Sustainable travel
Our mission is to offer sustainable travel, with respect to local culture and nature.
We incorporate sustainability in the design of all our adventure activities be it white water rafting or trekking tours. We promote our responsibility through our website and on our social media channels. We have partnered up with a sales platform that implements the same values and promotes responsible tourism.
We encourage our local business partners, such as accommodations, providers of excursions, transport companies, and activities to offer their services in a sustainable way and help them make progress.
We train and make our employees and guides aware of the sustainability aspects of our trekking and rafting tours. We encourage them to participate in workshops organized by local non-profit organizations. We provide such training to all our employees.
We create awareness around sustainability for our customers during the planning and design phase of their itinerary. This is reinforced during a short briefing on the spot at the beginning of their trip and by providing information through our social media, websites to our clients.
The main goal of our sustainability policy is to minimize the negative impacts on the natural and social environments in Nepal and create real opportunities for local people to directly benefit from our tourism activities.
To guide us in working towards sustainability, we have created guidelines that we follow in our company and share with our partners and suppliers.
Sustainable travel is a never-ending process. We strive to continuously work towards our sustainability goals. If you would like to learn more about these goals and achievements then please find our two yearly reports here.
Since 2018 we have been participating in sustainability learning opportunities in various tourism workshops in Nepal as well as in Berlin, Germany from 3 – 6 March 2020 (as part of our participation in the Import Promotion Desk tourism market access program).
Reducing single-use plastics
· We encourage our guests to use a refillable water bottle to help reduce single-use plastic waste. During trips, we offer guests and guide opportunities to refill bottles from water refilling stations.
· We are moving toward replacing single-use plastic bags with recyclable or reusable bags.
· We have a Carry In, Carry Out policy, and reuse and recycle plastic that we bring back from trips.
Accommodation
We support small family-run accommodations and community-based homestays that directly benefit local people and ensure local authentic experiences for our guests.
Transportation
· We provide bikes to our office staff to help to reduce our carbon footprint.
· We brief our transport provider about sustainability and give tips on eco-driving.
Staff training and compensation
· We provide training on sustainability to our freelancers and staff which takes place pre-season in our guide house every year.
· We support our employees in their professional development by providing opportunities to improve their English language skills but also training on operational topics such as First Aid, Whitewater Rescue Technician (WRT), and basic risk management.
· We believe in fair payment and compensate our staff for additional expenses such as travel, food, accommodation, and insurance.
Giving back and community cooperation
· We provide professional training to local communities and cooperate with them to bring adventure tourism to their region and provide training to ensure that they have a real understanding of the adventure travel industry and what it can bring them.
· We offer professional training free of charge and provide technical equipment as well as qualified instructors.
We follow a code of conduct against the abuse of children in tourism. We have trained ourselves and our staff on this matter and included this code of conduct in all our other policies and procedures.
If you have any question regarding sustainability practices please email us: info@navigateoutdoor.com mani@navigateoutdoor.com