of those we support.

Sustainability: Carbon Offsets

To help compensate for the carbon footprint caused by flying, TCS World Travel has partnered with Sustainable Travel International to audit the amount of carbon burned on all of our jet trips and to purchase highly vetted carbon offsets equivalent to the annual amount of carbon dioxide our flights produce.

 

We contribute to two sustainability projects that align with two of the places we travel to most—Peru and Cambodia.

 

Madre de Dios Program: Peru

 

This ongoing community-based project in the Peruvian Amazon was created to protect approximately 740,000 acres of biodiverse and natural resource-rich primary rainforest, as well as to safeguard social and ecological heritage in the region through sustainable Brazil nut harvesting. Our donation will directly protect almost 600 acres of the project and offset 1,600 metric tons of CO₂.

 

This project, of which our funds are a part, will establish a collectively held land title for close to 400 families in the community. This will both ensure long-term ownership of the land and protect the land from conversion into large-scale agriculture or mining. The fund will also provide a safety net during low-yield seasons, through microloans, to keep individual businesses afloat during hard times.

 

Water Filter Program: Cambodia

 

This project works to reduce carbon emissions through the donation of water purifiers to provide access to clean drinking water in rural households in Cambodia. Because most rural households do not have water purifiers, they must  decontaminate their water through boiling, using firewood or charcoal as fuel and releasing carbons into the atmosphere in the process.

 

Through this project, ceramic water purifiers will be provided to 900,000 to 1.7 million people across 168,000 to 315,000 households. In addition to providing sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, this project also reduces depletion of natural resources related to the cutting of trees, relieves families from collecting firewood to boil water, improves indoor air quality, reduces daily fuel costs and provides beneficial employment to local residents during the established distribution, monitoring and replacement phases of the project.

 

Our donation will directly fund distribution of almost 16,000 of these ceramic water purifiers in addition to protecting nine acres of forest and creating four jobs. This will offset 3,547 metric tons of CO₂.

Community Building: Charitable Contributions

The core of our company ethos is human connection; connection among our employees, our guests and with the places we travel. This pillar of our philanthropy works to improve the lives of people in the destinations we visit most.

 

Ujenzi Charitable Trust: Tanzania and India

 

Over the past 19 years, TCS World Travel has donated more than $1.1 million to the Ujenzi Charitable Trust to support the development and adoption of accessible health solutions for the poor and vulnerable across more than 22 countries. Ujenzi Charitable Trust recognizes the impact women have on the health of their families and communities and invests in maternal and child health projects that lead to healthier pregnancies, healthier babies and healthier, more resilient communities.

 

Our contributions have supported the development of two important projects. One, an ultra-low-cost method to stop postpartum hemorrhaging, has been hailed by the World Bank as one of the most important innovations saving women’s lives in developing countries.

 

The second, a breakthrough ultra-low-cost breathing machine that supports newborns and children with breathing difficulties, has prevented hundreds of children from dying or becoming disabled for life. This machine could soon annually help as many as 120 million newborns and children under age five worldwide.

 

*World Bank Economics Conference bin Addis

 

Gorilla Doctors: Rwanda

 

We support the work of the Gorilla Doctors, a group dedicated to conserving wild mountain and eastern lowland  gorillas through life-saving, hands-on veterinary medicine in the wild, as well as through providing healthcare to the surrounding communities. Gorilla Doctors recognize that the health of the gorillas is inextricably linked to that of the entire ecosystem. As such, they not only care for the gorillas in the field, but also further protect them by supporting health programs for people living and working in and around gorilla habitat.

 

Our donation supports Gorilla Doctors' work to provide veterinary care for mountain gorillas, and enables regular visits by their veterinary staff to local schools to educate primary and secondary school students on conservation, hygiene and health. In addition, our donations support regular training for park staff (e.g., guides, rangers, soldiers) and members of park-related cooperatives (e.g., porters, community conservation workers) on the importance and practice of good hygiene.

 

Currency Donations: All Destinations

 

We provide our guests with local currency at each destination on our trips so they don’t have to exchange money to purchase minor souvenirs. Upon departure, we collect all leftover local currency and donate it to community projects in that community that have been vetted by our local agents.

Annual Employee Volunteer Days: Sustainability and Community Building

TCS World Travel sponsors two employee volunteer days per year where our staff leaves the office to work on projects that impact our immediate Seattle area. One day has a focus on community building through projects like sorting items at a local food bank, hosting a group activity with a local women’s and children’s organization, and cooking meals for families caring for sick children. The other has a focus on sustainability through projects like beach cleanup or salmon habitat restoration.

 

We are committed to monitoring and reporting on these projects, and will be updating this page annually to publish the results of our investments.