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Community
Supporting the Local Culture & Economy: Activities that take you to homes, markets, restaurants, and villages are vital to the local peoples’ ability to truly benefit from tourism. People in rural communities, especially in developing countries, often lack access to the economy due to their location, lack of funds, or ability to market their products. Visitors offer them the chance to supplement their income whether it’s simply by buying handicrafts, staying overnight in someone’s home, eating a meal at a family-owned restaurant, or taking public transit, contributing to the local economy part of the adventure. On our trip through the Ecuadorian Andean valleys and volcanoes we stop at beautiful lookouts and try the local traditional food and products that grow around the areas we visit.
The Otavalo market is famous for its handicrafts and local markets and a wonderful place to interact with the indigenous people offering all the handicrafts you can imagine, made locally using local materials in thousands of designs dating back to pre-Inca times. One of the most evident features of the Otavaleños' cultural integrity is their traditional dress. This is not just put on especially for the tourists at the Saturday market, but is worn throughout their daily life. On this trip we actually get to visit local people in their homes to see how they make the handicrafts and observe their daily work and just spend some time with a family to learn more about Ecuadorian culture.
Support World Heritage: On this trip you have the opportunity to visit one of the world’s most important heritage sites - the entire city of Quito with all of its colonial cathedrals and other historic buildings. Celebrating world heritage is an important way to participate in sustainable tourism. World heritage sites are designated for protection so that all the world’s people can share in these fascinating and historical wonders for generations to come. We also visit the beautiful Cuenca city and explore ancient Incan culture at the Ingapirca ruins.
Environment
Low Impact Activities: One of the ways your trip can be more eco or sustainable is by participating in activities that have a low impact. What does that mean? Simply activities that don’t require electricity for one, are quiet so they do not disturb wildlife, and are just observing nature at its best. This trip allows for activities such as talking walking tours, white-water rafting, horseback riding, canyoning, biking, hiking and observation of wildlife. Of course all human activities have some impact and we must always be conscious of our actions, and asking questions to make sure activities are always run with the benefits of the local culture and environment in mind.
As a Tour Operator
This company has operated on responsible tourism values since its inception. From an environmental perspective, our initiatives extend from our company offices to our tours. A local green energy provider powers our head office and stores; we encourage cleaner transportation methods for staff; and purchase all supplies from a local green business supplier. Our office is as paperless as possible and our brochures use 100% PEFC certified sustainable paper. We offset emissions from all corporate flights and our marine vessel, and encourage our travelers to do so by providing an online platform through Sustainable Travel International. Supporting communties is and always has been at the heart of our tours. We provide business opportunities to local people by employing local guides and tour operators. The majority of accommodation used on our tours are small-scale, locally-owned hotels. Our tours mainly use public transportation wherever possible and are small in size to keep our impact on fragile sites and communities as minimal as possible.
We monitor the sustainability of our tours through traveller evaluations in order to allow for continuous improvement. We support the local economy and business initiatives by visiting locally-owned shops, restaurants, and markets on our tours. Many tours incorporate community projects as a way of supplementing community income and supporting community development projects. In 2003 we founded a non-profit organization as a way for our travellers and our company to give back to the people and places we visit. We develop community projects around the world in the areas of health, education, small business development and environmental conservation. Funds are raised through traveller donations and fundraising. The company pays all administration fees which means that 100% of each individual donation goes directly to the community projects.
Each year, we continue to support and develop new partnerships with more community projects and community-based tourism initiatives worldwide, in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Tour leaders provide travellers with information about local environmental issues in their respective regions, and provide suggestions of how we can best protect the local environment and culture. To reduce the amount of waste created on tours, tour leaders also encourage travellers to use refillable water bottles instead of disposable plastic, cotton tote bags, reusable batteries, etc. We also include destination-specific information in our guidebooks, which are provided to each traveller including information particular to the local culture and environment and tips on how to be a responsible traveller.
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.
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