Impact Travel Alliance is a 501c3 nonprofit and community for socially and eco-conscious travelers. We talk about sustainable travel in a way that’s fresh, approachable and cool. Our conscious travelers connect digitally through The Lounge, and learn more about sustainable travel through our in-person meet-ups and online articles.
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My name is Kelley & I'm the co-founder of Impact Travel Alliance! More details on our org below...
Impact Travel is a community of conscious travelers. You can engage IRL or online. We produce educational & fresh content to inspire you to travel in a way that is more sustainable.
We always talk about sustainability through a positive lens (intentionally avoiding language like “responsible tourism,” or a laundry list of things you can’t do). We spotlight best-in-class examples of sustainability in a no-frills, conversational way.
Hey Kelley, thanks for dropping by and congrats on the new website update this year. Excited to see the launch of your community lounge!
Good to hear from you, Ian - it's been a while! The Lounge has been up and running for a few months, but is still very much in beta.
Thank you, Ian!
Sad to hear the news today that Impact Travel Alliance is sunsetting the organization. They did a great job connecting people in the responsible tourism space, and building awareness about sustainability in travel. ITA were pioneers in building community around these issues — so a big thanks for everything they did over the years.
I remember attending Impact Travel Alliances' conference at the United Nations Conference Centre in NYC in 2018 and met some great people in-person through their org — including Rafat (co-founder of Skift) and Darrell Wade (co-founder of Intrepid).
Here's a link to their announcement (and copied below): mailchi.mp/impacttravelalliance/sunsetting
End of an era! Important news for our org
Final Issue, #203
6 Sept. 2023
Changemakers,
We have some big news – and it comes with mixed emotions – so we're going to cut right to the chase. After eight years of sustainable travel adventures, we have made the decision to sunset the organization.
Before we go further, let's align: it's the right move & we feel good about it. The end of an era is big in many ways: it's heavy, it's sad... but it can also be a celebration.
We are grateful for eight years of advocating for industry change and making ripples as a team and a community. It's been lots of work, but tons of fun too. Highlights have included hosting conferences at the United Nations, starting book clubs in Korea, building new trekking paths in Nepal, visiting marine conservation centers in Los Angeles, sandboarding in Namibia, visiting floating hotels in London and forging lifelong friendships & connections.
Sustainable travel is fun (really fun), and the impact travel community is made up of some of the best people we've met. Community has always been at the heart of everything we do, and the organization wouldn't have existed without your support.
What's next? Logistically, we still have plenty of work to do as we close the organization down. In the long term, we don't have any plans to leave the sustainable tourism industry. We're looking forward to creating space for new adventures in the space.
If you're craving more sustainable travel resources, we'd love to recommend a few of our favorite organizations as continued resources: Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Rise Travel Institute, CREST, Sustainable Travel International, Wanderful, Travel Massive, Black Travel Alliance, Travel Unity, Future of Tourism Coalition.
We've always said, "What if you could change the world simply by changing the way you travel," and we hope we've inspired you to do just that: make changes in your own life & advocate for change across the industry.
It goes without saying: it's not goodbye, it's see ya later.
With gratitude,
Kelley Louise & Meghan Aftosmis
Co-Founders