If you’re concerned about the impact your travel has on the world, from climate concerns to concerns about globalization, how to support local cultures, and how to make sure your tourism spend doesn’t end up in a corporate CEO’s bank account, you may want to book your next trip via a travel auction.

The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) annual auction opened last week and runs until October 16. According to the announcement, it’s the “largest adventure travel and gear auction in the world benefiting conservation.”

“By participating in this auction, you’re not just bidding on extraordinary journeys and gear, you’re investing in a future where tourism supports and sustains the very landscapes and communities that make it so meaningful,” Soraya Shattuck, Executive Director of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, told Matador Network via email. “Together, we can ensure that adventure travel continues to be a force for good in the world.”

ATCF travel auction - kenya hotel

A four-day safari package in Kenya is one of many available items in the ATCF travel auction. Photo: Angama Amboseli

Rather than booking an adventure trip or eco-lodge through traditional channels, like hotel websites or TripAdvisor, the ATCF travel auction offers would-be travelers the chance to bid on donated “items,” which range from an eight-day hiking adventure through Madeira, Portugal, to an 11-day trip to search for snow leopards in India. Travelers can also browse hotel offerings, like a three-night stay at a luxury Canadian wilderness lodge or an all-inclusive glamping stay in Baja California Sur. There are also gear deals for travelers who aren’t quite ready to commit to a trip, like a Cotopaxi gear bundle starting at $200, and a water filtration hip pack system from Grayl, starting at $150.

The ATCF is the fundraising arm of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, a worldwide group of tourism boards and tour operators, gear companies, hotels, guides, media, and other members working in the adventure travel industry. Funds raised by the non-profit ATCF are donated through a grant program to Indigenous communities, conservation organizations, and other non-profit groups to fund projects relating to sustainable adventure travel. Past projects funded partially by auction profits include supporting the Reef-World Foundation in the Dominican Republic to train dive operators in coral conservation science, funding trail construction and habitat restoration in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, and donating to efforts to reduce desert lion deaths as result of human conflict in Namibia.

And when it comes to taxes, you may be in luck if you win. If your winning bid is under the value of the trip, there’s no tax benefit. But if you pay more than the market rate, the difference is tax deductible. The money from all winning bids goes directly to conservation efforts, as 100 percent of all profits go back to the ATCF — so even if you can’t get a tax break, it still makes a huge difference.

Prices will rise and more and more bids are entered, but for now, Matador found the following steals available on the auction site. The organization hopes to raise more than $100,000 from this year’s auction, and has more than 60 packages, hotel deals, and gear items on the digital auction block.

Travelers who want to support the organization’s efforts on a smaller scale can also make a donation to the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund and receive one of two conservation stickers, ideal for water bottles, suitcases, and snowboards worldwide. 

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