We aim to help re-invent the tourism industry for the long-term benefit of local people, the environment, tourists and the tourism industry. The entire premise of our business is to market and distribute more responsible vacations, thereby creating more jobs for local people, greater income for local people and increased benefits for conservation, whilst at the same time minimising negative impacts on local environments and cultures.
We take our responsibilities to the environment, local communities, customers, partners and employees very seriously and constantly review our policies and strive to make improvements where we can. As the first business in the world to use the term 'responsible travel' we have been on a steep learning curve since we launched in 2001.
In September 2009 our sister site, responsibletravel.com, published it's first Responsible Tourism Report which examined our social and environmental impacts. See
the Responsible Tourism Report here
For us, this is a journey - we still have work to do and we welcome feedback in order to further improve our policies. Please email us with any comments.
We screen tour operators and accommodations against responsible tourism criteria before they can become members and be marketed on our site. Read the
social, environmental and economic criteria for becoming a member.
Companies must be transparent in their policies for responsible tourism at a company level and on a vacation by vacation basis. Each tour company is required to write a detailed policy for responsible tourism which must meet our minimum criteria. Our members must also write a paragraph on how the specific vacation ‘makes a difference’. Travelers can find this text included on every vacation page featured on the site.
Since our launch in 2001 we have worked with hundreds of tour operators and accommodations to help them develop and implement effective responsible tourism policies. Through our work with these companies we have actively encouraged the spread of best practice within the tourism industry and now work with over 270 tour operators and over 550 accommodations.
Monitoring responsible tourism
There is no global accreditation scheme for responsible tourism and we do not aim to be this. We have examined hotel accreditation schemes and many of the hotels on our site have been accredited by some of the best schemes out there. As there is no accreditation scheme for tour operators, we have had to devise our own approach. For us, tourists act as the eyes and ears of the industry. Our travelers are invited to comment on their experiences regarding a particular operator or accommodation’s responsible tourism policies on their return from their vacation, in the form of
‘travelers' reviews’. All of these reviews are sent to the tour companies and hotels as a form of consumer-driven auditing in order to encourage continuous improvement.
Organisations that are found to have misrepresented their practices are removed from the site but far more commonly, we have found that tour companies and hotels have listened to customers’ concerns and made changes to improve the sustainability of the vacations. In these cases, evidence of such changes is then published on the site.
Campaigning
Many of the tour operators we now work with are subsidiaries of major companies in the industry and have made changes to their businesses in order to embrace responsible tourism principles. In 2004, we ran a successful campaign against Thomson Vacations, Thomas Cook and MyTravel to persuade them to publish policies on responsible tourism. As a result, The Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) - who represent 70% of the market - made a public commitment that their members would publish policies for responsible travel and tourism within a year.
Awards scheme
The Responsible Tourism Awards which we created in 2004 and have organised every year since, are a powerful tool for encouraging improvement within the tourism industry by demonstrating examples of best practice. The public nominates tourism organisations and the long-listed organisations are then required to fill in a detailed questionnaire which encourages them to assess the impact that they have on local environments, cultures and communities.
The judges particularly look for examples of organisations that deliver benefits to local people and the environment, create widespread change with replicable initiatives or those that have real scale to them, are able to quantify their achievements and measure improvement, and are using their influence to encourage their suppliers to be more responsible too.
Within tourism destinations
The entire premise of our business is to market vacations that have a greater positive impact on the local communities, cultures and people visited. Whether it is in Canada or Cancun, the vacations we market help create jobs for local people, greater income for local people and minimise negative impacts on cultures.
All the vacations on our site increase the linkages to local enterprises, thereby increasing the multiplier effect of every $1 spent by the tourist in the destination. We require all operators and accommodations listed on the site to provide travelers with information that helps sensitise them to local cultures and different ways of life.
Since 2006, we have worked with NGO, Conservation International to launch an initiative which provides free marketing through our site for community based tourism ventures around the world in order to help promote them to consumers and tour operators. Many such local communities are too small or remote to be able to market themselves successfully. This means that booking levels and occupancy are low and they have to rely on support from donors or go out of business. Through this partnership we hope to continue to promote such projects, many of which are based in areas of outstanding, and often vulnerable, natural and cultural heritage.
Back in the UK, where our office is based, we are active members of our community. Every six months, as a team, we spend a day volunteering for a local cause e.g. a local conservation project working in partnership with local people. Among others, we have worked with The Green Gym in Brighton, The National Trust near Hassocks, The Friends of Sheepcote Valley in Brighton and Lewes railway land local nature reserve. We encourage employees to volunteer their time in the community and offer them the chance to take half a day paid time per month during work hours in order to do so.
In addition, we regularly donate money to charity and in 2006 this equated to 13.75% of our profits, and the total we've paid to charities to date is over £12,600 with at least another £8000 on the way, which can make a significant difference to any charity. Organisations we've supported in this way include The Woodland Trust, Afrikids, ActionAid in Cambodia and a small community in Ethiopia.
We have a policy of always using local suppliers wherever we can, so as to bring as much income to the local area as possible. We work with a locally based web developer, cleaning company, design agency and usability / information architect.
Within tourism destinations
We market vacations that are taking steps to actively reduce the negative impact of tourism on the local environment – this is integral to our business. Every vacation on the site has been screened for its environmental criteria. In this regard, we are leading the way in tourism by bringing together in one place thousands of vacations that are helping to create innovative environmentally-friendly business solutions.
Carbon reduction
As a business, we are encouraging people to take fewer flights each year and take fewer, longer breaks as part of their overall efforts to reduce their carbon emissions. As part of our ethos around reducing short haul flying, we have written to UK MPs with our recommendations on tackling increasing emissions from aviation. Justin Francis also speaks regularly at industry events on this issue. In addition, we publicise our views via the national media and meet with both travel and environmental journalists to discuss such issues.
We were among the first travel organisations to introduce carbon offsets in early 2002, and now we are one of the first to remove them for environmental reasons. You can read more about this decision on our
carbon caution & advice page. Of course, carbon reduction does not stop with the flight. We are working with our members to encourage energy saving initiatives within destinations too.
Office environmental, recycling and waste policy
We are committed to:
- continuous improvement in all areas within this policy;
- the education and training of all employees in environmental issues and the environmental effects of their activities;
- being a 'paperless' office as much as possible (no fax or photocopier machines, vast majority of communication by email not letter, no unnecessary printing). Our business is 100% web-based.
Recycling
Our actions are guided by the principles: reduce, reuse then recycle.
- 'Paperless' office except for essential documentation.
- Both sides of paper to be used and then all paper to be recycled.
- As many materials as possible should be recycled in the office bins provided, including:
- paper, envelopes and cardboard
- printer cartridges
- glass, cans, plastic and tetrapaks
- The recycling is collected by local recycling company Magpie.
- Recycled products (e.g. bin bags, paper, toilet roll etc.) to be used wherever possible.
- All compostable matter (e.g. fruit peelings, food etc.) is disposed of via the office wormery.
- All sanitary waste is collected and disposed of by an environmentally licensed company.
- We keep all stamps and donate these to a charity.
Transport
- Public transport rather than private vehicles should be used by staff whilst on company business.
- Employees are encouraged to use public transport or walk to work (currently 95% do so).
Energy
- All staff must turn off PCs and electrical items and not leave them on standby over night / during vacations.
- We are currently in discussions with our landlord regarding a ‘greener’ energy provider.
Products
- The use of biodegradable chemicals where possible and refilling of containers where possible. Our office cleaning company Green Mop also advocates this policy and was chosen for its green principles.
- Fairtrade coffee and tea.
- When buying furniture, it should be made from sustainable (managed) forests or sourced from local charity shops where possible.
- Old furniture and equipment is donated to local charities where possible.
Suppliers
- We expect similar environmental standards from our suppliers where possible.
We are passionate about creating a place to work which is supportive, empowering, friendly, fun and which rewards excellence and loyalty.
We offer staff flexible full-time and part-time working arrangements and half of our employees work from home several days a week.
We are committed to a good work/life balance for our staff.
