RESPONSIBLE TOURISM SUSTAINABLE SWAPS DESTINATIONS


starts at £3,495, including accommodation, ferry/boat trips, breakfasts, some meals and a guide, but excluding flights. explore.co.uk


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SUSTAINABLE SAFARIS “Would the area be protected if the camp wasn’t there?” asks


Mohanjeet Brar, commercial director of Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps. “If it wouldn’t, then tourist dollars benefit the environment and communities.” By their very nature, safari camps are duty-bound to take sustainable tourism seriously. They rely on a healthy natural environment and wildlife population to draw in visitors, with most following a small- scale model to limit the number of tourists – and the amount of disruption to the local area. Some go a step further, working with local communities to make sure tourism brings as many benefits as possible to the area. In Kenya, the Saruni camps lease land from local communities; in South Africa, Ulusaba Private Game Reserve has a charitable arm, Pride ’n Purpose, which helps disadvantaged communities; and Great Plains Conservation, which has opened a Mara Expedition Camp in Kenya, works with community stakeholders such as Maasai ranch owners. Book it: Five nights at Ulusaba Private Game Reserve starts


By their very nature, safari camps are duty-bound to take sustainable tourism seriously


at £4,460 in a Safari Lodge Elephant Room, including meals, activities, and international and domestic flights. african-pride.co.uk


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SWEET HONEYMOONS Responsible and romantic are the aims at Soneva Fushi’s Kunfunadhoo


island resort in the Maldives. As well as being an idyllic hideaway for newlyweds, 80% of staff are local, there’s extensive recycling, and it teaches locals to swim, after the 2004 tsunami claimed lives on this tiny atoll. It also helped ban shark-fishing in the Maldives – a collaborative approach with other Baa Atoll resorts that was rewarded with protected Unesco Biosphere Reserve status in 2011. Eco-lodges are also popular with honeymooners. Costa Rica’s Lapa Rios in the Osa Peninsula uses habitat protection to keep monkeys, macaws and more in the rainforest, and measures such as feeding organic waste


to pigs to produce methane fuel. Book it: Carrier offers a week’s bed and breakfast in a Crusoe villa at Soneva Fushi from £3,760, including honeymoon extras, a dolphin cruise, candlelit dinner, flights and seaplane transfers. carrier.co.uk


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ENGAGE WITH ALL-INCLUSIVE All-inclusive resorts have gathered bad press for


TOP: Lapa Rios,


Costa Rica LEFT:


Bush walk in Kenya


46 travelweekly.co.uk 11 August 2016 9


CITY SWAPS Consider rail or ferry travel instead of flights, when they save time


their negative impact on local economies, but some are taking steps to reverse the trend. Ikos Resorts in Halkidi, Greece, and Saint Lucia’s Bay Gardens Beach Resort feature local restaurants in their dining options. Tenerife’s Sandos San Blas Nature Resort & Golf takes an eco-friendly stance, encouraging guests to explore the San Blas Nature Reserve, practising water and energy-saving, and promoting nature-focused activities in the Santos Kids Club. In the Dominican Republic, the five-star Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana serves organic meals using locally grown ingredients, and spa treatments use local fruits and flowers. Guests can take part in coral reef and sea turtle protection programmes and beach clean-ups. Book it: Seven nights’ all-inclusive at Sandos San Blas starts at £904, including flights and transfers. thomson.co.uk


or money. Rail Europe has an integrated booking system, Irish Ferries offers rail-and-sail deals from Holyhead to Dublin and Stena Line connects to Holland from Harwich. For domestic city breaks, Shearings uses luxury, environmentally friendly coaches. Alternatively, opt for socially- minded sightseeing such as Urban Adventures’ collection of In Focus tours, which collaborate with NGOs and not-for-profit organisations. Book it: Shearings offers a four- night trip visiting the Cotswolds, Warwick Castle and Stratford- upon-Avon from £229, including accommodation, breakfast, four dinners and three excursions. shearings.com


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ECO-SKI International conservation group Mountain


Wilderness once described skiing as the ‘cancer of the Alps’ thanks to noise pollution, wildlife disturbance and energy- consuming snow cannons. Cross- country skiing and ski touring are gentler options, as are eco- aware resorts. In Lech, Austria, a Biomass Communal Heating plant links 100 hotels, 200 homes and other businesses, while an environmentally friendly chairlift generates energy to power a smaller lift. Book it: A week at Chalet Hilde in Lech with Crystal Ski starts at £625 in January, including flights and transfers. crystalski.co.uk


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