Travel as a Force for Good

Adventure travellers who spend a lot of time in the great outdoors often have a vested interest in protecting nature. Ensuring the tour companies, destinations and outfitters they choose are sustainable and ecologically sound can be a deciding factor for these clients.

Here are a handful of companies that have taken the idea of “travel as a force for good” to heart.

Adventure Canada

Spearheaded by Scott McDougall, director of sustainable and regenerative travel, Adventure Canada has incorporated the principles of “Leave No Wake” – initiatives that centre climate action, nature, people, communities, and local economies throughout their operations. Key targets include carbon neutrality by 2030, attaining third-party certifications that address underwater noise, chemical discharges, waste minimization and management, and invasive species, among others, as well as continuing to address the 92nd Call to Action of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and pursuing creative positive impacts through partnerships, giving initiatives, and support programs. This includes Adventure Canada’s Researcher-in-Residence and Young Explorers programs, which lends no-strings attached support to established and up-and-coming researchers to pursue their research.

Related: Adventure Canada Wants Canadians to Explore at Home

Wilderness Scotland

Wilderness Scotland has been a leading supplier for sustainable adventure travel. It recently partnered with SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, a leading rewilding charity, to help restore and protect Scotland’s rivers across the charity’s Northwoods Rewilding Network. With support raised by travellers as part of Wilderness Scotland’s Wilderness Conservation & Community Fund, the partnership will plant corridors of native trees that will work to help create shade along the banks of Scotland’s rivers. The shade cools down the water, providing an ideal environment for spawning Atlantic salmon and the ecosystems that depend on that species’ survival. 

ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours

From investing in durable, high-performance bicycles to prioritizing restaurants and hotels that adopt low-carbon footprint practices, ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours incorporate sustainability into every aspect of its business. “We choose locally-owned restaurants that source sustainably-grown, regional ingredients,” said Maria Elena Price, co-owner of the company. “We train our Tour Leaders to manage meals to reduce food waste, such as encouraging family-style platters and reasonable portion sizes. We also prioritize locally produced snacks to limit negative environmental impact (sorry banana lovers!) and almost always feature a meat-free day on all our guided tours.” 

Explorandes

This Peruvian tour operator that specializes in adventure and sustainable tourism is proud to announce its recent certification as a Certified B Corp. “Our guests are looking for immersive experiences in culture and in nature, the very things we are committed to protecting and preserving,” says Martín Romero, general manager and partner at Explorandes. “The B Corp certification reinforces what has been our mission since the company’s founding 50 years ago, with our commitment to sustainability now measured against internationally recognized standards.”

Oku Japan 

Kyoto-based tour operator Oku Japan specializes in sustainable and culturally immersive hiking and trekking tours. It aims to support the communities it operates in, choosing the local options to help to preserve traditional ways of life. One of the many initiatives that Oku is involved in is regular maintenance along the Nakasendo Trail, which is minimally funded and quickly becomes an issue if it isn’t maintained. Gathering volunteers from its Kyoto office and Kumano Kodo branch, the team clears overgrown branches, trims back grasses, and cleans signage along the trail and helps manage bamboo growth.

Wilderness Travel 

Through a collection of conservation safaris, Wilderness Travel offers guests opportunities to learn about, and participate in, conservation efforts led by researchers and communities that protect some of the world’s most at-risk species, including specially adapted Desert Giraffe and Desert Lion in Namibia, and the White Rhino of Eastern Africa. In Ngamo, Zimbabwe, Wilderness Travel works with the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative to incorporate learning about the work and programs of this community-led organization into the overall journey, with Wilderness guests on hand to celebrate as two rhino bulls were introduced into the sanctuary last summer. “Trips that have a positive and tangible impact on the places they visit is the direction that the tourism industry is moving in, and we couldn’t be prouder to be part of it,” says Scott Abbott, managing partner of Wilderness Travel, as the company continues to grow its portfolio of trips with impact.

Destination Québec cité

Quebec City is one of the top tourist destinations in Canada, with pre-pandemic tourist numbers clocking in at over four million and indications that this year will be getting back around that level. 

That is a lot of tourists contributing to the city’s carbon footprint and impacting the environment. In a bid to keep the historic region a place to enjoy for continued tourism and for the people who live there, the tourist board for Quebec City implemented a three year action plan designed to create a model of a sustainable destination, including becoming Biosphere Certified, the first French language destination to do so.

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