Luxury game reserve in South Africa & Oberoi beach resort, Mauritius

Planet

Responsible Travel doesn't mean having to compromise on the enjoyment of your trip or the quality of your accommodation. We feel strongly that we should directly benefit the communities we visit whenever possible through sustainable travel, environmental protection and social projects, without sacrificing comfort or character. We are firmly committed to the principles of ethical travel.

Whilst we recognise that a vital element of any vacation is relaxation, we do try to encourage our clients to be aware of the impact they have on their destinations. For each booking, we provide notes on cultural sensitivities and our local guides brief our clients upon their arrival. We hope this will help to ensure the sustainability of our destinations and improve the quality of our clients' overall experience.

Ethical considerations are also part of our research and development process and we encourage feedback on our practices. Clients are asked to comment and make suggestions on our responsible practices when completing their post-trip questionnaire. In addition to this, as well as visiting destination-based initiatives whilst on their educational trips, our country specialists are encouraged to help continually improve our responsible travel initiatives.

This vacation is within the protected Sabi Sands area, a protected area committed to preserving wildlife, most notably the 'Big 5'. The accommodation in the Sabi Sabi only features 8 suites, keeping the building part of the environment, and not using up resources. This means that the accommodation is not a detriment to this valuable ecosystem.

People

We are committed to supporting a wide number of responsible and ethical initiatives, including environmental projects, community tourism projects and education programmes. We encourage our clients to visit many of these initiatives such as wildlife sanctuaries, local schools, orphanages and co-operatives.

Through client-specific notes in our tailor-made itineraries, we continue to actively recommend restaurants, shops and other local businesses so that the community is directly benefited. Most of these have been discovered by our country specialists and include craft shops that ensure tourist money is fed back to the individuals who produce the crafts, and restaurants which train local street children.

For the various game drives that are available on this trip, we always use local guides and drivers, not only because they know the area and wildlife the best, but because this contributes to a fair wage for many families, aiding the local economy. One of the hotels we stay at, The Oberoi is chosen because of its smaller size, and therefore more authentic feel of South Africa. The Oberoi, is involved in a number of projects which include helping to modernise and renovate basic houses, organising meals and clothes for the elderly and projects with disabled children.

Clients are asked to report on the behaviour and awareness of our agents and local guides once they have returned home from their trip.
We always try to favour small locally owned hotels over large international chains. We work closely with our local ground agents to source more small guesthouses, B&Bs, boutique hotels and eco-friendly lodges. This ensures that as much revenue as possible remains in the host country as well as providing an experience with more genuine character for our clients.

The other hotel chosen, the Sabi Sabi, is also chosen because of its small size, and because all staff are local to the great location it is situated in. Sabi Sabi is part of the Fair Trade Tourism in South Africa (FTTSA) initiative, an organisation committed to providing socially responsible tourism in South Africa. Sabi Sabi runs programs for its 150 staff that include adult literacy, English proficiency, business orientation and HIV/Aids awareness. Sabi Sabi also supports the local community through initiatives such as the Lillydale Environmental Education Centre. For more information, see www.fairtourismsa.org.za.

Ethical practice is not just limited to the destinations we operate in. Responsible practice is exercised in our office with various measures put in place aimed at reducing, re-using and recycling resources where possible.