Your Responsibilities
We believe that you as a traveller have as important a role to play in Responsible Travel as we do. We provide a framework for Responsible Travel but your choices and actions before, during and after your holiday also have a considerable part to play.
We ask that you consider the following when thinking about your forthcoming travels: -
Economic issues
We aim to put as much back into the local communities that we visit as possible.
We ask that you:
- Buy locally made crafts and support local skills. Please do not simply buy on price but on what the item is worth to you: haggling the price down for both souvenirs and services is often the accepted and expected custom, but don't drive a hard bargain just for the sake of it. Remember that the person you’re haggling with is reliant on your purchase to feed his family, is knocking the equivalent of 50p off the price really that important?
- Sample the local food and specialities. Many rural areas around the world are under threat from a reduction in their agricultural base and by eating locally produced goods you will help the local farmers as well as the local economy.
- The standard of living in the country you are visiting will be vastly different to your own, please recognise that our buying power is great and should not be abused.
Environmental issues
- Please remember that in many places fresh water is a very precious commodity and should not be wasted, so use a minimum for showering and washing.
- Please take environmentally friendly detergents and shampoos for hand and hair washing these are now widely available, but please use them as little as possible. This will help to keep valuable fresh water supplies, rivers, streams and the sea free from pollution. Make sure your soap doesn’t pollute someone else's drinking water.
- Always consider what you really need to take with you. In many countries that we visit the waste disposal system will be ill equipped to deal with the increased pressures that tourism brings, a few simple measures can make an enormous difference to the effect you have on your destination. Wherever possible remove the wrapping of packaged goods before you leave: unwrap soaps and take bottles out of boxes.
- Never buy any products that exploit wildlife or aid the destruction of species or habitats. Do not buy souvenirs made from endangered species, such as ivory or turtle shells; doing so will only encourage the trade. For more information see www.cites.org.
- Where there are toilet facilities, however unsavoury, please use them. Where there are no toilet facilities, always bury your waste and burn the paper and make sure it is never near (at least 30m from) a water source. Your leader will give you appropriate advise on this issue.
- We always insist that our leaders and guides maintain an appropriate distance from wildlife, allowing the animal a suitable escape route, resist the temptation to try to get closer. For this reason we ask that you take the most powerful lens for your camera you can get. Never attempt to feed wild animals or touch them.
- Never, ever leave any litter, please pick it up as you would at home: bottles, cans, plastic, cigarette butts, apart from being unsightly, can be deadly to wild animals.
Social issues
- In a small community it’s very easy to appear as an arrogant rich foreigner, be aware of the feelings of other people and try to avoid giving offence. Learning a little of the local language and customs and respecting the dress code can help reduce these barriers immensely.
- Always ask permission before taking pictures of people, ritual events or special places like shrines. If people seem reluctant or look away please do not take the picture. Some communities still believe that the camera will steal their soul. Be careful not to cause offence through your thoughtlessness.
- If you are not sure on how to respond to begging and about appropriate gifts to offer your hosts, please ask your leader. It is usually better, for example, to give school materials or local food treats as a group, through the leader, to the school head or village head.
- As well as accentuating the gap between rich and poor, extravagant displays of wealth such as ostentatious jewellery and technological gadgetry can be a temptation to any would-be thieves, please think about this when deciding what to take with you.
Responsible Travel is an issue that is vitally important for the traveller, host communities and the environment. We feel it is essential that the host communities play a fair role in our operations and that we in return, provide long-term investment in our destinations. It is also important that we contribute to the conservation of the natural environment, which is so often the reason for our presence in the destinations in the first place.
Above all, Responsible Travel is about appreciating that it is the economic, environmental, cultural and social issues of an area that are paramount. We are all charged with working towards providing a responsible future.
We hope that by choosing to travel with us you too share our enthusiasm for the environment and the wish to protect and nurture it for future generations to enjoy. Only by listening to the local communities we visit are we able to learn from them and empower them to enhance their world, their way.
Your holiday destination is someone else's home
Leave places as you would wish to find them
Treat others as you would wish to be treated
