Greece food tour

Planet

Our partner in Greece works to preserve the environmental sustainability of the planet, at all levels of its operations.
1. They aspire to minimise the impact on the environment and maximise the effective use of resources.
2. Responsible standards are applied in areas not already covered by existing laws and regulations.
3. They provide a safe and healthy workplace for their staff.
4. They have an environmentally sustainable aware culture, where responsibility is assigned and understood, by being an environmentally responsible neighbour in the community.
5. They use processes that do not adversely affect the environment - our partner in Greece is the first online travel agency in Northern Greece. Right from the beginning, the company has implemented a minimum to non-existent use of non-recyclable materials. Every document used is in digital form, all the presentations and brochures are in digital form. The fact that there is no physical space used to house and run the company helps further towards the reduction of the almost non-existent environmental footprint. It is an online agency, therefore doesn't have offices. In the town of Kozani where the two co-founders work from home a tele-heating system is installed, which supplies the hot water produced in the nearby power plant to the central heating units in every building in the town and thus eliminates the need for gas, petrol or any other fossil fuel in order to heat homes in the winter. On top of that, their homes are equipped with energy efficient light bulbs and they always make sure they turn their laptops off every night when not in use (not on standby mode). Moreover, they are aiming to invest in even lower consumption laptops in the future and also hoping to incentivise hotel/guesthouse owners to change the light bulbs in their facilities with energy efficient ones by paying a little bit more for their services, should they decide to implement that.
6. They participate in efforts to improve environmental protection and understanding and work with suppliers who promote sound environmental practices. Every guesthouse/hotel our partner cooperates with sources its produce from local producers within 100km radius and that's a condition our partner requires in order to work with them. This approach substantially reduces the environmental footprint. Also, the restaurants/tavernas in the programme source their produce from local producers within 100km radius and, on top of that, they prepare and serve local dishes. Every time they visit a potential collaborator they ensure that the venue or activity falls under their sustainability criteria of being a local business, employing local people, using local providers, respecting environmental law, causing minimal (if any) disturbance to the environment.
Finally, our partner takes our customers to places where they can buy locally crafted souvenirs.
Every time our partner takes a group to "Arcturos Bear Sanctuary" they urge the customers to adopt a bear by donating a small initial amount of 10 euros per donor. The remaining 20-30 euros is covered by our guests. Those small amounts of money help the sanctuary's viability and provide it with the means to sustain both the bears and interns/trainees who work there.

7. They enhance awareness among their employees, volunteers, and users – educating and motivating them to act in an environmentally responsible manner & conduct rigorous audits, evaluations, and self-assessments of the implementation of this policy.
Our partners in Greece have received their sustainable tourism certification.

People

We work alongside a well-established local supplier in Greece who is passionate about promoting Northern Greece. 100% of their guides and drivers are local – they care passionately about their area and can bring an unrivalled insight into the tour. The guesthouse accommodation on the tour is family run – these hotels are traditional establishments which respect the local architecture and surroundings. The standard of food on the tour is high and, given the specialised nature of the tour, all food is local! The restaurants used are also family run and this provides much needed income for the area. The wine producers which we visit provide much needed employment for local people.
During this trip there will be a visit to the Arcturos Wildlife Sanctuary. This ground-breaking organisation was instrumental in stopping the use of bears in circuses & opened the sanctuaries to look after bears and wolves which were formerly in captivity. They also founded and maintain the National Bear Register.