St Zyprian winter hiking vacation in the Dolomites

Planet

Given most of the time is spent exploring on foot, the trip itself is low carbon. it is important that our staff, local partners and customers are aware of the delicate balance which exists in the places we visit, and leave no trace.

We are committed to offering low impact vacations that benefit the country and communities we visit. This tour operates during low tourist season, away from the main ski resorts, and sourcing Italian owned hotel, meals, services and guide.

Although the water in Italy is safe to drink for our customers, on our vacation information sheet, we offer customers the chance to purchase a discounted filter bottle which combines three different technologies to remove over 99.9% of all microbiological contaminants in water. This prevents the need for single use bottles.

We operate a ‘leave no trace’ policy on all snowshoeing activity days to help maintain them for future generations. Our tour leader and Dolomites local guide are trained to promote this message to our customers whilst on this trip. Lunches can be purchased from the hotel and you are encouraged to bring a Tupperware container to avoid using a plastic bag.

The focus of this trip is primarily snowshoeing however, there is some free time to walk additional trails and we aim to leave minimal impact. This includes sticking to the trails to avoid upsetting the delicate balance for plants and animals, as well as not feeding wildlife as they become reliant on tourists, plus maintaining a safe and respectful distance from wildlife.

People

This tour operates during the quieter Dolomites season and in areas typically away from the main ski resorts. It helps to curb the massive decline in numbers following the summer with typically tourism drops off.

We work with a local guide who shares our commitment to responsible travel where possible. It is important for us that we employ and train locals to ensure locals benefit from tourism.

On this tour we stay in a locally owned characterful hotel who during winter months, struggle to fill rooms. The owner employs only local Italian staff, provides equipment for our groups, plus provides most meals.

We cap this tour at the maximum of 18 customers so as not to impact on the fragile environment of the areas we pass through on foot. On this tour we contract both private and public transport and helps provide economic benefit to the local communities we visit.

We ensure that our staff are equipped with suitable footwear and clothing to cater for the environment in which they are working on.