Responsible Travel

Economic impact

We prioritize locally owned hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, and activity operators. When you travel with Offbeat, your money supports the families and small businesses that make these communities what they are. It's community-based tourism in the most literal sense.

Our team is locally hired and locally led. Our founders are from the countries where we work, or trace their lineage there. We maintain year-round offices in Santo Domingo and San José with full-time staff. That 365-day presence means we're invested in these communities as neighbors

Community-led development

Each service project we work on is part of a larger community impact plan developed in collaboration with local stakeholders. We start this process by listening. We spend time getting to know the people we work with and understanding their concerns, ideas, and priorities. Together, we define what projects will be most impactful for both the community and our travelers.

Our projects are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on goals prioritized by our home countries: clean water, quality education, sustainable communities, life below water, and life on land.

We carry out monitoring and evaluation before, during, and after projects to ensure we are contributing to lasting positive impact. We follow up on completed projects to assess their long-term success and adjust our approach.

Respectful and responsible engagement

Our travelers meet, work, and play with many different people while traveling with us. It's one of our favorite parts of travel. We work to ensure these interactions are enriching for everyone involved and do not produce unintended negative impacts.

We maintain a child protection policy that governs how our travelers and staff interact with minors and how we look out for the wellbeing of children in every community we visit. Our photography guidelines encourage travelers to be mindful of their photography and social media use, using it as a tool to uplift and tell positive stories. Before departure, we prepare travelers with cultural context and expectations so they can engage respectfully and meaningfully.

Environmental responsibility

Travel creates impact, and not all of it is positive. We work to reduce the environmental effects of our programs by partnering with environmentally responsible vendors, avoiding single-use products, and recycling at our offices and base houses. We also design itineraries to minimize unnecessary transportation whenever we can.

Many of our service projects focus directly on environmental conservation. Our travelers have helped rehabilitate coral reefs, plant coastal mangrove trees, protect sea turtle nesting sites, and remove waste from beaches. It's one way we practice sustainable travel beyond the operational level.