"We want to use the strength of tourism to promote economic development in our host countries and combat poverty," says Sören Hartmann, CEO of the DER Travel and Tourism Foundation. "We open up new future prospects and a better quality of life for the people and animals living there. Our sustainable approach is to help people to help themselves." All DER Travel and Tourism Foundation projects were developed by local aid organisations and are supported on site.

We spoke to Sören Hartmann and Kathrin Sommer about their favourite projects.

one: What is the basic idea behind the DER Travel and Tourism Foundation?
Sören Hartmann: As a tourism company, DER Travel and Tourism's business depends on an intact environment for people, nature and animals. That's why the DER Travel and Tourism Foundation was established in 2014. The Foundation is committed to supporting the education of children, young people and women as well as nature and animal conservation in tourist regions. These are regions to which DER Travel and Tourism sends many guests, but which also need our support to tackle challenges such as youth unemployment, the restoration of mangrove forests and coral reefs, and poaching.

To date, we have implemented 92 projects in 28 countries on five continents in close cooperation with local charitable organisations. In this way, we are opening up prospects for the future so that the world is worth living in for everyone.

The Foundation's work also helps our employees to identify with the company. That's why we want to get more employees excited about the Foundation's work in future and encourage them to get involved in various activities.

one: Since 2014, the DER Travel and Tourism Foundation has supported almost 100 projects. What are the selection criteria? Surely the Foundation receives countless enquiries ...
Kathrin Sommer: That's right, we receive countless requests for support. We select our projects on the basis of an extensive catalogue of criteria, which can be found on the Foundation's website.

First of all, we check whether a funding request fits in with our funding priorities - (education) training, nature conservation, animal welfare. We also want the projects to become more and more tangible. We are a tourism company, so it makes sense for us to support tourism-related projects that, in the best case scenario, either form a good basis for Travel and Tourism because they train workers, e.g. for a job in a restaurant or hotel, or can be experienced in the tourist destination.

What we always need is a trustworthy local non-profit partner, an NGO. This is then checked again by the German Foundation Centre.

We are therefore increasingly involving our local agencies in the project search. Colleagues in the destination country can better assess whether an NGO is doing good work locally and, in our view, has projects worthy of support that will sustainably improve living and environmental conditions. In recent years, this has led to a number of projects that the Foundation is currently funding (including the Pimali training programme in Thailand, mangrove protection in Sri Lanka, anti-poaching sniffer dogs in South Africa, sea turtle protection in Turkey).

one: What happens to the projects when your funding comes to an end?
Kathrin Sommer: Ultimately, it is important to us that projects are self-sustaining after our funding ends - usually two to three years - and that they are continued independently by the local communities. Projects are only sustainable if they pursue a lasting improvement in living conditions with the aim of "helping people to help themselves".

We realise that not all criteria can always be met in full. But what must be 100 per cent fulfilled is that there is an NGO behind the funding project that we can rely on.

one: Do you believe that the Foundation's work can bring about lasting change in local living conditions - even after the project has ended?
Sören Hartmann: Yes, I believe so and would like to cite the Foundation's work in Emboreet in northern Tanzania as a successful example. Kathrin and I travelled there at the end of 2021 to gain an impression of the Foundation's project successes. The Foundation has been active here since 2016 with various projects, some of which have now been completed and are being continued by the local communities.

Education programmes are a decisive lever and must involve all population groups: Young and old, women and men. By building eight primary schools, we have given more than 3,700 children a school education and thus a start to a successful life.

With the craftsmen's centre for bricklayers, carpenters and metalworkers that we have set up, 60 young men and women a year are given the opportunity to receive sound dual training. As trained specialists, they find work locally and can support their families.

In order for children and young people to receive an education, mothers in particular need to be convinced of how important it is to support them. In Maasai culture, however, women are often married off early without an education and have many children. The Foundation has therefore set up a women's education centre where they learn helpful things for everyday life, such as hygiene, household management and active family planning. They also learn how to set up small businesses from the production of soap and maize flour. From this income, they can in turn provide their children with an education.

one: What plans do you have for the future?
Kathrin Sommer and Sören Hartmann: Next year, the Foundation will be ten years old.
For the Foundation's 10th anniversary, we are planning to set up a new Foundation project with a local partner organisation so that we can play an even greater role in shaping the project content ourselves as an exclusive sponsor.

We are also endeavouring to reflect our sustainability focus more strongly in our project portfolio in the future. We are committed to the climate, for example we are working on a climate strategy with the REWE Group or the climate footprint for travelling. It would therefore be great if we could also have Foundation projects in the future that have a positive impact on this important topic for all of us. So there are plenty of ideas for the future.

one: Thank you for the interview.