When we launched the Reset Tourism Fund in early 2023, we felt that we were on to something. We knew that travel and tourism represent 10% of global GDP, 10% of global jobs, and nearly 10% of global emissions, meaning that tourism is a vital lever for creating positive change in the world. We also knew that small businesses represent 80% of all tourism businesses yet are vastly under-resourced, especially those trying to use their tourism business to create a positive impact. Lastly, we had a hunch that the large tourism corporations were looking for a way to directly support small businesses, but didn’t have the right avenue to do it, so maybe they would want to join our effort to enhance the available resources beyond what we can do as a small foundation.
2.5 years on, our hunches are proving correct. We’re nearly 20% of the way to our goal of building a $10 million fund, amongst our funding partners are some of the largest travel companies in the world (and a few smaller, but still mighty companies as well). Things are moving! I just returned home from a trip that clearly marks the next phase of our growth and global impact through the Reset Tourism Fund.
I was invited to represent the UnTours Foundation at two important events in Asia which, thankfully, took place a few days apart so I only had to make one trip! In Singapore, I spoke at the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour Summit about the new partnership we have formed with WWF-Singapore and Agoda to drive flexible and affordable capital to impact-focused tourism businesses in Southeast Asia. Other speakers at the event included Paul Pollman, former CEO of Unilever and a true leader in the world of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and Manuel Pulgar, President of COP20 and a global leader in fighting climate change.
In Shanghai, I joined Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, and other travel industry leaders at an Executive Summit with Travalyst (which was founded by the Prince). Travalyst is a global coalition of some of the largest companies in travel that have come together to tackle huge challenges related to sustainability in the travel industry. It was an honor to spend the day working alongside Prince Harry, the Travalyst team, and a small group of tourism industry leaders to strategize collective action within the industry that can drive meaningful and measurable progress. Travalyst invited the UnTours Foundation – even though we are about .01% as big as the other delegates – because we have a unique and powerful tool, our Reset Tourism Fund, to directly support small businesses in host communities around the world. These businesses are not often represented at meetings of government ministers and executives from the largest travel companies in the world, so we are there to represent them and, hopefully, encourage more resources to flow to these businesses.
My message in both of these settings was simple – if we want to truly harness the power of tourism to transform the world for the better, we cannot ignore the small businesses. They are at the front lines of dealing with the impacts of climate change, preserving local cultures and environmental ecosystems, and ensuring that people in their community are thriving because the tourists are there. And, if we want the best and most impactful of the small businesses to grow and fulfill their potential for positive impact, we have to find a way to get them capital…and we know just how to do it!
I was honored (and maybe a bit nervous) to represent the UnTours Foundation in rooms that I never imagined being in and in the presence of global luminaries that I never imagined meeting. But I didn’t feel out of place there. Our history is so unique and so powerful, and our current initiatives have so much potential, that I felt we truly belonged. The world needs voices like ours at the highest levels of power and decision-making to drive action and resources to those who will never speak to a member of the royal family or a global corporate CEO or a government minister, but who hold the keys to true and lasting impact at the community level.
In the midst of these opportunities, including the visit with Prince William a few months ago, I’ve often wondered what our founder, Hal Taussig, would have thought about all this. Hal was a humble man (he took a vow of poverty, after all). He didn’t seek the limelight, but it always seemed to find him. How would he have handled meetings of this nature? He most certainly would have kept his usual jeans and t-shirt on for meetings with the royal family – sorry, Hal, I gave in and wore a suit! And he would have kept that authenticity running through his conversations/exortations to people in power to do more and do it with urgency. I tried my darndest to channel that mindset throughout these conversations. I’ll never know, but I hope Hal would have been proud to see his foundation invited to attend and asked to be on the big stage to give the perspective of the little guy/gal.Â
Onward!
Jonathan
