Frontline service workers in tourism corridors in developing countries earn between $200 - $300 a month, a sum far from a living wage.
At the same time, up to 90% of the economic value created in the multibillion-dollar leisure travel industry is lost to economic leakage through internationally owned properties, tour operators, and leadership talent.
“For each US$100 spent by a tourist, only around $5 actually stays in a developing-country” Elcia Grandcourt. Director, UNWTO
While foreign direct investment is much needed, welcome, and appreciated, it is vital that the people and places that make travel possible also benefit more meaningfully from its economics. Without that, the model is fundamentally imbalanced and unsustainable.
At Shukran we are on a mission to ensure that frontline staff, communities, and ecosystems that make travel special can more fully share in the sector’s economics. Shukran is where travel meets shared prosperity.
We do this by enabling guests to digitally tip service workers and support local causes such as conservancies championed by the properties and tour operators that make their journeys possible.
Travel is one of the rare human experiences that naturally opens the heart. It brings distant peoples together. It stirs gratitude. It creates a genuine desire in travelers to appreciate the people who cared for them and to give back to the communities they encountered along the way.
That generosity already exists. Our job is to make it easy to act on.
So far, we have facilitated $1M in tips to frontline service workers in East Africa. Our goal now is to compound that to $10M through 2027 and keep building from there.
To do that, we are partnering with hospitality properties, tour operators, and tour guides to give guests a seamless way to express their gratitude digitally through tips and donations.
How can you help? Refer us to hospitality properties, conservancies, and tour operators and we will take it from there.
Together, we can help make travel a force for shared prosperity.
Anything is possible.
Mark Karake
Founder & CEO
Mark@shukran.co
