Could you tell us a bit more about ‘SocialBnB’, the platform you co-founded? What is the difference with ‘Airbnb’?

Socialbnb is a social enterprise that creates meaningful encounters between travelers and the local population that have a long-lasting positive impact. On the socialbnb platform, travelers can book accommodations (Impact Stays), experiences (Impact Experiences), and tours (Impact Trips) that benefit local communities and the destination. Unlike Airbnb, which primarily focuses on leisure accommodations, our platform emphasizes the positive social and environmental effect travelers can have. When staying at a socialbnb, travelers directly support local communities and initiatives such as wildlife conservation, education, or gender equality. It’s a way for people to travel with purpose, knowing that their stay is contributing to a meaningful cause.

How do you ‘measure’ sustainability, and what aspects do you consider?

Since socialbnb pioneers the integration of social and ecological projects into the tourism market, we have developed a process to facilitate this. Each project has to go through a video call, assessing it based on scientifically backed quality criteria to determine if it qualifies for our platform. This approach enables us to help projects identify the best focus for creating a meaningful socialbnb experience. The criteria cover aspects like local community involvement, gender equality, ecological impact, structure of the project, and protection of vulnerable groups.

Unlike other platforms, this pre-selection ensures that every booking directly supports local conservation, education, health, or wildlife protection initiatives. Every year we publish an impact report measuring the financial benefits generated through the projects of the socialbnb platform.

For World Tourism Day, you are launching a campaign that focuses on the role of tourism in protecting the Amazon Rainforest. Could you tell us a bit more about the campaign?

World Tourism Day is a great chance to reflect on our industry’s contributions to local community development, cultural exchange, nature conservation, and its commitment to sustainability. As we heard a lot this year about the negative and destructive effects (over)tourism can have, we want to highlight some stories of what tourism can contribute as a force for good.

For that we have released our newest Impact Film that leads us to the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Every minute, 42 hectares of rainforest worldwide are lost. Faced with this reality, the indigenous Achuar have developed an innovative tourism project to protect more than 80,000 hectares in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

In our Impact Film The Call of the Forest, Achuar leader and host of a socialbnb Impact Experience, Chumpi Washikiat explores his community’s relationship with tourism and the crucial role it plays in preserving the Amazon’s biodiversity and Achuar culture.

More information can be found here.

Can you give us some practical tips on what travelers can do to protect the Amazon Forest?

When we travel to fragile ecosystems such as the Amazon, we can make a positive difference by choosing eco-friendly accommodations and tours that prioritize sustainability. Choosing local, community-based projects is key, as the revenue goes directly into the hands of those working to protect the forest. In some places these projects showed that tourism brings more long-term income than selling the wood or using the land for oil, thus keeping the forest alive.

We can also raise awareness, listen to the local people, and become a supporter of their voice to stop exploiting ecosystems such as the Amazon.