For many developing countries, tourism is a primary source of income and helps a major part of the population make a living. The United Nation's World Tourism Organization launched the ST-EP initiative back in 2002, aimed at creatively developing sustainable tourism as a force for poverty elimination. Our hypothesis is that with increasing local information coming from these areas, the connections made between those who have, those who need and those who can get it there could have a long-lasting positive effect on locals entities, hosting communities as well as seed micro-philanthropic directions in travelers.

Sustainable tourism's primary concern is to sustain balance with the ecological environment and minimize the impact caused by mass-market tourism. The term “Geotourism” is closely related, but is concerned instead with preserving a destination’s geographic character—the entire combination of natural and human attributes that make one place distinct from another. Geotourism encompasses both cultural and environmental concerns regarding travel, as well as the local impact tourism has upon communities and their individual economies and lifestyles.

Travelers and locals are encouraged to submit information regarding different initiatives and possible service exchange opportunities in developing and third world countries worldwide. Eventually the mobile service will be available worldwide. Currently we're working on a pilot service in Mexico. More information coming soon.

We dream of creating an actively updated repository of local initiatives and exchange opportunities available in the developing world. Every year, hundreds of millions of travelers roam third world countries. With the current structure of the web, it is extremely difficult to gather local information prior to visiting a location. Backpackers and independent travelers frequent many of these locations, while most of them take photos and updating personal trip journals. What if this data could actually be used to help promote local causes. What if by taking a picture of Maria’s fabric store, you could be helping her get an online presence. What if by writing about a local organization, you could help promote their initiatives and get many more people helping them out!

Think about it: travelers as an agent of change, being able to give back to their hosting communities instead of always taking.

Our hypothesis is that with increasing local information coming from these areas, the connections made between those who have, those who can need and those who can get it there could have a long-lasting positive effect on locals, communities, travelers and charity organizations. The immediate project goals for the initial prototype of this project are listed below.

1.Focus on a simple, grassroots solution using technology. Prove that a bottoms-up method can also serve as a possible solution to help solve the imbalance caused by travel and generally the tourism industry.

2. Make sure the system is sustainable, and aimed at truly empowering local communities, figuring out a way in which at least one representative from the local community can participate and be an active user of the system is key.

3. Use technology as a facilitator, not the main focus of this service. Technology is what allows an easier way for creation of person-to-person connections and helps empower local communities by utilizing resources in a more efficient manner.

4. Simple and cheap to use: the system must be affordable for use by locals as well as the travelers.

5. Partner with local organizations and communities who can benefit from using this service.