What is SAVE travel?

SAVE stands for Scientific, Academic, Volunteer and Educational Travel. This is a fast growing group market segment, which was identified and conceptualized by The George Washington University in 2003[1]. Subsequently, Honduras became the first country to establish SAVE as a national tourism priority. Other countries are now considering SAVE as a tourism marketing strategy and development approach.  The SAVE market includes travelers who engage in activities who can create significant positive contributions the sustainability of a destination. Characteristics of the four types of travelers that the SAVE market segment follow:

Scientific:

Profile and Activities: These are scientists from universities or research centers interested in conducting scientific research within fields such as biology, archaeology, or anthropology with the purpose of contributing to general human knowledge.

Benefits for Destinations: Scientific research takes time and requires extended stays with longer economic impact. Scientific expeditions hire local workers, live in the communities, eat local food, utilize local transportation and buy local goods—leading to positive economic impacts in surrounding communities. In addition, scientists have the capacity to gather data on valuable destination assets, which destinations do not have.

Examples: As part of its strategy to promote sustainable and nature-based tourism Costa Rika targeted leading scientists interested in butterfly species to conduct research. The country has a rich variety of butterfly species and scientific research has helped gather more data and build awareness on this interesting asset, which has begun to draw the interest of all tourists.

Academic:

Profile and Activities: Individuals or groups that travel with the intention of participating in experiential learning activities leading to credit for formal degree programs or courses offered by higher education institutions; for example, field studies in anthropology, archaeology, languages, conservation biology and others.  

Benefits for Destinations: Academic groups have a tendency to visit more remote places in the interest of study, and are more willing to interact with local communities. They often do not require sophisticated facilities and services.

Examples: Many established academic institutions offer study abroad programs, practicums or other academic programs as part of their programs.

Volunteer:

Profile and Activities: Individuals or groups that travel with the intention to participate in specific activities that will contribute to the betterment of society. These could be travelers associated with the growing number of organizations supporting volunteer programs or independent travelers.

Benefits for Destinations: In recent times, travelers, particularly youth, have shifted from what was originally just traveling or studying abroad to incorporating service into the learning experience. Often volunteers spend a long period of time at the destination and do not require sophisticated facilities and services.

Examples: There are many types of volunteer activities that can be directly related to the improvement of World Heritage Sites and local communities. Depending on background and skills, volunteers can contribute to the capacity building of local communities and other stakeholders as well as to help with product development, physical improvement of areas and other elements of developing destinations.

Educational:

Profile and Activities: Individuals or groups that travel to obtain, for personal gratification rather than academic credit. This type of educational experiences could include learning a language or acquiring another skill. Program leading to some credential or certificate of completion involve longer trips and higher expenditures for value added activities (e.g. guided interpretation) directly benefiting local people.

Benefits for Destinations: The acquiring of skill or knowledge usually requires extended stays at the destination as well as increased interaction with local communities. In the cases when the focus of the educational experience is associated with the local culture or traditions this contributes to the strengthened pride of communities.

Examples: In the last years the number of people traveling to a destination to learn local language has increased. For example, in many countries in Latin America (especially in less developed areas) there are Spanish language schools for foreign travelers. Other examples include travel programs which engage the tourist in learning how to prepare traditional meals, local crafts and others.

 
What is the Global SAVE Travel Alliance?

The Global SAVE Travel Alliance was formed to promote the development of SAVE tourism on global scale. The Alliance was formed as a result of the collaborative efforts between the four founding partners: The National Geographic Society (NGS), Counterpart International (CI), the George Washington University (GW), and the Honduras Institute of Tourism (HIT). Dr. Donald Hawkins was appointed as Chairman of the Alliance. Our vision is described in the following figure:

Our overall approach is to establish and enable linkages between responsible travelers and destinations interested in pursuing sustainable growth. Some of the specific approaches that the SAVE Travel Alliance will employ to meet its objective include:

1.                  Develop information and communication systems

2.                  Initiate fund raising and resources needed for start up initiatives

3.                  Identify and survey marketing networks in North America, Europe and Asia

4.                  Develop case studies of viable destinations

5.                  Assist in organizing VolunTourism Conferences in various regions of the world

6.                  Design and implement a quality assurance program

7.                  Establish a performance monitoring system.

 
What is the business model and the benefits behind a SAVE initiative?

As experience has shown many times linking tourism to effective economic development is effective only when there is a working business model in place. The concept of a SAVE initiative is to facilitate the links between potential or developing tourism destinations and attractions, and the appropriate SAVE markets. This is possible through the involvement of intermediaries (specialized tour operators, specialized NGOs and volunteer groups) who have the capacity to arrange specialized trips and programs to the destinations. In order to be successful and benefit the destination in the long run a SAVE initiative should include the following components:

1)      Preliminary identification of potential destinations/attractions and assessment of their assets, needs, level of readiness

2)      Education, capacity building and specialized training targeting specific stakeholders as well as the local community

3)      Identification of appropriate intermediaries and organization of a familiarization trips and activities

4)      Establishment of a SAVE center to coordinate all SAVE travel-related activities at selected destinations.

The mobilization of SAVE markets brings more than mere economic benefits for destinations. SAVE travelers engage in activities that in many cases contribute to the improvement of the destinations or their tourism assets. SAVE initiatives effectively engage not only representatives of the private sectors but also local communities, community organizations, non-governmental organizations, academic and educational institutions.

For further information, contact:

Dr. Don Hawkins
Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy
School of Business
George Washington University
2201 G ST, NW, Room 301 R
Washington, DC 20052
United States of America
Phone: 1 202 994 7087
Fax: 1 202 994 1630