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 communites to showcase local traditional skills, crafts such as Black smithery, bamboo craft . plans a 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 organisations.

Tiger Trial recruits locally, we have a staff of 47 people 44 of them Laos national, we pay close attention to the ethnic background of our employees and do not discriminate on any grounds

Examples of these programs are submitted with the application. you can also see completed programs
here. https://fairtrek.org/ here you can also see the responsible tourism policy https://fairtrek.org/responsible-tourism/

Environmental responsibility

Tiger Trial identifies the importance of preserving the environment we work in and all staff and partners are given guidelines to adhere to. (See attached Document)

Tiger trial has identified Single use plastic and recycling in Laos as a big issue and we have created a program to collect and reuse plastic water bottles as building materials in rural locations (See 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 regully 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 trial 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 Luang Prabang Handle with care
http://tourismluangprabang.org/travel-guide/water-refill-station/


Tiger trial endeavours 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

On Booking tiger trails send a link to parties involved highlighting information for travelling in Laos. including 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 Trial 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 Trial 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 Trial Customers are provided with information on laos customs and are briefed on safety, impact and cultural sensitivity.

When working with the media we have through 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 trial Ethos and principles are based on the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism