The SAVE Alliance is non-profit “network of networks” that facilitates linkages between potential or developing tourism destinations and attractions, and the appropriate SAVE markets.

In 2003, a group of students from The George Washington University traveled to Honduras to conduct field studies as a component of an experiential consulting class designed to present the Honduras Institute of Tourism with a tourism strategy to increase visitation to the North Coast.
The students conceived and presented the SAVE concept of tourism, a strategy that integrates the market demand and untapped supply of four specific niche markets: Scientific, Academic, Volunteer, and Education.  The key to the strategy is geotourism, a philosophy that works to sustain and enhance, rather than hinder the local destination.

The GWU students proposed a SAVE Center to serve as a resource connecting the local Honduras businesses, municipalities, and non-profit organizations with the necessary funding, market exposure, and customer supply.  This idea was well received by the government of Honduras and resulted in initial funding by the Honduras Institute of Tourism with additional funds provided by the Inter-American Development Bank . 

Today, the SAVE Travel Alliance is creating new partnerships and expanding its capabilities in order to facilitate sustainable economic development through meaningful travel experiences.

SAVE Joins VEGA

The SAVE Travel Alliance is proud to announce its acceptance into VEGA, the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance. As the world’s largest consortium of economic growth volunteer organizations, VEGA works to mobilize volunteers to support economic growth in developing countries as well as to design and implement successful technical assistance projects. The consortium was designed in conjunction with USAID to eventually become the agency’s primary mechanism to secure volunteer-based technical expertise. VEGA’s strength lies in its leveraging of volunteer work alongside paid consulting staff. VEGA specializes in business development, financial services, and agribusiness and seeks to increase opportunities for the rural and urban poor.

SAVE will focus on harnessing the potential of VEGA volunteers. Through its membership, SAVE will increase its outreach to projects in every sector of the economy and can increase its contribution to successful and sustainable development. Additionally, membership allows SAVE to pool its resources and economic development expertise with other member organizations, exchange best practices with other members while developing new economic development models, and participate in discussions on the development of VEGA and the government’s use of and interaction with volunteer organizations.

Other VEGA Members include:ACDI/VOCA, Aid to Artisans, CDC Development Solutions, CNFA,Financial Services Volunteer Corps, Florida Association for Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas, Inc., IIE/Emerging Markets Development Advisor Program, International Markets Development Advisors Program, International City/County Management Association, IESC/FSD/Geekcorps, International Real Property Foundation, International Senior Lawyers Project, Land O'Laes International Developmetn Division, Opportunities Industrialization Centers International, Partners of the Americas and Winrock International.