Treading lightly in Luxury Holidays, Tailormade Holidays, Escorted Tours, Honeymoons & Safaris

As a company run by people with a passion for travel, the natural world and diverse cultures, we have long been aware of the vital support that tourism can provide to communities, fragile habitats and endangered wildlife throughout the world. We are also aware that tourism can have a negative impact on people and the environment, and are fully committed to doing what we can to work against this.

The increasing awareness of environmental issues has strengthened our resolve to build on what we have already achieved, so we have been working with a sustainability expert to see how we can do more.

Footprints in the sky...

To sustain our unrivalled knowledge of so many destinations, and discover new ones, we are regularly obliged to fly. We are determined to minimise the impact of this, trying to make land journeys instead of flights wherever possible.

In addition, we support Social Change and Development, a community based charity in India who have established an innovative scheme to absorb greenhouse gases through their small-scale community led tree-planting scheme. Whilst we understand that this isn’t the sole solution to climate change, this scheme offers tangible benefits both to the environment and the community, with all the funds going direct to the project. We fully offset our own flight emissions in this way, and if you would like to do the same, please contact us for further information.

...and on the earth

It is not just in the air that we are attempting to minimise our own effect on the environment, but in all aspects of our operation. The energy we use also contributes to climate change, and we are tackling this by simply trying to use less, whether its electricity, water or paper. We have switched to renewable energy with Ecotricity, and are keeping a keen eye on consumption, ensuring we switch off equipment at night or turn down the thermostat. Another important step is the decision to despatch all company literature in recycled and recyclable packaging.

There are few sights more upsetting than plastic waste strewn across pristine environments, which both pollutes the landscape and threatens wildlife. With this in mind we recently ran our first successful ‘plastic bag free trek’ in India, and have expanded this initiative, now providing complimentary Fair Trade cotton shoulder bags to all our guests to use in place of plastic bags both at home and away. Small but significant steps in tackling a big problem.

Respecting people

Just as important as the environment is for us to have a positive effect on the lives of the people and communities we touch. To help achieve this, our overseas partners are now asked to sign up to The Ultimate Travel Company’s ethical code. This ensures that their high standards of service are mirrored in their employment ethos. Our aim is that everyone, whether driver, porter or guide, is treated fairly and with respect. The code also sets out our expectations for health and safety, applied with respect for local cultures and the local environment.

Helping where it’s most needed

Our charity initiative is all about putting something back into the communities we visit, by supporting projects that aim to improve education, provide access to health care and to conserve nature. We offer you the opportunity of joining us in this venture by adding a voluntary contribution of £10 per person to your invoice whenever you travel with us. We match all these donations, and share the funds equally amongst all the good causes we support.

Since the launch of the scheme in 2005, the generous help of those who have travelled with us has enabled us to donate more than US$300,000. If you are interested in finding out more about our charities and how your contribution is helping their work, please contact us.

Our continued and growing commitment to responsible tourism is something we are very proud of, and we hope you will agree that it helps set us apart from other companies. If you would like to know more about anything you have read here, please do get in touch.