Benefits to Lindblad Special Expeditions include:

• Positive branding 
• Protected business assets 
• Enhanced credibility among all stakeholders (customers, employees, local government, and conservation community) 

• preservation of a destination�s natural assets to ensure its ongoing value to the business and the community 
• positive relations with local government officials who set the terms for the business regulatory environment 
• ability to attract and retain high-quality employees 
• building loyal and expanding customer base 

Company Snapshot
Founded in 1979 by Sven-Olof Lindblad, Lindblad annually provides expedition travel experiences to 10,000 to 12,000 �guests� - a term it prefers to travelers or tourists - to destinations all across the globe. Those destinations include locations in Antarctica, the Arctic, Central and South America, Europe, North America, North Africa, and the South Pacific. The typical customer profile for Lindblad is that of an older, educated, middle- to upper middle-income English-speaker. 

The hallmark of Lindblad is its commitment to conserving the environments in which it operates. This vision lies at the heart of its business strategy and is integrated into all elements of business planning and decision making. To facilitate its conservation goals, Lindblad has utilized a number of internally and externally directed mechanisms. These include:

• Cash and in-kind corporate contributions 
• Building close working relationships with host governments and local nonprofits, based on a comprehensive understanding of local issues, objectives, and priorities 
• Providing free consulting to local communities on economic, environmental, and tourism issues 
• Sponsoring environmental education and guide training programs 
• Attempting to implement internal purchasing practices which emphasize local vendors, locally produced foodstuffs, and sustainable practices on the part of its suppliers 
• Waste management practices exceed international MARPOL regulations on all Lindblad vessels 

In 1997, Lindblad established the Galapagos Conservation Fund (GCF) to provide a vehicle for the company and its customers to support efforts that preserve the home to some of the world�s most unusual wildlife. 

The company developed a comprehensive communications strategy to inspire its guests to immediate action while also enhancing a fun and educational vacation. A crew of experts with extensive knowledge of the islands� natural and cultural history prepares passengers for arrival through a series of onboard films, slide shows, and lectures. Printed materials are handed out to passengers with additional materials available from the extensive onboard library. Travelers� knowledge deepens with first-hand exposure through onshore excursions, offshore snorkeling, and interactions with locally trained Ecuadorian naturalists. 
Over the course of a visit, Lindblad guests develop an awareness of the environmental challenges facing the Galapagos archipelago and a deeper appreciation of this remote region�s cultural history. The preparatory education of the guests, followed up by the onsite experience, cultivates an emotional attachment to the destination and visitors become personally invested in its preservation. 

At this point, the invitation for contributions is made aboard the Polaris. Passengers making contributions of $250 or more are given discount
vouchers towards future Lindblad travel. Lindblad keeps contributors abreast of how their gifts are being used to support Galapagos conservation efforts. For many visitors, the commitment to the Galapagos Islands lives on after they return home, and they become ongoing supporters of the GCF. 

The GCF itself is not a legal entity. Contributions are administered by the Charles Darwin Foundation, an international, Washington, DC-based nonprofit. Hence, contributions are fully tax-deductible in the United States. Lindblad pays all administrative overhead for the GFC, ensuring that 100 percent of donated funds go to support projects on the ground.

The GCF is a full public-private partnership representing all three sectors: business (Lindblad), voluntary (the Charles Darwin Research Station), and public (the Galapagos National Park run by the government of Ecuador).  In order to encourage and reward local initiative, a portion of the GCF is designated for conservation or environmental education projects started by local individuals or groups. Proposals to the GCF are submitted both to the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, which then prepares a docket for approval by a board of internationally respected and locally knowledgeable
conservation leaders. All funds are allocated by the GCF based on conservation priorities of the region. Lindblad plays no role in deciding where its guests� contributions are allocated.

Examples of supported projects include:

• Eradication of feral pigs from the island of Santiago 
• Support for the Galapagos National Park�s only patrol boat combatting illegal commercial fishing 
• The establishment of environmental education centers for local residents 

The GCF strategy utilized by Lindblad is most effective when a travel company makes a long-term commitment to a destination.

Results

• Lindblad guests have contributed approximately $250,000 annually to the GCF. By comparison, the annual operating budget after salaries of the Galapagos National Park is roughly $600,000. 
• Since 1997, the company has experienced a 54 percent increase in number of guests travelling to the Galapagos. 
• The Galapagos trips stimulated a five percent increase in Lindblad�s business worldwide. 

To the business
Lindblad enjoys a number of distinct business benefits provided by their conservation activities in the Galapagos. These benefits include

• Increased visibility for Lindblad and its other tour packages 
• The branding of the company as a �conservation-minded tour operator� improving its reputation and helping to position it favorably in the marketplace 
• High employee morale, resulting in lower employee turnover, greater company loyalty, and reduced training costs 
• Strong sense of satisfaction and pride that the conservation activities in the Galapagos bring to all employees of the company even though a majority is not involved in the Galapagos 
• New, innovative conservation ideas relating to Lindblad operations initiated by company employees 
• Enhanced credibility with local government officials who regulate tourism activities in the Galapagos 
• Significant goodwill in the conservation community 
• Collective gifts of guests over a year�s period are larger than any single corporate donation based on a percentage of profits or an increase in tour fees 
• Protected business assets 

• Protected and enhanced destination 
• Additional revenues to preserve the natural environment 
• Over $500,000 raised since 1997 - an average of $4,000 per week in steady support for Galapagos conservation 
• Other tour operators in the Galapagos motivated to design similar efforts to raise donations from their customers 
• Promotion of the Galapagos as a tourist destination 
• Ability for management of the destination to easily communicate with tour operators and visitors 

• Enriched travelers� experience 
• Increased environmental awareness 
• Reduced costs for other Lindblad trips. Vouchers are given to donors of $250 or more that are redeemable on future Lindblad expeditions 
• Contributions are tax deductible in the US

Vision
The travel and tourism industry and individual travelers are fully-engaged in enhancing the well-being of destination communities.

Mission 
To encourage the widespread incorporation of sustainable practices into the core business functions of individual companies in the travel and tourism industry in the United States and internationally.

BEST�s approach focuses on:

• Helping travel and tourism companies enhance their businesses and contribute to the economic, social, cultural, and environmental well-being of the communities in which their businesses operate.
• Enhancing the experiences of travelers, and encouraging travel and tourism companies to create products and services that allow and encourage travelers to enact their values through the travel products and services that they purchase. 

• Increase business awareness of the bottom-line benefit of sustainable travel and tourism practices.
• Increase the number of businesses that are experimenting with new programs in sustainable travel and tourism.
• Develop new research or action projects that simultaneously address a significant business challenge or opportunity and build consensus on the sustainable practice(s) that can help address the same.
• Demonstrate customer demand for sustainable business products and services.
• Involve philanthropic institutions in the development of new approaches to creating mutual benefits for businesses, communities, and travelers. 

• Develop and disseminate widely a basic introductory publication in print and electronic form that makes the business case for sustainable travel and tourism practices.
• Convene leadership groups within targeted industry sub-sectors (e.g., tour operators, hotels, etc.) to identify specific projects which can be undertaken to simultaneously address a significant business challenge or opportunity and to build consensus on the sustainable practice(s) that can help address the same. The leadership group would be asked what research or action projects that BEST might undertake to help companies develop and refine such practices, such as tools, case studies, or publications. The resulting effort could be jointly undertaken with the appropriate trade association.
• Develop and disseminate an ongoing digest and case studies of current sustainable practices within the industry.
• Undertake discrete special projects (e.g. surveys) that demonstrate customer demand for sustainable travel and tourism projects.
• Convene a group of community foundation executives located in popular travel destinations to explore how they might work with travel-related businesses to maximize mutual benefits for their communities and for travelers.