Responsible Tourism

Our Duty

We believe we have a duty to arrange tours, expeditions and holidays that have minimal negative impact in your destination.

At the same time, tourism can and should be a force for good – creating employment, development, raising aspirations and increasing the standard of living. We aim for the trips we arrange to have a positive effect in this regard too.

But it's not just our responsibility.

You can make a big difference too. Visit our 'How you can Help' section for tips and ideas on how to travel responsibly.

What we do

50:50 CO2 scheme

By far the biggest environmental impact from any travel abroad is that caused by flying. Air travel as a whole presently accounts for some 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. This may not sound much, but on a typical return flight from the UK to India, each passenger is responsible for the release of nearly 1.9 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

We encourage all our clients to compensate for the impact of their travel by offsetting their carbon emissions -making a donation to a charity or company which supports projects aiming to reduce the atmospheric levels of CO₂ 

The STC supports international wildlife conservation charity, Friends of Conservation, (FOC). Amongst other activities, FOC promotes rainforest regeneration and fuel efficiency programmes, helping to mitigate the environmental 'cost' of air travel.

50:50 Carbon Offset Scheme:

As an encouragement to our clients to offset their emissions, the STC will contribute 50% of the offset donation, provided that you donate the other 50%. Payment for the donation is made directly to FOC, which the STC will then match. For more details on Friends of Conservation and the projects they support, please visit their website at:  www.foc-uk.com.

Campaigning

We work hard, campaigning within the industry to bring positive change to operational guidelines so that schools can make the most of the educational benefits of a responsible approach to tourism and expeditions.

This includes promoting the use of local leaders, porter protection and educating young people in how to approach travel responsibly.

Porter Protection

For treks requiring porters, we only work with companies that have shown a clear commitment to an ethical approach to porter welfare. Clear guidance is available from the International Porter Protection Group – a worldwide charity campaigning for ethical treatment of porters worldwide, and our trekking providers have committed to policies that follow these guidelines.