Tripadvisor, who bills itself as “the world’s largest travel site†and Kiva.org, the world’s first micro-lending platform, have launched a joint venture that connects travelers with borrowers in countries the travelers have visited.
Kiva is a nonprofit organization whose social mission is to lessen poverty around the world via micro-lending. They currently have thousands of borrowers in 66 countries, who can use the small loans that lenders provide ($25 or more) to create entrepreneurial opportunities in their families or communities.
TripAdvisor hopes to reach travelers who have been to a country that Kiva is currently offering loans in, and then pick a borrower in the country they visited to receive a $25 microloan on Kiva.org. The money for these loans come at no cost to the traveler and are entirely funded through a $250,000 contribution from TripAdvisor.
In order to partake in this initiative, a traveler has to submit a written review after visiting a hotel, rental, restaurant or attraction in a Kiva-support country. After submitting the review, the user will receive an email from TripAdvisor with information about the microloan. The traveler can then log into Kiva.org and review personal and business details of potential borrowers in that country, before agreeing to the loan.
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