Page Text Content
WINTER 2007 & 2008
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL POLICY
It doesn't matter where you travel in the world, your visit can have a positive and negative impact. By travelling responsibly and considerately we can all ensure that the good far outweighs the bad. This is a philosophy that we embrace in our responsible travel policy. We believe there are three keys areas which need to be addressed; environmental, economic and social. We incorporate these factors whenever we are researching any of our holidays. Our criteria are described below. ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY
We firmly believe that the communities and areas to which we send our clients should benefit economically. The very nature of our holidays means that we operate for the main part in remote rural and coastal regions where employment can be limited. Hence, to the greatest extent possible, we always ensure that we use local accommodation, transport and activity providers. This enables locally owned businesses and the economies in which they work to benefit directly. Through the tourism multiplier effect, this helps to generate incomes and employment where the drift might otherwise be towards larger employment areas such as towns and cities. Tourism has become a vital cog in rural diversification planning. We try to steer away from large chains whose main beneficiaries tend to be shareholders and senior management and keep the tourist spend where it should be, in the local economy. Additionally, we firmly believe in paying a fair price for the services provided by our suppliers regardless of where they are in the world. of the local inhabitants by learning a few important words: hello, goodbye, please, thank you, wine, beer etc. It is amazing how much such gestures will be appreciated. In addition, we will always encourage our clients to get involved in local events and activities which help to sustain traditional values and customs. CLIMATE CARE Climate Care was set up to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The concept is simple: you can "neutralise" the negative impact of your activities by asking Climate Care to calculate how much CO2 will be emitted by these activities and paying to offset the emissions. The money raised is used to fund projects based around renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and, to a lesser degree, reforestation. Climate Care only funds projects that would not have been implemented without its financial backing, thus it does not help governments and other bodies to honour their pledges to reduce emissions. Importantly therefore, Climate Care's projects will be in addition to governmental strategies. HOW YOU CAN OFFSET AIR TRAVEL EMISSIONS To "neutralise" the impact of your own flights to your chosen holiday destination, please visit: http://www.climatecare.co.uk/calculators/flights_calc.cfm where you will find the Air Travel Calculator. Enter your departure airport and your destination airport and let it work out the amount of CO2 emitted over the course of your flight. At the same time, it will calculate how much you should contribute to offset this, which you can then pay via their secure server. There are alternatives to air travel when travelling to Scandinavia and we will be delighted to discuss options such as trains and driving.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
So much has been written lately about the environmental impact of flying. Here at Activities Abroad, we always offset our air travel emissions and would encourage you to do the same. Our holidays rely on visiting beautiful and unspoilt areas, often in remote and isolated areas. Naturally we wish to maintain the natural settings in which we work, not just for the future of our company, but also for future generations. When researching our trips we will always insist that our local providers are equally conscious of this need. We ensure that all litter is removed from any of our activity sites, we strongly encourage group transfers to reduce traffic volumes and make our clients aware of their obligation to the environment.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
We fully appreciate the impact of tourist visits on local communities and their residents and strive to ensure that we are having a positive effect. Consequently, we encourage our clients to respect and understand the lives
OFFSETTING YOUR EMISSIONS
We all need to do our bit to offset our carbon emissions. There is no perfect scheme but in consultation with Responsible Travel we would recommend the following:
50
|
inbro