As a traveller passionate about sustainability, you are concerned about your impact on local communities when you travel. However, finding ethical travel options can be challenging. How can you be sure the hotel you choose, the guide you hire, or your transportation mode is actually sustainable or ethical? Well, that is where ethical travel agencies come in. They can plan out your trip addressing your concerns.
What is Ethical Travel?
There are several definitions of ethical travel. Tourismteacher.com defines ethical tourism as a form of responsible tourism where tourists consider the impact of their actions on the environment, the economy and society. Essentially, ethical travel means thinking about the consequences of your actions on the environment, local people and local economy.
5 Great Ethical Travel Companies
If you want to travel ethically but do not know where you start, check out these 5 great ethical travel agencies:
G Adventures
This travel agency is a great choice for one with an adventurous spirit. G Adventures states that they have been “the leaders in small group adventure travel for 30 years”. It is easy to understand why. Instead of investing in excursions with large groups of people, G Adventures aims to provide excellent travel plans for smaller groups. Their catalogue of travel styles includes many different services, from Marine Tours to National Geographic Tours, but also Wellness and Family Tours. Whether your goal is to discover the world, have a great time with friends, disconnect from daily life or have an unforgettable family vacation, G Adventures has something for you.
But why do we include G Adventures in this list? The agency stands for community tourism – “meaningful relationships with local communities and directly benefit the people and places we visit”. G Adventures seeks to make its own services sustainable by following guidelines ensuring animal welfare, child welfare, respect for local cultures and minimizing single-use plastic.
G Adventures also acknowledges the role that travellers themselves play in sustainability. That is why they designed a Traveler Conduct Policy so that everyone can feel safe, secure and happy while on tour, including the staff and the local community.
Furthermore, G Adventures is a partner of Planeterra, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring local communities can benefit from tourism affecting their areas.
In short, if you are looking for professionals to help you plan a sustainable trip, G Adventures is a great place to start!
Rickshaw Travel
Rickshaw Travel is an agency that focuses on family holidays in Asia and the Americas. You can either personalize a plan based on bite-sized trips to specific locations, or you can choose one of their ready-made itineraries. What makes it special, however, is their Make It Meaningful policy. That means your travel should not only be meaningful to you but also others. As Rickshaw Travel puts it, “is all about making the world a more meaningful place for everybody”.
Rickshaw Travel enforces this policy by preferring small-scale and locally owned accommodations. This practice helps support the income of people in local communities. Instead of going to a fashionable hotel with plenty of extra services, Rickshaw Travel looks for places that can showcase the local culture.
Rickshaw Travel also minimizes carbon emissions as much as possible and invests in recycling. They have implemented an Animal Welfare policy and support local projects in all the destinations they operate.
On the Rickshaw Travel website, you will also find advice about how to be a responsible traveller. They ask their clients to be just as mindful of ethics and sustainability.
Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel is an Australia-based company and currently the world’s largest travel B Corporation. With destinations in many global locations, ranging from the North Pole to the Middle East, Intrepid Travel specializes in immersive and sustainable trips managed by travel experts with local knowledge.
If this all is starting to sound too expensive for you as a young traveller, do not worry – Intrepid Traveler has travel styles which can range from Basic, for travellers on a budget, to Premium, for higher-end experiences. Intrepid Travel can also organize trips for either groups or solo travellers, and they make sure to have specific tips for female solo travellers.
Besides offering many services to fit different kinds of travellers, Intrepid Traveler has been a pioneer of responsible travel since 1989. They believe that “with great travel comes great responsibility”, and because of that, they implement strict animal welfare guidelines and have been carbon-neutral since 2010.
Intrepid invests in community-based tourism, ensuring that travellers have an actual positive impact on local communities. They are committed to diversity and inclusion and Reconciliation, which means strengthening relationships between aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia.
Intrepid works with many partners, including the World Wildlife Fund and Rethink Orphanages, to ensure their sustainability goals come true. Intrepid also has a nonprofit counterpart, the Intrepid Foundation, which supports local organizations and promotes sustainable tourism.
Much Better Adventures
Continuing with great ethical travel agencies, Much Better Adventures offers trips for both big adventure holidays and epic weekends. From kayak journeys to long bike rides, surfing or yoga, Much Better Adventures has exciting plans for travellers.
Besides having awesome travel packages, Much Better Adventures is one of the co-founders of Tourism Declares. This organization is focused on redesigning the tourism industry to fight climate change.
The agency is committed to creating sustainable economies in the rural areas in which they work. Their model results in $80 of every $100 earned going directly to the local economy.
In addition, 5% of their revenue is redirected to the Much Better Foundation. Through the Foundation, Much Better Adventures invests in conservation, reforestation and rewilding projects.
Adventure Alternative
Another of the best ethical travel agencies is Adventure Alternative. This organization was founded by the experienced mountaineer Gavin Bate after travelling worldwide for many years. The agency specializes in trekking and hiking trips from Nepal to Kenya. It is the perfect fit for travellers who seek out mountain tops and amazing views!
The agency describes itself as a community business because “we serve our customers and make money, and we plow profits back into local communities, and we invest back into our local companies”. They want to make sure that local staff members can find a sustainable career in tourism. They invest in locally-owned social enterprises and small businesses through the sister NGO Moving Mountains, also established by Gavin Bate.
Adventure Alternative organizes special trips for young people hoping to make a difference. These “school trips” combine adventure traveling with community service and allow you to know local communities and beautiful landscapes.
The work of Adventure Alternatives as a sustainable tourism operator has been widely recognized. They have two World Responsible Travel Awards. In 2009, they won for “Best Personal Contribution”, and in 2014 they won for “Best Poverty Reduction”.
If you are a hiking or trekking enthusiast with a dream to explore faraway destinations, contact Adventure Alternative!
Enhance your Ethical Travel Experiences
We hope that this selection of great ethical travel agencies has inspired you. However, ethical travel is only possible when the traveler is mindful of their impact on the environment and local communities. Always make sure to research the cultures of the places you visit before traveling there. Do not engage in any practices that might harm the environment, animals, or local communities (especially children).
It is still possible to discover the world without harming it – it just takes more research and commitment. It is great to know there are ethical travel agencies offering trips worldwide. If you are curious about ethical travel and want to find more opportunities, check out our blog.
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