Bolivia tour, encompassed

Bolivia tour, encompassed

How this holiday makes a difference

Environment

Waste: at the point of booking a tour with us, all our travellers receive detailed pre-departure information which contains a large section on travelling responsibly. This includes advice on minimising the amount of waste they create on the trip. This informs travellers on what they can do before they go, for example removing toiletries from unnecessary packaging and taking a reusable water bottle and gives advice on what they should do whilst on the tour, for example, disposing of litter appropriately. Our operator in Bolivia is regularly involved in City Hall litter and tourist attraction clean-up events in La Paz .

All of this information on waste reduction is re-iterated at the pre-departure meeting at the start of the tour, with specific advice for the areas we visit on the tour.
As a company we have a big commitment to reducing, reusing and recycling in our UK office. We are very aware of the environmental impact of our office in the UK, so we recycle and compost as much of our waste as possible. We try to reduce paper usage , but when necessary we use recycled paper and stationery. Our brochure is available to view or download online and the paper version is printed on stock produced from sustainable sources and vegetable based inks.

Suppliers: our Bolivian operator and Tour Leader share our commitment to environmental conservation. They are regularly involved in tree planting events and city clean-ups.

Community

Friends and Neighbours: This tour is led by Williams, a Bolivian Tour Leader from La Paz. All the accommodation and restaurants we use on the tour are small, locally-owned establishments. There are several times on the tour when there is an opportunity to shop for crafts at local markets and directly from local artisans. We use local transport providers, guides and operators throughout the tour. One of our aims as a company is to ensure that as many local people as possible benefit from our tour-both financially and in terms of employment.

As a company, we also run other tours in South America. Bolivia is a fairly new single destination for us, but we have been running trips in Peru for several years and, over time, have made many friends amongst our suppliers and guides. We run a 'Chocolotada' every Christmas for our Inca Trail guides and their families in their home village. All the children receive gifts and hot chocolate. In Egypt, we have also been running tours for several years and there we have numerous examples of one-man operators that we have supported to grow their businesses over the years, enabling them to expand their businesses in order to sustain entire extended families-providing them with jobs and income. We look forward to developing these kind of relationships with our Bolivian colleagues.

Volunteering and Charity: as a company we support a number of charities across our area of operation, including a school for refugee children in Cairo, a Children's Home in Zimbabwe and a community project in Peru. Our Bolivian operator is involved with three Children's Homes in Bolivia and we look forward to developing a relationship with at least one of these.

Bolivia tour, encompassed