Our Responsible Travel Policy

SURFIRAN presents its Responsible Travel Policy. Responsible travel is about the attitude you exhibit and choices you make when traveling with respect to the benefit of the local population and its culture. All our tours are not only saturated and interesting but also provide benefits to the environment and the local communities. We strive to preserve the uniqueness of fragile remote places and small communities and to minimize the negative impact of tourism on local natural and cultural environments.

We aim to create better travel experiences for our customers and believe that the local communities can take a lot of benefits from responsible tourism. We assist to the communities with whom we collaborate so that they can earn an income.

We know that tourism can have both an exceptionally positive and potentially negative impact on local communities. We are therefore committed to operating according to our responsible travel guidelines and we hope that we can make a difference.

 

Environmental Responsibility

SURFIRAN aims to limit our impact on the environment in several ways. When on tour, we aim to preserve and protect delicate ecosystems, wildlife and natural habitats by following strict rules that minimize the effects of our presence in an area.

We endeavor to preserve and enhance the environments in which we operate and work with all relevant local bodies and authorities to help preserve or improve the environment and deliver a long-term benefit for the host community.

Where possible we choose suppliers who have green practices in place.

We attempt to reduce the use of single use plastic water bottles by providing water bottles and actively encourage our customers to use them.

We do not leave any plastics, cans, bottles, bottle tops or cigarette ends behind.

 

Economic Responsibility

We employ local citizens for managing our operations.

We support local tourism in regions where it exists such as rural tourism or historical trip.

We encourage our clients to buy locally made things. We also advise them to buy craft items and other gifts from local stores, which serve as great monuments.

We ensure that local economies benefit from our business by using locally-owned accommodation, employing local people as specialist guides, working with local operators and suppliers, sourcing food from locally-owned stores and eating and drinking in local bars and restaurants. In doing so, we are not only investing in local communities but also offering our travelers a genuine insight into a country and its people.

 

Social Responsibility

We deal with locally owned, managed and staffed ground agents and, where possible, try and stay in locally owned hotels and lodges. The ground agents pay a fair salary to staff and provide regular training to support their future development. By doing so all wages paid to the staff generated from our partnership remains in their own community and is spent by them as they see fit.

We aim to produce authentic experiences on our trips so guests of the countries can learn about the communities and cultures they visit to the benefit of both locals and visitors. We encourage all visitors to respect local customs and religions: through positive interaction with local communities not only does this generate a mutual respect between cultures it helps produce a more enriching experience for visitors and locals alike.

Many of our tours offer opportunities to visit ancient places such as UNESCO World Heritage Sites where our entrance fees contribute to the maintenance and restoration of these unique places.

We are aware that relaxation is important for every holiday, but as humans, we should respect our fellow beings. As such we want our clients to provide a good impact on their destinations. For every single tour, our tour guides brief highlight cultural sensitivities about the same.

We also consider ethics to be an important part of our research. We value feedback on our policies, and so we request our clients to comment on our responsible practices.

 

Staff and Office

The staff is committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible. All of the staff use public transport and the manager cycle to work. All paper, as well as aluminum cans and plastic, are recycled. Our offices endeavor to be environmentally sound through practicing energy conservation and adhering to recycling schemes.

Our group tours have a maximum of 6 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit. We do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.

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