Yesterday I had a meeting at Explore, an Adventure Holiday company based in Farnborough. I was really impressed with their passion for authentic holidays, their desire to be environmentally responsible, particularly in their host countries and encouraging their clients to do so too.
By operating in small groups, we minimise the impact on the local culture and resources, whilst blending in more easily.We issue our travellers with clear guidelines on responsible tourism. These cover a variety of issues from litter and waste disposal in remote areas, to begging and artefacts. We encourage customers to buy local crafts and support local skills, but never to buy products that exploit wildlife or the harm the habitat.
We use locally owned suppliers wherever viable to provide and run services. This ensures that the local economy benefits directly. We also expect local suppliers to meet our standards, with particular consideration for the environment.
When recruiting Tour Leaders, we assess their environmental credentials and then train them to our own standards. They are also required to complete a Responsible Tourism Audit on each tour.
And lastly about their passion for their customers. They want to engage with them and create value.
I was impressed. I hope they were too.
In the meantime go and visit their site because there are some amazing holidays. I'm considering the Elephant Odyssey around Sri Lanka. (well when I have saved up for it :)
Posted by Paul Goodison at February 16, 2006 02:03 PM | TrackBack