Highlights of Portugal vacation

Planet

Our tour leaders do not use single use plastic bottles and also encourage our customers to use their reusable water bottles. In most areas tap water is safe to drink. For our optional picnic lunch on day two no single use plastics are used for serving or as cutlery. Our tour leaders don’t recommend using restaurants that provide single use plastic water bottles.

As most of the accommodation that we use on this trip are locally owned properties, our tour leader recommends to our customers to be conscious of their water use when showering and encourages them not to have towels changed on a daily basis.

We use public trains to reach Sintra on day two and Porto on day six, which reduces our carbon emissions and allows us the opportunity to meet more people from the local community.

Our local agent is working on ways of engaging their suppliers such as hotels, restaurants, and transport companies to be more environmentally friendly by explaining our values and our customers’ expectations to them.

As a travel company we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key, and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage.

People

The majority of accommodation used on this trip is locally owned. This not only provides direct employment within the hotel, but also has the effect of percolating money beyond to small businesses that supply the hotel and in this way money is spread throughout the region we visit. Other people too benefit from our visit including drivers and local guides, as well as the staff in our local handling agent's offices, which are based in Barcelona, Spain.

We use tour leaders, who know the country very well and who will help to give us a unique insight into its history, customs and culture and get us that bit closer to the local people. They also ensure that our customers are aware of the cultural norms that should be observed, dress code, gestures, etc. Our tour leaders are trained by us in the importance of responsible tourism with guidance given on how they can make a difference.

Our tour leaders will make recommendations to clients to use locally owned restaurants, bars and shops. When dining in restaurants our tour leaders also offer advice about what to order based on what’s in season and what has been produced locally.

As a company we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of the UK travel industry body AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.