Oceanside's Lodging Partners
Unite to Champion Ocean Conservation and Healthy Food Systems
OCEANSIDE, Calif., Aug. 9, 2024
/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As part of an ongoing commitment to
responsible tourism, Visit Oceanside is excited to announce the launch of
Kind Traveler's Every Stay Gives Back community impact program.
Visit Oceanside will be the first
destination partner in San Diego
County to join the program, spearheaded by a statewide
initiative in partnership with Visit California.
"Research shows that visitors want to
support the communities they visit, and Kind Traveler's Every Stay
Gives Back program offers an easy and effortless way to do so while
enjoying an unforgettable stay along the beautiful Oceanside coast." - Leslee Gaul, CEO of Visit Oceanside
Through the Every Stay Gives Back partnership, a portion of
every guest stay with participating lodging partners in
Oceanside will fund local
charities, WILDCOAST and Berry Good Food Foundation, championing
both ocean conservation and healthy food systems in Oceanside and Greater San Diego. The initiative aligns
perfectly with the recent launch of Visit Oceanside's Love O'side
responsible travel platform, which aims to inspire and educate
travelers to make thoughtful travel choices to plan an
environmentally, socially, and culturally conscious trip to
Oceanside, California.
Kind Traveler launched Every Stay Gives Back in September 2023 and has raised more than
$200,000 in donations for local
charities in participating destinations in just 11 months.
Travelers Want Their Travel Dollars to Positively Impact Local
Communities
The increasing frequency of climate-related events, such as
wildfires and rising sea levels, coupled with a growing awareness
of social justice issues, has prompted travelers to seek ways to
give back to the communities they visit. According to Kind
Traveler's 2022 Impact Tourism Report, 97 percent of travelers
desire their travel dollars to positively impact the communities
they visit, and 75 percent believe traveling sustainably enhances
their vacation experience. Despite this, half of travelers feel
uncertain about how to start, leading to a big gap between intent
and action.
"The Every Stay Gives Back program is a natural progression in
our commitment to stewardship and sustainability, aiming to enhance
the positive impact of travel on our community," said Visit
Oceanside CEO Leslee Gaul. "Research
shows that visitors want to support the communities they visit, and
this program offers an easy and effortless way to do so while
enjoying an unforgettable stay along the beautiful Oceanside coast."
Local Charity Beneficiaries
Kind Traveler's Every Stay Gives Back program in Oceanside benefits WILDCOAST and the Berry
Good Food Foundation, both essential for the well-being of
Oceanside. WILDCOAST is an
international team that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and
addresses climate change through natural solutions. A portion of
funds raised is earmarked for Oceanside's Coastal Dunes Restoration Project,
which will restore coastal dune habitat using green engineering to
help the coastline hang on to sandy resources. The Berry Good Food
Foundation's initiatives include promoting sustainable agriculture,
increasing access to healthy food, and supporting local farmers and
producers. Together, these organizations work to protect
Oceanside's natural beauty and
promote sustainable practices, ensuring a vibrant future for the
community and its environment.
Participating Lodging Partners:
Marbella, Beachfront Only Vacation Rentals, and Stay Coastal
Vacations are the pioneering lodging partners joining Kind
Traveler's Every Stay Gives Back program with Visit Oceanside,
which is dedicated to advancing responsible tourism in Oceanside. This partnership marks a
revolutionary step for Kind Traveler as it is the first time they
have collaborated with vacation rental management groups, expanding
their impact beyond traditional hotels. Marbella offers a luxurious
and eco-friendly stay, Beachfront Only provides upscale oceanfront
properties with eco-friendly features, and Stay Coastal Vacations
offers stylish accommodations focusing on sustainable practices.
Based on average annual occupancy rates for Oceanside vacation rental properties,
Oceanside's Kind Traveler program
could generate over $17,000 yearly to
support local causes. Both Kind Traveler and Visit Oceanside seek
to add new lodging partners to the program to unite responsible
travel efforts across the City and scale the positive impact
potential.
Building Measurable Positive Impact Metrics
The program empowers travel dollars to fund the local charity
beneficiaries with every guest stay, aligning with the UN Global
Goals for Sustainable Development. Kind Traveler verifies and
tracks monthly donations to local charities, providing transparent
and real-time reporting to communicate their initiatives
effectively to guests and stakeholders.
For example, with Marbella and Stay Coastal Vacations,
one dollar per night is donated to
WILDCOAST. For every $10 donated,
WILDCOAST can restore coastal habitat for one native wildlife
creature, advancing ocean and dune conservation efforts in
Oceanside. Native wildlife coastal
species that play a critical part in Oceanside's local ecosystem include pelicans,
cormorants, egrets, herons, shore crabs, and more.
With Beachfront Only Vacation Rentals, two dollars per stay is donated to the Berry Good
Food Foundation. For every $10
donated, the foundation can provide a student with fresh
ingredients to participate in a garden-to-table cooking class,
promoting healthy food systems and sustainable agriculture in the
community.
In the first two months after a soft launch, these initiatives
have already directed $2,424 in
donations to Berry Good Food Foundation and WILDCOAST. In the soft
launch,130 students participated in its garden-to-table cooking
class, enhancing Oceanside's
efforts to promote sustainable food systems. With WILDCOAST, the
donations restored coastal habitats for 109 native wildlife
creatures.
Oceanside: A Commitment to
Responsible Tourism
The launch of Love O'side and Kind Traveler's Every Stay Gives
Back program aligns with Visit Oceanside's Sustainable Tourism
Master Plan (STMP), promoting responsible tourism growth to benefit
the economy, environment, and local community.
"Travelers require a continual fuel of inspiration to motivate
responsible travel choices. Kind Traveler is delighted to provide
visitors with an exciting new way to empower their next vacation in
Oceanside and help create a
powerful legacy of purposeful change," said Jessica Blotter, Co-Founder & CEO of Kind
Traveler.
To start planning your Oceanside vacation and #TravelKindly, visit:
https://www.kindtraveler.com/content/visit-oceanside or
https://www.visitoceanside.org/.
Media Contacts: Kind Traveler: Press@KindTraveler.com
Visit Oceanside: Shae Geary, shae@visitoceanside.org
For downloadable images, please see our media gallery here
ABOUT KIND TRAVELER
Kind Traveler is an internationally acclaimed, responsible
travel platform that empowers travelers to create positive change
in local communities by supporting environmental and social
initiatives through their stay with participating lodging and
charity partners. Kind Traveler advances its mission through a
diverse portfolio of over 350 hotel, destination, and charity
partners in 25 countries. As a pioneering women-and-veteran-owned
public benefit corporation in responsible tourism since 2016, Kind
Traveler has fostered a culture of giving back in the hospitality
industry, helping to build measurable sustainability metrics for
destinations. In a groundbreaking move for 2023, Kind Traveler
launched its Every Stay Gives Back community impact program,
ensuring every guest stay funds local charities with participating
lodging partners, no matter where the booking originates.
Remarkably, 100% of the funds go directly to the participating
charities, amplifying the positive impact on local communities. A
Blue Startups portfolio company, Kind Traveler's innovative
approach has been cited in 600+ news articles and has earned global
awards from prestigious organizations, including Fast Company,
Travel + Leisure, Newsweek, Lufthansa Innovation Hub, and UNWTO.
Discover how to make a meaningful difference on your next vacation
by visiting KindTraveler.com.
ABOUT VISIT OCEANSIDE
Visit Oceanside Conference and Visitors Bureau is the trusted
travel authority for Oceanside,
California. As Oceanside's
official tourism marketing organization, Visit Oceanside promotes
travel to the city for both leisure and group visitors. The
organization influences about one-third of the $589 million that is generated by visitor
spending in Oceanside each year,
which supports nearly 3,900 jobs. Visit Oceanside also operates one of the state's
official California Welcome Centers. With just one stop, visitors
can find local, regional and state maps, purchase discount tickets
to major Southern California
attractions, make hotel reservations or shop for the perfect
California keepsake. The Visit
Oceanside CVB and California Welcome Center- Oceanside are conveniently located just off
Interstate 5 at 928 North Coast Highway. For more information,
please call (800) 350-7873 or visit www.visitoceanside.org
ABOUT OCEANSIDE
Perfectly situated between metropolitan San Diego and Los
Angeles, Oceanside is
Southern California's most
authentic beach town. Visitors enjoy a quintessential California coastal escape, including wide
sandy beaches, a quaint New England-style harbor, a historic wooden
pier, and charming bungalow neighborhoods. O'side (as locals
affectionately call it) is a destination of discovery where
visitors can explore everything from California history at the "King of Missions"
to surf culture at the California Surf Museum and awe-inspiring sea
life through exciting ocean adventures. This playful and fun
destination thrives on taking recreation to the next level and
boasts world-class surfing, skateboarding, bike riding, boating and
even skydiving. A flourishing food and craft beer scene reflects
Oceanside's creative and
entrepreneurial spirit, as do exciting arts and culture programs
highlighting the city's history, diversity and friendly, laid-back
attitude. Classically charming, eclectic, and always genuine,
Oceanside is an ideal place to
stay and a true O'riginal. www.visitoceanside.org
Media Contact
Jessica Blotter, Kind Traveler, 1
6195192437,
jblotter@kindtraveler.com, www.kindtraveler.com
Shae Geary, Visit Oceanside,
shae@visitoceanside.org, https://visitoceanside.org/
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/visit-oceanside-launches-kind-travelers-every-stay-gives-back-program-302216373.html
SOURCE Kind Traveler