Sustainability Policy

Travel Department believe in tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities, as per the UNWTO.

Travel Department are committed to a future of sustainable travel using our core values instilled within the company. Our core values are being Memorable, Open, Resourceful and Expert in what we do. 

We endeavour to be Memorable in our customer journey from a customer making a booking to visiting their destination and experiencing a new culture all the way through to post booking feedback where we can make improvements for the betterment of everyone involved. We want our customers to have a positive experience on our tours, but just as important for us is for the local inhabitants to have a positive experience from our customers and for there to be a benefit to their community. Great memories will be shared with friends and loved ones and an understanding of new cultures and different ways of living will be passed on, leading to a more understanding and accepting way of life. 

We promise that by 2025 at least 1 element of each tour on every long haul and Explore itinerary we run will benefit the local community. This may include a visit to a local business, a stay in a family run hotel or even lunch in a local farm/restaurant. We want to give back to those who make the areas we bring our clients to special. We encourage ethical purchasing by letting our customers know of any reasons they should not purchase certain local items or visit certain places where there is a history of unethical work practises. This stretches to those suppliers we employ ensuring that they provide safe working environments for their staff.

Closer to home we work with local charities where our staff can get involved in giving back to the local community. We are currently partnering with Alone getting involved in fund raisers and volunteer days. 

We promise to you that we will be Open and honest in all of our communications to you, so you can feel secure in the knowledge that we are doing what we can to remain sustainable for the future. We ensure that all copyright and intellectual property rights are observed, and necessary permissions have been obtained for their use. We confirm that all of our promotional materials are accurate and realistic. 

Part of that Openness is letting everyone know that we are animal lovers and want to ensure that we do not contribute to animal captivity or cruelty. We have a strict animal welfare policy which we adhere to in all of our tours. Please see our Animal Welfare page for more information. 

As a company we aim to be Resourceful by doing what we can to cut back on waste in all aspects of our daily life. We want to work smarter to do what we can to help the environment. While we realise, that as a travel company we will always be contributing to a certain amount of carbon emissions, be it by planes, buses, or boats, we have the resourcefulness to cut back in many other ways. We have a waste policy in our office which includes a commitment to measure and reduce our water and energy consumption and waste production and promote the use of this at home too. We limit our paper usage and use recycled paper where possible. This is built into our company ethos, included in our staff handbook and included in all inductions for new staff. 

In addition to the above, we will be utilising the latest technology to produce a positive online experience when booking and utilising technology more which will take care of all the customers’ needs and cut down on paper usage, computing requirements and communications requirements. We expect delivery of this by end 2024. 

We are great at curating magical experiences for our clients. However, what we are not Experts at is carbon off-setting. So, we team up with the experts such as Gold Standard to ensure we are doing all we can to counteract the effects of travel on the environment. For tours departing from 2024 we are giving our customers the opportunity to contribute towards carbon off-setting for every tour they purchase. All proceeds from this go directly towards off-setting different projects around the world. 

We do not sell, trade or display any archaeological artefacts. Should this ever change we will document, take good care of and identify any laws regarding the items 

We are dedicated to the preservation and responsible management of wildlife species within our sphere of influence. We pledge not to engage in any activities involving the harvesting, consumption, display, sale, or trade of wildlife species, except when such actions are part of regulated activities aimed at ensuring sustainable utilisation and are in full compliance with both local and international laws and regulations. 

We ensure that we do not adversely affect local access to livelihoods, including land and aquatic resource use, rights-of-way, transport, and housing. Local access to livelihoods is considered in any decisions we make about development and operations of our business. 

We want travel to always be a part of peoples’ lives and to enrich those who are a part of that journey. We are committed to making continuous improvements to everything we do.

To follow our sustainable journey please find here our Sustainability report for 2022 and here our report for 2023. This is an ongoing process which we are dedication to continuously improving.