our local entrepreneurship: TRAVEL WITH AN IMPACT! RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

Startup Lisboa supports the creation of companies and track their first years of activity. Founded in 2011 by the Lisbon Municipality, Bank Montepio and IAPMEI – Portuguese Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation IP, it's a private non-profitable association that provides entrepreneurs and companies mentoring, link to strategic partners, access to investment, help with business basics and networking activities.

Currently one of the most promising companies supported by Startup Lisbon is ImpacTrip, a tour operator which promotes unique responsible travel experiences in Portugal. The concept is to create responsible holidays that improve the well-being of local people. It “combines the best of traveling like a local with having a positive social and environmental impact on the local communities”. ImpactTrip offers two different packages: Experiences (Dive Impact; Nature Impact; City Impact and Beach Impact) to find out the best of Portugal and Volunteer Tourism: “We won't change the world in one day or one week but if we change one person's life at the time it is worth it.”

Tourists are invited to travel and volunteer in social or environmental causes: Abandoned Animals, Fighting poverty, Hunger and food waste, Support people with disabilities, Children education and Environment. The Impact team truly believes that these experiences “will transform simple package holidays in special occasions that give travellers a deeper and more real culture immersion”. Here are some facts about the company’s progress last year:

· -229 new travellers from 31 different countries;

· -2429 overnight stays of tourists;

· -6253 hours of volunteer work;

· -Ocean cleanup: 588 kg of trash collected;

· -Safer habitat for the endangered Iberian Lynx.

In 2017 the goals ImpactTrip plans to pursue are based on their core values and on the company’s solid mission: Change the way people travel. Travel with an impact!