Bhutan adventure & cultural vacation

Environment

Responsible travel and sustainable tourism are fundamental ideas that we have been committed to since our birth. It is our strong belief that these words should not be simply ‘tagged on’ to dossiers and websites but should be at the very core of each trip, and our adventures are therefore designed with the local people, culture and eco-system in mind. We believe that a successful trip not only delivers a unique and unsurpassable journey for our clients, but that it also benefits the peoples whose lands we are privileged to visit.

In order to facilitate a structured and enduring support structure for the communities we visit, and to show a commitment to these values, we have set up a charitable foundation through which we can channel funds to both existing NGOs and our own development projects. In addition to organising ethically sensitive tours, having our own charitable foundation allows us to raise money – through the cost of our tours, charity trips and fund raising events – which can then be used to fund various projects in education, sanitation, reforestations and a number of other important issues facing developing communities. Wherever possible we are happy for our clients to visit these projects to see for themselves where and how this money is being spent.

When you take one of our trips, we make a contribution to “Carbon Clear” – an organisation devoted to ‘offsetting’ or ‘neutralising’ harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by your flight. This is done by funding projects across the world that will reduce greenhouse gases on your behalf through sustainable energy or rainforest restoration.

Community

Both clients and the Company have, for the past two years, supported various projects in Bhutan including providing clothing and bedding for 550 novices in two teaching monasteries, food supplies for two monasteries, building materials to renovate two further monasteries and learning aids for a primary school on the Dochu la Pass. A further project involved fencing around an ancient temple built by Zabdrung, the unifier of Bhutan, in 1637, to protect the ancient building from grazing cattle.

In Bhutan we have developed unique relationships with many people, some of whom help us with our tours, others that simply live in the different regions to which we travel and through. Through our form of interactive, socially conscious tourism we have helped them adapt to the modern, changing world by providing an important additional income. By incorporating home-stays, locally owned hotels, restaurants and the services of guides into our itineraries, we ensure that money goes directly into the local economy and local communities benefit from tourism.