Sustainability Policy

Our sustainability policy is divided into 10 themes. Each theme consists of a set of principles, practical actions and related goals.

Sustainability Management and Legal Compliance

We are committed to sustainability management through the following actions:

• Appointing an employee responsible for sustainability coordination tasks;
• Having a mission statement that is communicated to customers, partners and suppliers and includes the pillars of sustainability;
• Having an accessible, written sustainability policy that aims to reduce the negative social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of the company’s activities, and that includes employee-related health and safety aspects;
• Collaborating and actively participating in external forums and working groups that support sustainability in tourism;
• Conducting a baseline assessment of the company’s performance on sustainable practices;
• Having sustainability guidelines and an assessment system in place to identify the sustainability performance of key actors within our value chain;
• Having a sustainability action plan with clear targets, actions, measures, responsibilities and time planning;
• Developing documented procedures to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the sustainability policy, objectives and targets;
• Ensuring the company’s transparency in sustainability through public reporting and communication;
• Ensuring that all staff are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and are committed to implementing and improving it.

We are committed to complying with all national legislation, regulations and codes of practice.

Internal Management: Social Policy and Human Rights

We are committed to sustainable internal management through a well-communicated social policy that includes the following principles:

• Granting employees freedom of employment and contract termination with notice, in accordance with national legislation;
• Including labour conditions, in accordance with national labour law, and a job description in the employment contract;
• Ensuring that the wage rate is mentioned in the contract and is equal to or above the national minimum wage;
• Determining and compensating overtime working hours in accordance with national legislation;
• Granting employees paid annual leave and sick leave in accordance with national legislation;
• Having a health and safety policy for employees that complies with national legal standards;
• Complying with national legislation concerning the minimum age for admission to employment;
• Creating opportunities for students to participate in traineeships, internships and apprenticeships.

We are committed to respecting human rights by ensuring the enforcement of the following practices:

• Declaring that we do not hinder trade union membership, collective labour negotiations or the representation of members by trade unions;
• Prohibiting discrimination in recruitment, conditions of employment, access to training and senior positions, or promotion on the basis of gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion or beliefs, or sexual orientation;
• Ensuring that all employees have equal opportunities and access to resources for personal development through regular training and education.

Internal Management: Environment and Community Relations

We are committed to environmental protection and enhancing community relations by ensuring the enforcement of the following practices:

• Actively reducing the use of disposable and consumer goods;
• Favouring the purchase of sustainable goods and services, including office and catering supplies, giveaways and merchandise;
• Purchasing products in bulk, where possible, to reduce the amount of packaging materials;
• Setting copying and printing machines by default to double-sided printing or other paper-saving modes;
• Printing brochures on environmentally friendly paper, with a printing company that operates a certified environmental management system, where locally available at reasonable cost;
• Implementing measures to reduce brochure wastage or adopting an “internet only” policy where possible;
• Purchasing energy-efficient lighting for all areas, where available;
• Switching off lights and equipment when not in use;
• Preferring low-energy equipment when buying new items, while taking cost and quality into consideration;
• Installing water-saving equipment in toilets;
• Complying with national legislation concerning waste disposal;
• Taking action to reduce the use of non-refillable plastic bottles of drinking water for office use;
• Separating all recyclable materials and organising their collection and proper disposal;
• Recycling or properly disposing of batteries;
• Using lead-free and water-based paints, both inside and outside, where locally available;
• Reducing transport-related impacts through telework, video calls, work-from-home policies or other means;
• Maintaining and properly checking motorised company vehicles to reduce emissions and energy use, and ensuring that they comply with legal emission standards;
• Providing periodic guidance, training and information to all staff members about their roles and responsibilities with respect to internal environmental practices;
• Complying with land use, zoning and protected or heritage area laws and regulations when planning, designing, constructing, renovating, operating or demolishing company buildings and infrastructure;
• Basing the planning, design and construction of new buildings or renovations on locally appropriate and feasible sustainable practices and materials;
• Contributing to the protection and preservation of local historical, archaeological, culturally important and spiritually important properties and sites, and not impeding access to them by local residents.

Partners

Based on an inventory of our key partners, we have developed and implemented a policy to improve the sustainability of our partners. Our aim is to make sustainable development concrete for every partner within our business.

We are committed to this by:

• Keeping a list of the sustainability practices of partner accommodations;
• Minimising the ecological footprint of the office by travelling mainly through multi-modal transportation, working as paperlessly as possible, separating waste and using certified recycled paper;
• Paying attention to the local benefits for communities when influencing the selection of local accommodations by our customers, including the social policies of those accommodations for their employees;
• Informing key partners about Travelife and national tourism standards;
• Informing key partners about the travel company’s sustainability policy and the expectation that they comply with it and/or communicate it to final customers where relevant;
• Having written contracts with partner agencies;
• Ensuring that partner companies comply with all relevant national laws protecting the rights of employees.

Transport

We seek to ensure that vehicles used in tourism operations do not cause more than average pollution. We believe that transport is an important aspect of sustainable tourism, and we do our best to reduce average pollution levels.

We are committed to this by:

• Selecting the most sustainable options, while considering price and comfort, when choosing transport options to the destination;
• Considering and giving preference to more sustainable alternatives when selecting transport options for transfers and excursions in the destination, taking into account price, comfort and practical considerations.

Accommodation

We seek to achieve a tourism supply chain that is as sustainable as possible. Partner accommodations play an important role in achieving this.

We are committed to this by:

• Selecting accommodation providers that comply with sustainability and quality standards;
• Encouraging accommodation providers to complete the sustainability questionnaire to gain insight into their practices;
• Clearly and actively communicating our sustainability objectives and requirements regarding accommodations to contracted and other relevant accommodation providers;
• Giving clear preference to accommodation providers that work with internationally acknowledged certifications, such as GSTC-recognised and/or Travelife certification;
• Ensuring that accommodation providers comply with all applicable laws, statutes, regulations and codes relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption. They must also refrain from engaging in any form of bribery or corruption, including facilitation payments, when dealing with private parties or public officials. In particular, we ensure that they do not offer, provide, authorise, request or receive any financial or other advantage, including gifts or hospitality, with the intent or prospect of influencing or determining the recipient’s decision-making or other conduct, or as an inducement or reward for the improper performance of a person’s relevant function;
• Ensuring that accommodation providers do not discriminate against their employees on the basis of gender, age, religion, race, tribe, caste, social background, disability, nationality, membership in workers’ organisations, political affiliation, sexual orientation or any other personal characteristic;
• Ensuring that accommodation providers comply with all laws prohibiting any form of child exploitation and exclude the employment of children under the local minimum age, as well as forced labour;
• Ensuring that accommodation providers conduct their activities in a manner that does not jeopardise the local community’s access to essential resources, essential services, livelihoods or important sites.

Excursions and Activities

We place great value on animal welfare and community welfare, and aim to offer tours that leave only a minor footprint. We safeguard the authenticity of communities and the natural environment, and we are strongly against harming wildlife and polluting the environment.

We are committed to this by:

• Having an inventory of environmentally or culturally sensitive excursions offered in each destination;
• Advising guests on behaviour standards during excursions and activities, with a focus on respecting local culture, nature and the environment;
• Communicating our sustainability objectives and requirements to contracted and other relevant excursion providers;
• Not offering any excursions in which wildlife is held captive, except for properly regulated activities that comply with local, national and international law;
• Not being involved with companies that harvest, consume, display, sell or trade wildlife species, unless this forms part of a regulated activity that ensures their use is sustainable and complies with local, national and international law;
• Having certified guides and knowledgeable experts to guide our guests in sensitive cultural sites, heritage sites or ecologically sensitive destinations;
• Promoting and advising our guests on excursions and activities that directly involve and support local communities by purchasing services or goods, traditional crafts and local food production methods, or by visiting social projects;
• Promoting and advising our guests on excursions and activities that support the local environment and biodiversity, such as visits to protected areas or environmental protection projects.

Tour Leaders, Local Representatives and Guides

We aim to involve as many local people as possible by employing them in the tourism business. We stand for a fair and safe working environment that supports and respects local communities.

We are committed to this by:

• Ensuring that all employees have a written employment contract, including labour conditions and a job description, and that they fully understand the terms and conditions;
• Ensuring that our local partners comply with all applicable national laws and regulations, industry minimum standards and any other relevant statutory requirements, whichever requirements are more stringent;
• Paying local representatives, guides and other local staff contracted by us above the legal minimum or relevant industry standard;
• Ensuring that our tour guides, hosts and other employees under contract are qualified and trained regularly;
• Ensuring that our local employees are informed about the relevant aspects of our sustainability policy and comply with it;
• Having our local representatives and guides inform clients about relevant sustainability matters in the destination, including the protection of flora, fauna and cultural heritage, resource use, social norms and values, such as tipping, dress codes and photography, and human rights matters.

Destination

We aim to maximise positive impacts and minimise negative impacts to support the sustainable development of the places in which we operate.

We are committed to this by:

• Complying with legally based spatial planning, protected area and heritage regulations, as well as destination management strategies set by national authorities;
• Supporting initiatives that improve relationships between accommodations and local producers;
• Influencing and supporting local government, where possible together with other travel companies and stakeholders, on sustainability, destination planning and management, the use of natural resources and socio-cultural issues;
• Supporting biodiversity conservation, including protected areas and areas of high biodiversity, through financial contributions, political support and integration into product offers;
• Not promoting souvenirs that contain threatened flora and fauna species, as indicated in the CITES treaty and the IUCN Red List, or historic and archaeological artefacts, except where permitted by law.

Customer Communication and Protection

Customer welfare and information are very important to us. We are committed to clear and consistent communication with our clients. We ensure that marketing and advertising material does not contain misleading information, over-advertise or under-deliver. We also ensure that all staff are aware of what is offered and that it can be delivered to our clients with ease.

Prior to booking, we are committed to this by:

• Ensuring that customer privacy is not compromised;
• Complying with relevant standards and voluntary codes of conduct in marketing and advertising messages, and not promising more than is delivered;
• Making product and price information clear, complete and accurate with regard to the company and its products and services, including sustainability claims;
• Providing destination information, including sustainability aspects, that is factually correct, balanced and complete;
• Promoting sustainable accommodations, excursions, packages and transport options with logos or other messages, ensuring that they are recognisable to consumers;
• Informing customers about sustainable alternatives concerning accommodations, excursions, package holidays and transport options, where available;
• Clearly informing customers about our sustainability commitments and actions.

After booking and during holidays, we are committed to this by:

• Providing consumers with information about the natural surroundings, local culture and cultural heritage in the holiday destination;
• Informing consumers about key sustainability aspects and issues in the destination, and providing recommendations on how they can make a positive contribution;
• Informing customers about risks and precautions related to health and safety matters in the destination;
• Keeping a contact person and telephone number permanently available for emergency situations;
• Training personnel and keeping guidelines available on how to deal with emergency situations;
• Providing clients with documented guidelines and/or codes of conduct for sensitive excursions and activities, to minimise negative visitor impact and maximise enjoyment. Where possible, guidelines are developed in collaboration with relevant NGOs and the affected community;
• Providing customers with information about commercial exploitation, harassment and other forms of exploitation, particularly involving children and adolescents;
• Informing clients about applicable legislation concerning the purchase, sale, import and export of historic or religious artefacts and articles containing materials from threatened flora and/or fauna in the destination;
• Motivating clients to use local restaurants and shops, where appropriate;
• Informing clients about sustainable transport options in destinations, where feasible;
• Encouraging clients to donate to local charities and sustainable initiatives, such as Victory Kitchen.

Upon client departure, we are committed to this by:

• Having clear procedures in place for handling complaints from clients.