Geodyssey
Aims
As in-depth specialists to our destinations, behaving responsibly towards our suppliers and hosts is at the very heart of what we do. Our aim is to give our clients the very best experience of the destination they visit whilst benefiting the local community.
To us, all this means much more than a simple donation to a charity for each client. We try to build long and constructive involvements with local guides, guest houses, wildlife lodges, and hotels, in the course of which we, and our clients, can make lasting wide-ranging contributions to the wonderful places and people we engage with.
We want to act responsibility whilst giving the very best in service, which we believe our clients both desire and deserve. With this combination everyone wins. It is a perfect example of where responsible tourism practice benefits all concerned.
Our Goals:
To be one of the leading travel companies in the UK providing sustainable holidays of the highest standard to those customers looking for an exceptional experience which benefits both themselves and the local community.
To work alongside Rainforest Alliance to promote those hotels and enterprises with the highest level of sustainable tourism certification.
In countries we offer where Rainforest Alliance does not operate we will actively seek hotels, lodges and guesthouses with high standards of responsible behaviours and actively promote these properties.
To continue to work responsibly in our everyday practice and build relationships with third parties who can help us to improve our practices.
In 2008 we will also be developing with our suppliers an ethical code to help promote fair dealings and responsible practices, as well as supporting the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, aiming to adopt the code in full at the earliest opportunity.
Economic responsibility
Our philosophy is to support local economies wherever possible, for example by staying at locally owned and run hotels and guesthouses, and employing local guides. We don't bargain hard with local suppliers, we would rather pay the good ones a fair price and allow them to improve still further by sticking with them. We try to minimise any harmful impact on the natural environment and local cultures, and to encourage conservation wherever we can.
Our ideal scenario is to work with locally owned properties who are actively engaged in conservation and have trained in hotel management, providing a really good standard of service whilst also benefiting the local community. This to us is a wonderful thing.
We use local guides in all of our destinations. It is our experience that with the right training, local guides with their superior knowledge (often passed down through generations) are best qualified for the job. It is also a fantastic way of helping communities to survive with young people being able to work locally instead of having to leave for the cities to find employment.
Working with locally owned hotels and local guides is the best way we know of supporting our destinations economically, socially and environmentally.
Environmental responsibility
We have a comprehensive office practice policy engaging in responsible day to day management of our office including recycling and energy efficient ways of working.
We send our clients comprehensive information on how to act responsibly when they are travelling and what they can do to help local people and communities.
We give information on carbon balancing including ways our clients can offset their CO2 emissions.
We are proud to be the first tour operator in the UK to form a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to work towards the implementation of best management practices in sustainable tourism. The Alliance brings together various certification programmes under the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas and provide workshops to help businesses reduce their operations costs and increase their overall efficiency whilst maintaining positive relationships within the local community and minimising negative impacts on the environment
We work with several partners in conservation including Greenstop.net, Bird Life International and the Neotropical Bird Club.
Social responsibility
We support Veniņos - Venezuelan Children in Need - ia UK registered charity, dedicated to improving the lives of street and shanty town children in urban Venezuela. It has no religious or political affiliation. The funds raised by Veniņos are used to support projects run by well-respected non-governmental organisations operating in Venezuela. As Venezuela was the first country we started to sell over fifteen years ago, this charity is very dear to our hearts and we are actively engaged in supporting it.
We send all of our clients comprehensive information on their social responsibilities when they travel with us.
