Responsible Travel

Travel is a privilege. It is not one we should take for granted. On our tours we try to ensure we leave behind as small a footprint as possible and that our tours benefit local people and their communities. 

Our Goal

Eco-friendly and sustainable tourism

As regular travellers one thing that never ceases to amaze and touch us while travelling is the kindness and generosity of people, often people who have next-to-nothing to their name. Such interactions bring meaning to travel and a sense of warmth and well-being. We firmly believe that the people who make these places special should also benefit from them. 

As first preference we use local guides, locally-owned lodges, shops and eateries, and do our best to ensure that the benefits of our tours reach as widely as possible into the communities where they operate. We will also make significant donations from our profits to projects in those communities. This makes Travel The Unknown unique.
 

Our Projects

Details of projects we support

We are proud to team up with Future Generations in India, a NGO which runs a number of development projects throughout Arunachal Pradesh. Their initiatives include women's empowerment, governance, health, conservation and peace building. 

In Oaxaca, Mexico, we work with Fundacion En Via in developing a responsible tourism project that uses micro-finance as a means to help local people help themselves by harnessing the positive effects of tourism. 

We plan to develop further community-based tourism projects with these and other partners in the future. We will also make regular contributions towards their projects and help to raise the profile of these organisation in the UK and beyond.

Our goal is to support a portfolio of worthwhile NGO that focus on grassroots development. 

Environmental

Responsible environmental policies

Eco-tourism and carbon footprints are recently hitting the headlines, but this in an area we have taken seriously for some time. We encourage our guides to think sustainably and we use environmentally sustainable accommodation options whenever possible. To minimise waste, all of our brochures and itineraries are also available for online browsing or PDF download. 

Water-to-go

We are very happy to announce our tie-up with WaterToGo who supply reusable water bottles with built-in filters. This will give you the chance to help us to reduce single-use plastic usage on our trips - and as such we would encourage you to buy their reusable water bottles or filters from this link below.

This will not cost you any more, in fact you can get a 15% discount by entering the code "TTU15" at the checkout - and we will get a small percentage commission too which we will donate to WaterAid. WaterAid have many amazing water-related projects ensuring clean water, decent toilets and sanitation are something everyone can access. Thank you for helping us to make a little difference.

Water-to-go -> Buy your reusable water bottle here WaterAid
 

WaterAid

WaterAid are an organisation that has a simple goal: making water, toilets and hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere. This simple goal is achievable and huge progress has been made. For those people who now have access to clean water and decent sanitation their chances of living a life free from poverty are immensely increased. We think it is worth doing all we can to help as many more who do not yet have that opportunity to do so and to help them reach their full potential. Travel The Unknown have made WaterAid one of their preferred charities and worrk with them to help improve lives in regions where this is needed across the world. Visit their website to learn more about their projects and how you can help further. 

www.WaterAid.org

TOFTigers

As part of our commitment to responsible tourism practices, we are proud members of the TOFTigers campaign.

TOFTigers is a global travel trade campaign to support wildlife conservation and re-wilding in the Indian subcontinent through driving better planned and more sustainable tourism practices. TOFTigers seeks to plan, catalyse and promote best practice nature tourism both inside and outside Protected Areas. TOFTigers operates the PUG mark, a United Nations recognised eco-friendly accreditation scheme for wilderness accommodation providers, ensuring the best interests of local communities, the environment and wildlife are incorporated in a provider’s set up and daily operations. TOFTigers also supports a network of Village Wildlife Guardians and works in partnership with others to promote an appreciation of nature and support for wildlife conservation. 

For further details or information do visit www.toftigers.org




 

Links

Useful information for ethical travel

Learn more about travelling responsibly at ResponsibleTravel.org:
www.responsibletravel.org

Detailed information about sustainable development in Arunachal Pradesh:
www.future.org

Read about micro-finance tourism projects in Oaxaca, Mexico here: www.envia.org
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