Purpose-Driven Travel and Lifestyle Media Platform Travara Launches

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Travara, the first purpose-driven travel and lifestyle media platform to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), announced its launch today. A blend of the words travel and vara (Sanskrit for "good"), Travara aims to become the trusted source for "good travel," featuring globally inspired content curated for socially conscious global citizens. All content featured will tie into the SDGs, the development agenda agreed upon by the United Nations in 2015.

A Hispanic female, founder and CEO Michelle Martin, 39, is a former Qualcomm executive who led global communications and marketing for the tech company's social impact initiative Wireless Reach. During her tenure, Martin traveled extensively throughout countries such as India, Myanmar, Morocco and Colombia and executive produced Power of 9, a documentary that aligned with the SDGs.

With 10 years of editorial experience, Martin's work has been featured in outlets such as Newsweek, Entrepreneur, Vogue and Forbes, where she currently covers the intersection of travel and social impact. Through her work, Martin experienced a growing interest and appreciation for content related to sustainable tourism and social entrepreneurship.                            

Multiple media platforms target either Millennials, travelers or socially conscious business, but there wasn't one that targeted all three. Martin saw an opportunity in the market to create a trusted platform for socially conscious consumers who enjoy travel and value social impact.

Travara is the first travel-focused media platform to align content with SDGs in an approachable, creative way that isn't too intimidating. While sustainable travel will be at the core of content found on Travara, other topics include wellness, food, culture, style and goods.

All content, however, will be globally inspired and incorporate elements of social impact, whether it is jewelry made by women in India or leather shoes made by fairly paid workers in Ethiopia.

"Global development goals like eradicating poverty and achieving gender equality can be overwhelming to most consumers," said Michelle Martin, founder and CEO of Travara. "Travara is making it easy for consumers to find and support the companies that value sustainability and social impact so that their purchases, regardless of size, are moving the needle in the right direction. We're just connecting the dots in a cool and meaningful way."

According to the 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study by public relations agency Porter Novelli, 85 percent of Americans say they would likely support a purpose-driven company in their community as it helps them feel like they are doing their part to make a positive impact as well.

Breaking away from traditional digital advertising models, Travara is focusing on bespoke and experiential advertising and partnerships that will be highly curated and selected according to a company's brand values and genuine alignment with the SDGs.

Brands will be promoted throughout the year through organic forms of narrative storytelling, immersive travel opportunities and emerging tech experiences that leverage AR and VR. Travara has partnered with Temme Media to create socially conscious content for partners, which Martin believes will resonate with the Travara audience in an authentic way.

At the age of 23, Martin founded Karuna International, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing global awareness among underserved youth by taking them abroad for the first time in a global service-learning program. Travara will expand upon that model in a sustainable way, by dedicating a percentage of revenue to take underserved youth abroad and create sustainable tourism jobs for women in emerging regions.

Travara is the first purpose-driven, travel-focused media platform to align with the Sustainable Development Goals. Travara's mission is to inform, inspire and empower the modern global citizen to travel responsibly and support globally inspired companies that have a positive social impact. For more information, visit travara.com and engage with them on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook with the handle @DiscoverTravara, using the following hashtags #DiscoverTravara and #DiscoverGoodTravel.

Media Contact:

Salina Boghairi
[email protected]

Related Images

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Travara

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Michelle Martin
Michelle Martin, Founder and CEO, Travara

SOURCE Travara