Responsible Travel update

Imaginative Traveller has recently committed to working closely with two like-minded organisations. Both the Rainforest Alliance and The Travel Foundation work to promote sustainable tourism in the wider travel industry and make significant differences to local environments and people.

Rainforest Alliance

Imaginative Traveller has 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.

They provide training and technical assistance to help local operators and hotels implement best practices and encourage them to seek certification from one of the organisations part of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas.

We have signed up to work with them to encourage and motivate our local suppliers. Some of our local operators are already working with the Rainforest Alliance and in this instance our contract with them is simply reinforcing our commitment to responsible travel and demonstrating that it is of the utmost importance to us. For those operators who have not yet agreed to work with them; they will be contacted and encouraged to work on sustainable tourism practices. The aim is that at least 50% of our local partners will sign up but preferably more! The Rainforest Alliance will then also work through them with local hotels/lodges, effectively ‘greening through the supply chain’.

We are very pleased to work with the Rainforest Alliance and further demonstrate our longstanding commitment to sustainable tourism. We hope that this will allow us to do even more in Latin America and help responsible travel become an even more accepted and practiced means of holidaying.

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.

Imaginative Traveller is demonstrating our support for the charity by working with them on a number of their worldwide projects. We are currently enlisting the help of our local suppliers and ground handlers in East Africa, Morocco and Sri Lanka to support some of the many initiatives the charity has in place.

If you would like to know more about The Travel Foundation or would like to make a donation in support of their work please visit their website http://www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/