Responsible Travel Policy

Responsible Travel is twofold. It’s about taking people to the places they want to go in a safe and responsible manner but also about respecting and maintaining the natural and often delicate balance of the destination. Economic gain from tourism is often fundamental to a country, but should never be at the expense of its culture or the environment.

Imaginative Traveller and Responsible Travel

As travellers ourselves we are well aware of the impact that tourism can have in remote places and on small isolated communities. Therefore, we believe that alongside cultural and environmental guidelines for staff and travellers, giving something back is essential.

Our Aims

• It is our aim to provide journeys that have minimal negative and maximum positive impact on the places we visit.
• We do not believe that, as visitors, we should impose our own cultures on others; rather that we should experience foreign cultures and appreciate them for what they are.
• Whilst it is our aim to show destinations and cultures in a positive light, we do not believe in papering over the cracks or shielding visitors from the realities of life. This does not mean, however, that we condone or endorse certain situations or regimes that may be in place.

Our Objectives

Involving local people

• We believe that we will achieve our aims far more effectively if we involve local people and organisations wherever possible.
• We strive to recruit local people in both office and field positions wherever possible. These members of staff are trained by us and receive the same remuneration as foreigners doing the same job.
• Wherever possible supplies and equipment are purchased locally.
• Wherever possible we avoid working with large organisations, preferring to work directly with local companies and individuals.
• Small, family-run establishments make up a high percentage of the accommodation we use and where it is practical but not intrusive we also stay as guests of local families. Although generally more basic, homestays provide an invaluable insight into the local lifestyle.

Overseas partners

• We endeavour to work with enterprises that treat both the traveller and the local community in a fair and just manner.
• We have set up, and continually look to further, our own environmental and cultural initiatives, involving local people where possible.
• We endeavour to work with companies that share our commitment to environmental responsibility and many partners operate their own local initiatives.

The Travel Foundation

The Travel Foundation are an independent UK charity working to promote sustainable tourism throughout the travel industry. They aim to encourage understanding of responsible travel and also work on their own community and environmental initiatives worldwide. Find out more about The Travel Foundation here

Climate Care - Carbon Offsetting

ClimateCare is a service that reduces greenhouse gases by compensating for their impact on the climate. It does this by ‘offsetting’ the greenhouse gases – such as CO2 - emitted from your activities by reducing an equivalent amount of CO2 on your behalf. These reductions are made through a range of projects in sustainable energy technologies that not only fight climate change but can bring widespread benefits to communities around the world. You can offset your flight emissions by using the offset calculator or calling our Imaginative Traveller team. Find out more about Climate Care here

The Rainforest Alliance

We have recently signed a contract with the Rainforest Alliance to work on responsible tourism practices with our Latin America suppliers.
The Rainforest Alliance is a not-for-profit organisation that works to conserve the environment and promote sustainable and ethical practices in a number of different industries across the World. One of the industries they are working in is tourism throughout Latin America. Find out more about The Rainforest Alliance here

Guidelines we offer our travellers

• Our tour leaders provide constant direct contact with clients and as such their training includes awareness of the company responsible travel policy. Tour leaders are then responsible for advising clients about company policy and encouraging them to support our efforts.
• The company actively encourages travellers to act in a responsible manner by including guidelines in the Pre-Departure Information. These guidelines aim to help minimise the impact on a destination and provide simple tips on behaviour, dress and conduct. You can also find detailed information in our trip and country dossiers

Before you leave

• Transport – Responsible travel starts at home. Consider using public transport to travel to the airport. You may also want to consider offsetting your flight carbon.
• Save paper – Try to gather as much information possible online and print trip information sparingly. Only order the brochures you really need.
• Be clever when you pack – A refillable water bottle is a great way to save wasting plastic. If you are a smoker a pocket ashtray can come in handy. An old pair of trekking boots makes a great donation to a porter community, and unwanted clothes are gratefully received by orphanages

The Responsible Travel Team

Imaginative Traveller has an appointed Responsible Travel Product Manager in the UK who oversees the development of all of our projects and monitors our practice in accordance with Responsible Travel guidelines. There is a nominated Responsible Travel Officer working in each of our major destinations who provide on site support to our projects and ensure that we and our service providers adhere to any set practice guidelines. You can contact our responsible travel team on rto@imtrav.net

Initiatives, Projects and Volunteering

Over the years we have committed ourselves to supporting small local projects and volunteer programmes, and have set up our own initiatives designed to benefit the areas we visit. We have supported Tourism Concern's human rights campaign Trekking Wrongs: Porters’ Rights and have drawn up written guidelines to expand upon our existing policies concerning Himalayan and Peruvian porters. Please email rto@imtrav.net for a copy of this.

We are also a member of www.responsibletravel.com – a ground-breaking website which brings together responsible, eco and adventure holidays and hotels to help travellers to find 'holidays that give the world a break'.

We have ongoing environmental and humanitarian projects across the World. You can find details of our up-to-date Responsible Travel projects here

Our 'hands-on' volunteering programmes are offered as part of our tours and you can find further details of our Volunteer Holidays here. We also have a number of volunteer tours available for families who would like to get involved in this rewarding and enjoyable travel experience.

We always consult the local community about their needs before introducing any initiatives, as we recognise that it is important to respond to communities' actual needs rather than what we may think their needs are. So whilst giving away pigs and building compost toilets may sound unusual, they are most definitely worthwhile projects!

Traveller Involvement

Only with the input of our clients are we able to achieve our aims for Responsible Travel and we thank all passengers past, present and future for their support. We appreciate your time spent considering our guidelines for responsible travellers and are grateful for all the generous donations and willing participation towards our projects and programmes.

How to Donate

On our booking form, you can specify if you would like to support any of our Responsible Travel projects by ticking the appropriate box and stating how much you would like to contribute (this applies to UK clients only). You can add a note if you'd like the donation to go towards a specific project.
Remember, donations towards Responsible Travel or any of our projects will be matched by us, pound for pound! (Up to a maximum of £1,000.) 

Collection boxes can be found in most of our frequently used meeting point hotels in Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, India, China and South East Asia so any left over currency can be spent on local causes. Donations can be also made by cheque or bank transfer - please contact rto@imtrav.net for more details.

Keeping our own house in order

One of the core objectives of the company is to lead by example and keep our own house in order. This means all staff, in all of our offices, are aware of the need to reduce, re-use and recycle wherever possible. All of our offices are encouraged to follow a set of guidelines covering simple but important measures such as the use and re-use of paper and switching off lights. Our staff also participate in fundraising efforts, both for our Responsible Travel projects and other local causes, and where we can we'll also take part in voluntary work.

For further information about any aspect of our Responsible Travel policy, please contact rto@imtrav.net.

Thank you for reading
Happy Responsible Travelling