10 June 2009

Responsible tourism rewarded

Specialist operator Discover Adventure has had its commitment towards responsible tourism recognised.

The company, which organises worldwide fundraising challenges for charity groups, has received a four star accolade from the Association of Independent Tour Operators.

This is in recognition for the work the operator does supporting communities it sends people to, the responsible methods used to conduct tours and the environmental practices of the business more generally.

The company operates a ‘Leave no Trace’ tourism policy and takes time to brief all participants on what this means and how to travel responsibly.

Discover Adventure is involved in community projects on a long-term basis in Peru, Tanzania and Nepal. Participants can stay on after they have completed their challenge to help out at schools, orphanages and children’s homes.

Carbon offsetting of flight emissions is encouraged via the Climate Care website and participants can now reduce the impact of their trip in a more practical way by volunteering with environmental volunteering charity BTCV to offer a practical alternative to offsetting carbon emissions.

People can volunteer for a day to construct footpaths, carry out dry stone walling, create wildlife habitats or plant trees in their local communities after completing a challenge.

BTCV believes getting people interested in the environment through volunteering, and then encouraging longer term adoption of pro-environmental behaviours such as saving resources, consuming less and travelling wisely, has potential to make a greater impact in addressing climate change than offsetting.

The Salisbury-based operators’ managing director Jonathan Bryan said: "Long before the phrase ‘responsible tourism’ was coined we were organising and running all of our trips with a conscientious mind on minimising the negative impact we have on the places we visit.

"The value of tourism to the local economy of the countries to which we travel should not be underestimated.

"Our style of travel, often to remote parts of the world, generates employment and incomes in rural communities which often have no source of revenue other than subsistence farming.

"Without the employment we offer to porters and local guides these communities might find it difficult to sustain their way of life".

The AITO Responsible Tourism Star System has a maximum of five stars. The alliance with BTCV should mean that Discover Adventure will achieve the highest award in the coming 12 months, the company said.