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Local community:
See Turkey through the eyes of a local, as your Turkish tour leader gives you a first-hand insight into the exotic and colourful tapestry that makes up this amazing country that stands on the crossroads between East and West. Discovering ancient archaeological sites, wandering around historic cities and visiting secluded coastal villages imparts to travellers an awareness of these valuable historical gems and the importance of them being preserved and protected, so that they can be enjoyed and appreciated by future generations. The Turkish also have a rich and enduring culture, which is unveiled on this trip.
This trip is focused on respecting and benefiting the local people and the environment of this country. We believe that operating small group holidays in a responsible and sustainable fashion can have far reaching benefits for the local people, economy and environment. To this end we only employ local leaders on this trip, ensuring that income and training goes to Turkish leaders, rather than 'western' leaders who come out and lead for a couple of seasons. By only employing tour leaders born and bred in the regions we visit, we are supporting local economies.
Our highly-qualified local leaders help you to get 'under the skin' of the country and see it through the eyes of a local. They help ensure that you enjoy interaction with different cultural groups in a spirit of respect, understanding and mutual benefit. They are great fun and will be a great part of your holiday because of their intimate knowledge of the sights, culture and customs, history and language of their homeland. They will help you understand the traditions of these proud people, ensuring you don’t commit any cultural ‘faux pas’. Once you have travelled with a local leader you will understand that there is no better way!
To support tour programmes in Turkey we are training our tour leaders on a variety of issues, from environmental awareness to First Aid. This not only assists in the conduct of a tour but also provides leaders with important life skills. In addition, we prefer to give our patronage to small owner-managed hotels rather than those from international chains, as we feel these places offer quality and character and also directly benefit local people. Through offering employment and steady revenue, tourism can ultimately make a real positive difference to local communities.
Environment:
We are constantly seeking new and innovative ways of neutralising our impact on the environment. We will become the first Australian adventure tour operator to offer a voluntary carbon offsetting option on the land component of all its tours, as well as the accompanying flights. Our Community Trust provides funds for local community projects and initiatives that promote responsible and sustainable tourism development in the destinations in which we operate. First and foremost, but not exclusively, the Trust supports projects and initiatives that advance education and employment within the tourism and hospitality industry. The Trust operates on a not-for-profit basis, with every cent of funds donated by us, our staff and our travellers, going to the nominated projects.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
