UnTours Foundation Awarded 2024 Expedia Made to Travel™ Fund Grant

OptImpact, a digital platform built by ImpactPHL in 2022 to connect Philadelphia-area impact investors with local investment opportunities, has been acquired by Local Capital Markets, a partnership of UnTours Foundation and Zenith Wealth Partners.

As reported by Roodgally Senatus in ImpactAlpha, the acquisition follows a pilot program that aimed to move $10 million into local social enterprises and projects within 18 months. The partnership exceeded that goal, mobilizing $12 million.

Now, UnTours Foundation and Zenith Wealth Partners have bigger ambitions, with plans to expand beyond Philadelphia…

Continue reading the full story at ImpactAlpha.

We’re proud to share the UnTours Foundation’s 2025 Impact Report.

For more than 30 years, radical kindness has been at the heart of our work. It means recognizing potential where others may not and having the courage to back entrepreneurs whose bold ideas are proving, every day, that business can be a force for good in the world.

Our two funds put that belief into practice across industries and communities around the world. The Shifting the Paradigm Fund invests in businesses advancing fair trade, green jobs, economic justice, and worker ownership. While the Reset Tourism Fund provides flexible capital to tourism businesses that create local opportunity, expand access to travel, and protect the environment. Together, they help promising businesses access the capital and support they need to grow.

And our work does not stop with our own capital. We have also supported 27 foundations in aligning their assets with their missions, influencing $575 million in mission-aligned investments.

Our 2025 Impact Report shows what your support makes possible: stronger businesses, greater opportunity, and more capital working toward a regenerative and inclusive economy.

Here’s what that looked like in 2025:

• In 2025, we invested $676,975 in 24 companies. Since 1992, we have invested $11.3 million across 414 investments.

• Reporting portfolio companies generated $28.5 million in annual revenue and served 101,732 customers in 2025.

• Our first Philadelphia Local Capital Market Showcase connected investors with 12 local enterprises and mobilized more than $8.4 million in capital commitments.

👉 Read the 2025 Impact Report

Here’s a glimpse of what’s inside:

• How our revolving model allows repaid capital to support one entrepreneur after another.

• Stories of portfolio businesses creating quality jobs, advancing environmental solutions, and building stronger local economies.

• How our mission-aligned and place-based investing initiatives are helping more foundations invest their assets with purpose.

Every time we can say yes to an entrepreneur, it is because someone like you has said yes to supporting our work. Thank you for your generosity, trust, and belief in what is possible. We are deeply grateful to have you with us.

With gratitude,

Elizabeth Killough & Jonathan Coleman

Around the world, small tourism businesses are creating jobs, protecting natural and cultural heritage, making travel more accessible, reducing tourism’s carbon footprint, and strengthening their communities. Yet many struggle to access the flexible financing they need to grow.

The UnTours Foundation launched the Reset Tourism Fund in 2023 to help meet that need by providing flexible, affordable capital to tourism businesses that are often overlooked by traditional finance.

This work is only possible because of partners like Expedia Group, TUI Care Foundation, Agoda, WWF-Singapore, Skyscanner, EXO Foundation, MaCher, Hyatt Hotels Foundation, Tourism Cares, and supporters like you.

Here’s what that looked like in 2025:

• $658,000 invested in 23 tourism businesses across 10 countries, bringing our portfolio to 56 investments across 24 countries

• 58,617 travelers served, 113 new jobs created, and $18.7 million in revenue generated by the businesses we support

• Three out of every four businesses we support grew their revenue, demonstrating what flexible, affordable capital can help unlock

👉 Read the 2025 Impact Report

Here’s a glimpse of what’s inside:

• How our revolving investment model has deployed more than $1.5 million into tourism businesses around the world, with every loan repayment helping fund the next entrepreneur

• Stories from entrepreneurs using tourism to create jobs, strengthen communities, protect natural and cultural heritage, and expand access to travel

• How our partnerships across the travel industry are helping bring flexible, mission-aligned capital to businesses that have long been overlooked by traditional finance

• Where the Reset Tourism Fund is headed next as we continue growing our portfolio and investing in the entrepreneurs shaping the future of tourism

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we’re helping more entrepreneurs access the capital they need to grow, and we’re excited for everything still ahead.

With gratitude,
Jonathan Coleman and the Reset Tourism Fund Team

The Sustainable Tourism Impact Fund, a partnership between Agoda, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore, and the UnTours Foundation, has announced its second round of investments alongside early impact results from the Fund’s inaugural cohort.

The Fund is part of Agoda’s broader sustainability strategy and builds on its partnership with WWF-Singapore through Agoda’s Eco Deals program. Through Eco Deals, Agoda works with hotel partners across Asia to offer travelers discounted stays while directing a portion of proceeds to WWF’s conservation initiatives. Those funds also support the Sustainable Tourism Impact Fund, extending conservation impact to small tourism enterprises strengthening ecosystem health and community resilience at the destination level.

Designed to provide affordable, flexible financing to small and medium-sized tourism enterprises, the Fund supports businesses that integrate environmental restoration, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development into their core operations. Each new investee receives USD 25,000 in loan capital to expand impact-driven initiatives across the region.

New Investments

Livingseas Asia (Indonesia): Livingseas Asia combines dive tourism with coral reef restoration in Padangbai, Bali. Its nonprofit arm, the Livingseas Foundation, has restored more than 8,300 square meters of degraded reef, deploying artificial reef structures and planting over 420,000 coral fragments, with measurable biodiversity recovery. The Fund’s investment will support the construction of modular housing for staff and trainees near the restoration site. This will expand Livingseas Asia’s hosting capacity and strengthen the Foundation’s ability to deliver marine education, conservation training, and reef restoration activities.

Bambike Ecotours (Philippines): Bambike Ecotours connects bamboo agroforestry, fair trade bicycle manufacturing in rural communities, and regenerative tourism experiences. The loan will support the development of Ligtasin Cove in Batangas, a bamboo-built tourism destination that will include coastal ecotours and a bamboo nursery for reforestation and erosion control. The initiative aims to create local jobs while expanding lower-carbon tourism experiences that connect travelers with community-led environmental restoration.

“At Agoda, we believe the future of travel depends on the resilience of the destinations we serve,” said Timothy Hughes, Vice President of Corporate Development at Agoda. “These investments support local pioneers integrating environmental restoration and community well-being into their operations, demonstrating the potential of impact-driven travel.”

Six-Month Results from the First Cohort

Six months after the Fund’s initial investments, early results across Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines demonstrate encouraging environmental and community impact.

Local Alike (Thailand): Local Alike expanded its Travel With Care initiative into 10 community-based destinations, launching 16 regenerative tourism activities that include mangrove restoration, forest protection, sustainable fisheries, and preservation of Indigenous knowledge. The organization also activated partnerships with the Department of National Parks and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, establishing an impact monitoring framework and initiating a national white paper.

Ecohotels (Philippines): Ecohotels advanced its Bahay Farms initiative by onboarding 22 local farmers and planting 500 mango trees, strengthening future food production and community income. The company also increased plant-based menu offerings from 35% to 50% and launched its Green Warriors workforce program, training 15 participants, five of whom have already transitioned into hospitality roles.

Sejiva (Indonesia): Sejiva expanded its responsible tourism model in West Java and Jakarta, introducing new heritage walking tours and coral restoration experiences that connect travelers with local ecosystems and cultural knowledge. The investment also strengthened Sejiva’s marketing capacity, allowing the organization to scale its #travelpositive campaign and awareness programs to reach a broader audience.

“We are incredibly encouraged by the impact created so far by our inaugural cohort,” said Sarah Payne, Senior Director of Impact at the UnTours Foundation. “These businesses are expanding regenerative tourism models, strengthening local livelihoods, and embedding measurable environmental outcomes into their growth. Their progress shows how flexible financing can translate into tangible impact on the ground.”

Tourism enterprises across the region advancing conservation, climate resilience, sustainable mobility, and community-led economic development are encouraged to apply for the next round of funding at: https://untoursfoundation.org/sustainable-tourism-impact-fund.