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. 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 which can create significant positive contributions to the sustainability of a destination.
The 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:
