Bhutan holiday, cultural heartlands tour

Although our Culture Heartland Tour is mostly a touring holiday, it continues to support Responsible Travel by encouraging tourists to invest within the local community, with preference given to locally produced goods. At the institute for Zorig Chusum commonly known as Painting School, you have the chance to purchase Bhutanese handicrafts displaying a wide range of beautifully hand-woven textiles, paintings and craft products, with all proceeds going directly to enhance the living standards of the artisan, artist or the community that produced them.

Before the construction of any hotel can commence an EIA (environmental impact assessment) must be obtained from the National Environment commission. Hotels adhere to eco friendly methods of operation including minimizing the use of non-bio degradable products and basic precautions like switching off electricity energy when not in use or required. Organic vegetables, fruits and consumables are mostly sourced from the communities to benefit the villages.

We ensure all local vehicles used for transportation are serviced frequently in addition we fully comply with Government Road Worthy standards. The life span of our vehicles is around 5 years after which we purchase new vehicles which allows for new fuel efficient and safe vehicles. This ensures minimal gas emissions are lost from our vehicles, poorly maintained or malfunctioning vehicles can release as much as 10 times the emissions of a well-maintained vehicle.

Along our tour we are very cautious about the human imprints such as garbage and refuse disposal. We bring back garbage from all our tours and dispose them in government landfills for recycling into compost or sales to recyclers. We do not use firewood as means of heating or cooking on our tours. There is minimal impact on the environment, as we are not trekking through fields or forests, therefore footprints left are minimal.

All entry fees paid for monuments and museums such as the Taktsang Monastery along with Drugyel Dzong victory fortress and all other monumental sites we visit help assist operators to protect and conserve natural and cultural heritage sites which are the dominant factors that add to the magic of Bhutan.

All staff on this trip are local Bhutanese, chosen for their excellent indigenous knowledge of the area and training. Their understanding of the country's flora, fauna and local culture will guarantee an accurate insight to traditional Bhutanese life.

Responsible tourism is very much imperative as it becomes a responsibility of each and every individual in the tourism industry as the very sustainability of the industry depends on this significant factor. Before our tour commences our guide will brief group members on the importance of conservation in the environment as part of our responsible tourism efforts. As we are fully aware that global warming is no longer a myth. It is alarming and prevalent, therefore this procedure has become a sacred responsibility of our efforts. We endeavour to contribute to nurture the planets health to a stable level.