Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Group size: In order to keep the environmental and negative social impact of travel to a minimum, we operate this tour with a maximum of 15 passengers.
Accommodation: The majority of our hotels are small, locally owned and family operated establishments. This tour includes ten nights in hotels and guesthouses, two nights on a sleeper train and one night on a Yangtse boat.
Local guides and operators: By working with local guides and operators, we provide economic benefits directly to the local people and businesses. Our local guides are experts in flora, fauna, history, culture, and provide our travellers with insight into local knowledge.
Tour leaders: Our tour leaders receive special training in low-impact travel and regional conservation issues and projects. They are also provided with a Sustainable Travel Manual. Tour leaders are selected based on their knowledge of, and commitment to sustainable travel. All our tour leaders speak English and have first aid and CPR certification.
Our foundation: Through our commitment to responsible tourism we have developed our own foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of people and communities around the world through support of international charities, local organizations and community projects in the places that we visit on our tours.
Through this, we support the Seva Canada Society, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the elimination of preventable and treatable blindness. Seva has worked in Nepal and India for 25 years and more recently in Tibet and Tanzania. Today, nearly 40 million people are blind with ninety percent of the world’s blind living in developing countries. Another 135 million have debilitating low vision. The good news is that most of this blindness can be prevented or cured. Half of the world’s blindness is caused by cataract that is reversible with a 15-minute operation costing US $20 - US $50 in most developing countries.
When Bruce went travelling after University in 1989 he realised he had limited options: he could either go backpacking or stay on a resort. Returning to Canada, he set up a company that bridged the gap and offered young professionals an affordable way to immerse themselves in the culture of different countries. Bruce gave some of the profits back to the communities he passed through. Today he has offices in 38 countries and runs a travel foundation that builds projects all over the world; he is adamant that all staff adhere to his original business model of sustainability and happiness.
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!
