Caring for the environment - one step at a time
The refreshment that travel brings to the mind and body is part of a healthy lifestyle, and the economic benefits of tourism to all countries improves the wellbeing and prospects of millions of people involved in the hospitality business, whether as servers, providers or suppliers. But the health of the environment is of concern to everyone and we at The Classic Traveller take our responsibilities seriously with a commitment to sustainable tourism that does its best to conserve and protect the worlds resources. Below we set out some of the measures we take to encourage good practice, aid poorer communities and keep always in mind the effect we have as a company on the environment.

The Travel Foundation
The Classic Traveller are very pleased to be working with The Travel Foundation, an independent UK charity that aims to help the outbound travel industry manage tourism more sustainably.

What Is Sustainable Tourism?
Put simply, this means tourism that meets the needs of visitors, destinations and business – whilst protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future, delivering a high quality tourism product and respecting the environment. It also involves protecting natural and cultural resources and offering fair economic benefit to destination communities. Sustainable tourism is not only for people travelling on an ecological adventure or specialist trip - it is for everyone who takes a holiday, near or far, wherever they go and however they travel.

How Does The Travel Foundation Work?
Through charitable donations, The Travel Foundation is working in many destinations around the world to ensure that the actions of tourism have a positive effect, and is helping to enable a real breakthrough for sustainable tourism.

For example, in Sri Lanka the Travel Foundation has two main areas of focus, using tourism to help communities rebuild livelihoods and generate resources for coastal protection following the devastation of the Tsunami and developing initiatives to support the long-term, sustainable development of tourism on the island.

Here is an example of the work of the Travel Foundation. Many men lost their livelihoods during Tsunami and it’s been very important to give young women a way to earn a living– helping to feed the family and giving them opportunities for the future. Monari is from the south coast of Sri Lanka and left school with little hope of finding employment. She is now being trained in exquisite lace making and is so proud of her new skills. She is making lace products to sell and taking home much needed income to buy food and medicines. This is also keeping alive a traditional craft for future generations to enjoy.

What Can You Do?
If you choose to make a £1 per person donation to The Travel Foundation please advise the Sales consultant at time of booking. Or, you can text ‘donate’ to 61199 to give £2 to help The Travel Foundation do more. Within your travel documents you will find details providing some very simple measures you can take whilst on holiday to help protect the environment - things like switching off lights, using water sparingly where possible and minimising waste.

Our Commitment
At The Classic Traveller offices we strive to use recycled paper where ever possible. All of our offices contain recycle bins and we aim to recycle every piece of paper that we use.

Our brochures are printed on paper which is in line with The Classic Traveller’s Corporate responsibility policy, we use raw wood material from sustainably managed forests, where economic, social and environmental issues are balanced, and promotes reliable forest certification systems.

The level of sustainability is to ensure that forests are not damaged or harvested more than can be restored by growth. Forests are also the habitat of rich flora and fauna and their biodiversity must be preserved. Our brochures are printed on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.