Small steps can go a long way when it comes to helping the environment and securing the planet's future. 🌎 WeTravel has partnered with Sustainable Travel International to fund carbon emission mitigation and broader sustainability projects (as defined by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals) around the world.
We are keen to take this important step toward a more sustainable future together with you contributing to reducing the travel industry’s carbon footprint. This article will quickly explain how you can offer your participants carbon offset contribution options during the booking process on WeTravel.
The carbon offset option can be enabled from the Trip Builder's Pricing section on a per-trip basis. By default, this feature is disabled for all WeTravel users. Just set the toggle to "Yes" to allow your participants to offset their emissions during the checkout:
(At the moment, contributions can only be paid by your participants. If you are interested in contributing on behalf of your customers, let us know at info@wetravel.com).
Next, choose the percentage of a trip total you want to allow for contributions. You can choose between 1% - 5% of the trip total from the drop-down menu:
When editing your WeTravel trip, always remember to click "Publish" to ensure any changes are saved!
What it looks like to your customers
During the booking journey, your participants will be able to choose to offset their carbon emissions by making a small voluntary contribution. If selected, it will be added to the final payment:
The contribution will be calculated from the subtotal amount, e.g. if your participant books a package for $2500 and the add-on for $100, the 1% of the subtotal amount they will be able to contribute before any incurring card payment fees is $26 as shown in the example above.
Important information:
1. Please note that carbon offset contribution will only be offered to your participants once - during the initial booking and not when making the subsequent payments at a later point.
2. Your participants will receive two email confirmations (Booking confirmation & Contribution confirmation) after a successful payment has been made. You, the trip organizer, will receive a copy of those email confirmations too. If needed, you can manage your email notification settings here. In case you have connected WeTravel with Zapier, please note that you will receive two triggers for each of those transactions.
Carbon Offset FAQ:
What types of projects might be funded through WeTravel's offset purchase option?
All the collected funds will go to whichever area and project has the most need at a given point in time. Click here to learn the specifics about currently active projects! 🌱
Is this feature available to both Basic and Pro plan users?
Yes, our carbon offsetting feature is available to everyone!
Is carbon offset purchase available in all currencies?
Yes, this feature is enabled for trips in all currencies on WeTravel!
What if an offset contribution payment fails?
If for some reason the contribution payment fails, we will send automatic email notifications to both you and your participant. We will simply let you know about the failed charge but won’t offer the traveler to retry this payment again.
How are refunds for carbon offset contributions handled?
You can easily refund contributions made by your participants at any time! Please kindly follow these instructions here and proceed with refunds when needed. We also want to remind you that refunds are completely free - we return all transaction and credit card fees back to you and your customer.
How are carbon offset contribution payments marked in reporting?
Contribution payments are recorded like any other payments in our reporting. They will be listed as “Carbon Offset Contribution” in Transactions reporting and only if that contribution payment was successful.
Additionally, you can see that info in the activity log of the booking as shown below:
Want to read more about carbon offsetting and sustainability in general?
We’ve got you covered!👏🏼 You can learn more about tourism’s carbon footprint here and visit our official carbon offset page to find out more about the current travel & carbon emission impact on the planet. Please contact us at info@wetravel.com if you have any questions or want to share additional ideas on how we could become stronger at raising climate awareness together!
Watch our webinar about combating climate change as a tourism company by clicking here.