responsible travel style
our travel style
Intrepid Travel is committed to a style of travel that is environmentally, culturally and socially responsible - we call this 'Responsible Travel'. It is implemented on our trips through the following features:
- Grass roots travel using local public transport where possible - minimises demand for special tourist vehicles and fuel.
- We choose small-scale locally owned accommodation and homestays where available and local restaurants and markets for dining, retaining revenue in local communities.
- Our group leaders facilitate communication of our values to travellers and local communities, educating them in sustainable tourism practices.
- We employ local guides to aid travellers' understanding of local culture and etiquette.
- Small groups allow travellers to experience cultures first hand, offering greater opportunity for cross- cultural understanding.
- We are committed to putting back into the communities and regions we visit by supporting many aid, development and conservation projects in these areas. Much of this support is through The Intrepid Foundation and travellers are invited to contribute.
Intrepid Sustainable Development Policy
We at Intrepid recognise that the tourism industry impacts local communities and the environment therefore, as a travel operator, we must manage the impacts we create in the way we operate our business.
We are aware that the health of our environment, the wellbeing of our people, the contribution to wealth of local economies and the way Intrepid does business overall are areas that are intrinsically linked to the success and longevity of our business. Therefore Intrepid is committed to tackling the issues we face in each of these areas and will work toward sustainable operations by including environmental, social, economic and ethical considerations in our business practices and in our decision making processes.
We aim to manage our impacts in the following way:
Our Environmental Responsibility:
- To ensure we are working toward protecting the environment both locally and globally by using resources in an efficient, fair and responsible way.
- To have our trips designed in a way that limits the physical impact on our planet and the places we visit so that they may be enjoyed by many generations to come.
Our Social Responsibility:
- To protect human rights within our sphere of influence and ensure that all our people including our staff, travellers, suppliers and local communities as well as other stakeholders who are impacted by our business, are treated with fairness and respect.
- To work with our stakeholders to tackle issues that act as barriers to responsible practices in order to promote equity across our global community and protect our most vulnerable societies.
Our Economic Responsibility:
- To ensure our wealth is distributed in a way that is beneficial to our staff, host communities, suppliers, shareholders and other key stakeholders while achieving sustainable growth of Intrepid and our associated companies.
Our Governance & Ethical Responsibility:
- To live out our core values, achieve our purpose and work toward our long term vision by being accountable for the impacts that we have on our planet.
- To have effective systems and good governance in place to help us understand and manage our impacts on society and the environment.
- To work against corruption in all its forms.
We aim to implement this policy by engaging and supporting our staff, shareholders, suppliers, contractors, passengers, business partners and host communities in fulfilling our environmental, social, economic and ethical responsibilities.
We will review our performance in these areas regularly and report on them annually through our Sustainable Development Report.
Signed
United Nations Global Compact
Intrepid Travel has joined over 4700 other companies world wide in signing the United Nations Global Compact.
What is it?
Basically it's a pledge by businesses and organisations that they will tackle the big global sustainability issues such as;
- human rights
- labour standards
- the environment and
- anti corruption
What does it mean for Intrepid?
We have to look at;
- how we are tackling issues of human rights, labour standards, the environment and corruption through our business operations
- identify ways in which we could improve the way we address the global sustainability issues
- report on how we have embraced the United Nations Global Compact commitments and report on our performance in each area on an annual basis.
For more information please go to
www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/index.html
Our Progress
Find out how Intrepid is integrating these sustainability principles into our business.
Compare these trips
