Japan 15 day tour, ancient forts & futuristic cities

Planet

Responsible Travel is one of our key elements in our company's vision and we try promote this regularly to our customers to help them understand ways to travel responsibly. In a place like Japan, our customers will receive a video and information on travelling in the most environmentally friendly ways before the trip. This is to better their understanding of Responsible Travel.

We take pride in encouraging our customers to travel in more environmentally friendly ways throughout their trip in Japan! Within this trip we will ensure to book customers trains/bullet trains to each destination that they will need transport to as opposed to using hire cars. Train travel will offer the best opportunity to mix with locals and personal encounters such as these can become your most cherished memories. This reduces the carbon emissions and reduces road congestion.

After arriving at each destination via train, we encourage our customers to use other means of travel within the destination. Such as hiking, walking as most excursions and sites you can get to by foot, taxis, you can also hire a bike if you wish to see the area that way!

We encourage travellers to reuse/recycle their water bottles or use refillable bottles as opposed to continuously purchasing more and wasting them during their trips with us.

We also encourage our travellers to minimise their impact on the environment during their trip by following the tips provided in the 'How to be a Responsible Traveler' guide. This will give information on energy saving and water saving tips while in the destination.

We also encourage our travellers to promote hotels that have water stations in place and use solar power. An example of this would be within the Ryokan type accommodations, they try to use renewable energy in some of their uses. In the more In-Style accommodation they have onsen powered by the hot springs in the area. This helps with water saving because you are using the hot springs for baths instead of using the taps. So this is a sustainable way and also ties in with some of their environmental policies. This also indicates that we use suppliers that match our environmental values.

We believe in putting people first, not just in the destinations we offer but also here in the UK. We believe that happy staff lead to a happy working environment, so with this in mind we offer a wide variety of staff rewards at our office in sunny Brighton. This includes ethically sourced daily lunches, a ride to work scheme and one paid charity day per employee.

People

Throughout the trip, we make sure to support the local communities as much as we can and encourage our customers to dive into the local cultures and take the time to learn them and interact with the local community more. This will really get the customers familiar with Japanese customs and traditions. Japan is rich with culture and history, we definitely encourage our customers to experience it!

Due to there being such a wide variety of culture and traditions, within this trip we've made sure to include some to ensure that they are learnt and respected. This will hugely decrease the impact tourism has on the local cultures as the customers are learning their ways. During this trip you’ll also get the chance to wear a traditional yukata and attend a tea ceremony. The tea master will teach you the secrets of this practice which is taken so seriously they consider it an art-form. This offers a rare insight into Japanese traditions and is sure to be a highlight of your trip!

We encourage our customers to purchase local goods, this is because not only will it give them the full experience of Japan and their locally produced foods/souvenirs etc. but it also helps the locals benefit from the income from tourism going straight into their pockets. The accommodation we use in Japan don't usually offer breakfast options, this is because we like our customers to venture out and try the local produce and see what they can find locally for breakfast!

As well as supporting local projects in all of our destinations through support from our customers, we also do a little fundraising at home for local and international causes. In Japan we have chosen to support Mirai no Mori. This organisation was started in 2011 by English Adventure. This supports children who have been abused, neglected, and/or orphaned. The organisation creates life-changing outdoor programs for these children to support their growth into happy and successful young adults - giving them a better chance.