Ethical Tourism Policy

It’s essential to us that we run our traditional business along ethical lines.The first commercial holidays abroad were in 1855 by Thomas Cook so truly what our company does is traditional however more than ever in our modern age being ethical is relevant because politicians, rock stars, celebrities, newspapers and broadcasters are voicing concerns about stopping climate change and global poverty, being ethical is not a niche issue.  Our customers, and consumers at large, are looking to companies like us to deal with the problems.

Our company formed with ethics at our core, we understand that every business decision has the power to influence communities and the wider world. You may have heard of businesses looking at their bottom line? Well, every year we look at our triple bottom line, there’s profit, but also the social returns, and thirdly contributions we make to the environment.

We aren’t happy standing still, change and improvements are constant, the ethics of our business are embedded in our culture, our purpose as a company is to provide brilliant memories and benefit communities through tourism.

We agree to and follow the guiding principles for Responsible Tourism as identified in the Cape Town Declaration in 2002:

Guiding Principles for Economic Responsibility

• Assess economic impacts before developing tourism and exercise preference for those forms of development that benefit local communities and minimise negative impacts on local livelihoods (for example through loss of access to resources), recognising that tourism may not always be the most appropriate form of local economic development
• Maximise local economic benefits by increasing linkages and reducing leakages, by ensuring that communities are involved in, and benefit from, tourism. Wherever possible use tourism to assist in poverty reduction by adopting pro-poor strategies
• Develop quality products that reflect, complement, and enhance the destination
• Market tourism in ways which reflect the natural, cultural and social integrity of the destination, and which encourage appropriate forms of tourism
• Adopt equitable business practises, pay and charge fair prices, and build partnerships in ways in which risk is minimised and shared, and recruit and employ staff recognising international labour standards
• Provide appropriate and sufficient support to small, medium and micro enterprises to ensure tourism-related enterprises thrive and are sustainable

Guiding Principles for Social Responsibility

• Actively involve the local community in planning and decision-making and provide capacity building to make this a reality
• Assess social impacts throughout the life cycle of the operation – including the planning and design phases of projects – in order to minimise negative impacts and maximise positive ones
• Endeavour to make tourism an inclusive social experience and to ensure that there is access for all, in particular vulnerable and disadvantaged communities and individuals
• Combat the sexual exploitation of human beings, particularly the exploitation of children
• Be sensitive to the host culture, maintaining and encouraging social and cultural diversity
• Endeavour to ensure that tourism contributes to improvements in health and education

Guiding Principles for Environmental Responsibility

• Assess environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of tourist establishments and operations – including the planning and design phase – and ensure that negative impacts are reduced to the minimum and maximising positive ones
• Use resources sustainably, and reduce waste and over-consumption
• Manage natural diversity sustainably, and where appropriate restore it; and consider the volume and type of tourism that the environment can support, and respect the integrity of vulnerable ecosystems and protected areas
• Promote education and awareness for sustainable development – for all stakeholders
• Raise the capacity of all stakeholders and ensure that best practice is followed, for this purpose consult with environmental and conservation experts

Download here our full Ethical Tourism Policy. This is issued to our suppliers and staff and available to everyone on our website. The policy is constantly being reviewed and we welcome feedback which may enable us to improve.