Tiger Trail Travel
How the minimum criteria of the responsible travel standard was met...
Economic responsibility
The FairTrek initiative works with 7 local communities and has generated
$50,000 to local communities to aid with developing infrastructure, maintaining
roads, providing funds medical assistance, and clean water.
Tiger Trail provides tours and services for registered NGO such as Friends
International and Laos Friends Children's hospital.
FairTrek is creating opportunities for local families to diversify into social
enterprise by creating workshop programs in local communities to showcase local
traditional skills, crafts such as black smithing and bamboo crafts. Plans are
in place to create a cottage industry in 2 villages to produce sustainable
bamboo and recycled products for resale in the city and to partner
organizations.
Tiger Trail recruits locally; we have a staff of 47 people 44 of them Lao
nationals. We pay close attention to the ethnic background of our employees in
order to ensure representation across many ethnic groups and do not
discriminate on any grounds
Environmental responsibility
Tiger Trail identifies
the importance of preserving the environment we work in and all staff and
partners are given guidelines to adhere to.
Tiger Trail has identified single use plastic and recycling in Laos as a big
issue. We have created a program to collect and reuse plastic water bottles as
building materials in rural locations known as the Huay Fai Community Workshop
Build. This program contributes to the local economy and environment on many
levels.
If a tour requires packed lunches for example we use clean kitchens that use
natural materials such as banana leaves for packaging
Tiger Trail tours do not provide single use plastic bottles. Reusable drums are
preferred and we source water directly from potable water suppliers. All
clients are asked to provide reusable bottles
All waste generated from a community visit is returned to the city for correct
disposal, including toilet paper, to prevent pollution and fire risk
Wildlife programs monitored and surveyed regularly by Tiger Trails and we use
the UN FAO five freedoms principles and research suppliers thoroughly.
Visits to protected areas are only available through the national parks
authority such as http://www.namet.org/wp/en.
All Tiger Trail staff have the opportunity to trek, ride, and kayak for free to
encourage an active lifestyle
Tiger Trail employees have free use of a company bicycle to assist with their
commute and to lower traffic pollution in Luang Prabang as standard in their
employment contract.
We have water refill stations at all TT premises through the Luang Prabang
Handle with Care program.
http://tourismluangprabang.org/travel-guide/water-refill-station
Tiger Trail endeavors to be paper free and all our work with clients and
suppliers is cloud based. Due to the country we operate in traditional paperwork
and official stamps are required, we do our part to influence change makers to
be more economical with paperwork
Upon booking, Tiger Trail send a link to parties’ involved highlighting
information for travelling in Laos. This includes visa info, packing list, how
to behave in public, and in homestays.
Our teams regularly carry out self-assessments and on-site inspections before
classifying hotels into being low impact and socially responsible
Social responsibility
Tiger Trail prioritizes using local partners who have a similar ethical stance. We encourage and use social enterprises such as vocational training restaurants, Laos Buffalo Dairy, and Free The Bears.
Tiger Trail is a Child Safe Registered Business through Friends International
All Tiger Trail tours use a locally registered and trained guide who is in principle a ‘representative of the country and community’. These guides partake in extensive training programs to build a strong safe, environmentally, and culturally conscious guide.
Tiger Trail Customers are provided with information on Lao customs and are briefed on safety, impact, and cultural sensitivity.
When working with the media we have thorough media guidelines to protect the privacy and dignity of the communities we work with.
It is the duty of Tiger Trail staff to report any incident of corruption, abuse, or neglect witnessed to superiors this includes bribes, child labour, and animal welfare.
Tiger Trail ethos and principles are based on the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.
protection
