11 Eco-Tourism Companies To Help You Book Your Next Sustainable Adventure

Ethical travel companies do the work of finding the best eco-friendly transportation, accommodation, and experiences, so all you have to do is decide on your destination and book the trip.

Eco-friendly travel companies range from fully guided tours to booking sites where you can plan your own trip using a set of pre-vetted companies and activities–so regardless of your travel style, you’re earning a few more sustainable travel miles.

And while you’re prepping for takeoff in an airplane, we’re prepping to help our new Brand Rating System take off. This system will expand our horizons and help us vet companies and brands across 22 criteria, like climate action and social impact. Expect to see it implemented here in coming months and until then, learn about the new process here.

Rooms for Change isn’t an eco tourism operator, but rather a non-profit accommodation booking site with 100% of proceeds going towards travel scholarships that give disadvantaged youth, senior citizens, and veterans a chance to travel. Their third-party accommodation partners range from sustainable hotels to home rentals, so there’s a destination for any length of stay.

No matter where you’re planning your eco vacations–U.S., Europe, Canada, Latin America, Mexico, the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific—there are sustainable hotels everywhere for you to book through Rooms for Change.

Because Rooms for Change is a non-profit, 100% of the proceeds and donations they collect through their operations go toward the travel scholarships that form the core mission of their business.

They sponsor as many trips as they can, based on budget and availability. If there is someone in your life who you think would benefit from a travel scholarship, you can recommend them to Rooms for Change through their website.

An eco-friendly accommodation booking site with a heart for sustainability, bookdifferent has a worldwide database of sustainable stays that have passed their robust checks.

They evaluate management of each listed accommodation for sustainability and legal compliance, equitable employee treatment, respect for local cultures and traditions, and care for the environment. Each area is represented by a green heart—the accommodation sites with all four hearts indicate the greenest choice.

bookdifferent has thousands of different accommodation options all over the globe, so the world is your oyster.

bookdifferent has signed the International Tourism Plastic Pledge, which indicates their commitment to reducing plastic pollution from the travel industry. They’ve also partnered with Clean the World to highlight hotels that minimize plastic pollution, which is a criterion you can filter by when searching for accommodation on the site.

Check them out for guidance and resources for sustainable travel destinations, travel tips, and business focused tools for enabling sustainable business travel.

A direct play on the AirBnB brand, Fairbnb.coop offers a similar service of connecting guests with hosts, but with an intentional, ethical component. The prices are similar to using AirBnb, but 50% of Fairbnb.coop’s commission goes towards social projects in hosts’ local communities.

Signing up as a host is free, and the cost is the same for the consumer, but with a fair greater social impact than using a similar rental service.

Right now Fairbnb.coop accommodation is available in Europe and the UK, but availability depends on the interest and participation of hosts, so new Fairbnbs could be coming to you any time, just like the system is coming to Canada in the near future.

Fairbnb.coop has a co-op based business model, with different nodes collecting all stays in one geographic area. Co-op members get to decide how their node is run, and how they can incorporate sustainable tourism into their community. Many of the community projects Fairbnb.coop sponsors through their commission fees support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, addressing issues like sustainable food systems and access, gender equality, clean energy, and sustainable communities.

Partnering with eco-friendly tour operators and accommodations around the world, Earth Changers is an eco travel company living by their core values of adventure and connection with integrity.

Earth Changers is primarily a booking site, providing a database of experiences and stays that have been curated and vetted to be the most sustainable options for your trip.

Looking for Galapagos eco tour companies? That’s just the start of where you can travel to through Earth Changers. You can also go to other destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America—or none of the above, by way of a sailing adventure.

Earth Changers is fiercely committed to combating climate change, and they are aggressively reducing and minimizing their carbon emissions from the very start.

Additionally, many of their partners are actively combatting waste and pollution in their communities, and are using innovative waste to reduce consumption and damage to the environment. Because of this, you may be asked to comply with certain requirements during your stay, such as using natural, eco-friendly toiletries.

If you’re looking for companies specializing in ecotourism and environmental education alike, watch out for Earthwatch. A nonprofit that supports scientific research, Earthwatch connects travelers with environmental scientists to conduct fieldwork in one of the 40 field research expeditions they have available.

Whether you want to focus on ocean health, wildlife and ecosystems, climate change, or archaeology, there is a science focused adventure available for various interests and activity levels across Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Earthwatch’s scientific research has significantly informed legislation and environmental action in countries around the world, and helps guide organizations in sustainability practices based on their research.

They also work with Girls in Science and other organizations to help give students opportunities to learn STEM subjects hands-on in the field.

Focusing on exciting and sustainable nature adventures, Natural Habitat Adventures’ mission is conservation through exploration. They are also the World Wildlife Fund’s conservation travel partner, with your tourism dollars going towards environmental protection and development.

With small groups and unique itineraries, their guided trips take you to spectacular destinations like the U.S. national parks (perfect for eco vacations U.S. residents will find accessible), Antarctica, and more.

Natural Habitat Adventures makes environmental conservation the core of their business, and whether it’s the pursuit of conservation projects like plastic-free travel or their pioneering eco camping trip in Yellowstone, they’re making concrete steps to be sustainable.

In addition to their waste reduction efforts on trips, they are also reducing waste in their Colorado office, providing TerraCycle boxes onsite for employees and zero waste products throughout the facilities. They’ve been carbon-neutral since 2007, mitigating their carbon dioxide output through offsets.

Providing adventure tours led by experienced locals, G Adventures uses community tourism to make an impact, with tours available on every continent. Their non-profit partner, Planeterra, works on empowering local people and harnessing the benefits of tourism for good as a continuation of G Adventures’ focus on community tourism nd eco travels.

With a focus on animal welfare, child welfare, and respectively local and indigenous communities, G Adventures believes community tourism is an eco travel methodology that is sustainable for the world and fun for the individual. Each local tour operator is rated with a Ripple Score to indicate how much money from the tour stays in the local community.

G Adventures partners with Travel Without Plastic to analyze their operations to reduce single use plastic across their tours, offices, and events.

For environmental-focused adventuring, the nonprofit environmental organization Seacology offers expeditions exploring islands throughout the world. The primary purpose is to help protect delicate island ecosystems around the world, working directly with local communities to preserve habitats and strengthen their local culture.

Through their eco-tourism program, they’re both giving people the ability to see remote, hard-to-see island destinations and giving them an up-close look at Seacology’s conservation work and the positive impact it’s having on these destinations.

The focus is on island habitats, but also other key eco-systems including mangroves, peatlands, and seagrass. Not only do these ecosystems trap massive amounts of carbon, but they are also threatened and vulnerable to development. Each expedition visits different environmental projects of Seacology, and vary depending on availability, so check their website to see if there is an upcoming adventure right for you.

Part of their environmental initiatives include empowering locals to protect their own ecosystems, and Seacology provides an award every year to an islander noted for their significant contributions to conserving local environments and culture.

Intrepid Travel can help you get to anywhere in the world—that’s all seven continents, including Antarctica. The purpose driven adventure travel company curates exciting travel experiences to all corners of the globe that are eco-friendly and culturally conscious. They also partner with academic researchers to conduct community based tourism research projects in South America and Asia.

Intrepid travel experiences are designed to fit your needs and interests while supporting communities with initiatives surrounding climate change and social justice.

They’re a Certified B Corp and adhere to the UN Global Compact, a framework designed to help companies align with standards in human rights and environmental preservation. As one of the best ecotourism companies in Australia, Intrepid has a Reconciliation Action Plan that is committed to reconciling as a business with the Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait islanders.

Specializing in private tours and small group trips, Gondwana Ecotours perpetuates environmentally sustainable travel throughout all their adventures.

Preserving ecosystems for future generations is an important component of eco travel, which is why Gondwana Ecotours hires local guides who know their environment intimately and care about preserving it for the benefit of their community.

This sustainable travel company currently offering trips in Alaska, Argentina, Costa Rica, Rwanda, Louisiana, and Tanzania.

Every year, Gondwana donates a portion of their profits to local nonprofits based in the locations where they organize tours, which have all been certified carbon-neutral since 2021. They’re also a member of the International Ecotourism Society.

Byway is a flight-free travel booking company that harnesses the power of trains to get you to oodles of European destinations (and Morocco). No planes necessary.

Byway acts like a travel agent, helping you curate the best sustainable trip for you and your needs. You can either build your own trip or select from one of their best-selling trips curated by travel experts. All transportation and accommodations are included as part of your booking, and if you need help while you’re on your trip, you can contact Byway’s eco travel agents anytime.

Byway is a Certified B Corp, and they regularly publish an impact report indicating their progress towards their sustainability goals. They also help to encourage significant reductions in carbon through their flight-free philosophy, which cuts carbon by up to 90% compared to flying.

Travel is a polluting industry. There, we said it.

Approximately 8%-11% of the total global carbon footprint is caused by travel and tourism, with 17% of that being contributed to by aviation. That’s not even to mention the significant social, economic, and cultural damage that can occur in communities because of careless and profit-centric tourism practices.

But before you decide to never leave the house again, know that there are better ways to travel—for starters, following zero waste travel tips and choosing sustainable brands, whether it be for the eco-friendly travel products you’re packing or the companies you’re booking your trip through.

Eco-friendly tourism companies prioritize environmental conservation, carbon reduction, cultural preservation, and social responsibility. This means that they’re harnessing your tourism dollars to make an environmental impact and cause positive economic and social change in the lives of local people. It also means those prioritize animal welfare, which is another important area to consider when choosing travel experiences involving animals.

Regardless of whether you want to go explore the great outdoors or are interested in more urban eco luxury holidays, an eco tourism company can help you find the most sustainable options for your journey.