Responsible Travel

Integrity and responsibility are two of the core values that lie at the heart of Horizon & Co. From the very start in 1963, Horizon has been committed to offering culturally-rich, low-impact, high-end tours that benefit traveller and host alike. We work with local communities, businesses and individuals to develop sustainable tourism opportunities that help local economies while at the same time minimizing negative environmental and cultural impacts.

In addition to engaging in responsible tourism because it fits our value system, we also believe that this approach results in a more enjoyable and authentic travel experience for our travellers. We believe that tourism should be about interacting with other cultures, not exploiting them, and we structure our trips accordingly. We try to stay in small, locally-owned properties rather than big foreign-owned hotels, we try to use real people and local characters as guides rather than state-imposed and trained functionaries, we seek out spontaneous and authentic experiences rather than the contrived “Potemkin villages” of conventional tourism, and we try to travel like locals (on camels, in boats, by rickshaw) rather than foreigners insulated from their surroundings. We also travel in small groups (a maximum of 24, with an average group size of 15) that are less intrusive and offer more opportunity for genuine local interaction.

Our overarching philosophy is to respect the communities in which we operate. We do this by acting in a manner that is environmentally, socially and economically responsible. We try to give as much as we receive, and we try to illuminate and educate our travellers so that they can spread the message when they return home.

Jets burn a lot of fuel – about 100 gallons per passenger on a cross-country flight. This produces a significant amount of CO2, which results in global warming. As part of our commitment to sustainable travel, we offer you an opportunity to balance out your contribution to global warming. We have established a partnership with Climate Friendly to allow our travellers to buy carbon offsets that fund clean energy projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Please enter the departure and arrival cities, and then set up an account to purchase the necessary credits. Thanks for flying responsibly.

As part of our commitment to responsible travel, we have voluntarily adopted the principles developed by the World Tourism Organization. The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) is a comprehensive set of principles whose purpose is to guide stakeholders in tourism development: central and local governments, local communities, the tourism industry and its professionals, as well as visitors, both international and domestic. The objective of the Code is to help minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage while maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations.

The Code includes nine articles outlining the "rules of the game" for destinations, governments, tour operators, developers, travel agents, workers and travellers themselves. The tenth article involves the redress of grievances and marks the first time that a code of this type will have a mechanism for enforcement.

• ARTICLE 1 - Tourism's contribution to mutual understanding and respect between peoples and societies
• ARTICLE 2 - Tourism as a vehicle for individual and collective fulfilment
• ARTICLE 3 - Tourism, a factor of sustainable development
• ARTICLE 4 - Tourism, a user of the cultural heritage of mankind and contributor to its enhancement
• ARTICLE 5 - Tourism, a beneficial activity for host countries and communities
• ARTICLE 6 - Obligations of stakeholders in tourism development
• ARTICLE 7 - Right to tourism
• ARTICLE 8 - Liberty of tourist movements
• ARTICLE 9 - Rights of the workers and entrepreneurs in the tourism industry
• ARTICLE 10 - Implementation of the principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

Most tour operators recognise that a clean and safe environment is critical to their success. Fewer have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimise their negative environmental, social and economic impacts while optimising their benefits. To develop and implement these tools in their own operations, and encourage other tour operators to do the same, a group of tour operators from different parts of the world joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this Initiative, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to the concepts of sustainable development as the core of their business activity and to work together through common activities to promote and disseminate methods and practices compatible with sustainable development. The Initiative has been developed by tour operators for tour operators with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO/OMT), who are also full members of the Initiative.

As a tour operator, along with adopting an appropriate code of ethical conduct, we believe that effectively integrating sustainability into our business model requires the establishment of a coherent company policy and accompanying management system that sets out clear targets and actions on economic, environmental and social performance. Building this system on already existing internal processes helps to minimize the cost of implementation and promotes integration within Horizon's overall operations.

We developed STOP based on the principles contained in the Statement of Commitment to Sustainable Tourism Development, an initiative developed by the Tour Operators’ Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development with the support of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO). Every year these standards are re-examined and, where appropriate, targets are raised or new standards are added.

Internal Management: We apply sustainability practices to the operations and activities that take place within our office as follows:

• Use recycled paper for brochures and marketing materials.
• Minimize energy use (energy efficient bulbs, regulation of heating and air conditioning, etc).
• Minimize waste production (reduce unnecessary packaging, promoting use of public transport, etc).
• Develop an overall strategy to drive communications online through the website and emails and reduce dependence on direct mail.
• Ensure acceptable staff working conditions and responsible labour practices. Educate staff and partners in the principles of sustainability.
• Rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle paper. Contribute annually to charities and NGO’s which reflect these values.

Trip development and management: We apply sustainability practices in our choice of services, routes and activities with a view to designing trips that have lower environmental and social burdens while still yielding acceptable returns:

• Take into account existing environmental management strategies, infrastructure and policies, as well as the track record of the country or destination on social and human rights issues when choosing destinations.
• Use locally-owned and operated accommodation whenever possible. Visit ecological and culturally protected areas on our tours whenever possible and provide detailed information on such areas to our travellers.
• Provide employment and/or business opportunities to local people.
• Limit the maximum group size to 24 travellers on all tours.
• Participate in clean-up/conservation/community development projects in areas that may require support and that Horizon tours visit.
• Ensure that local operators and other travellers are aware of the benefits of conducting small-group tours.

Supply chain management: We use third party suppliers extensively (from hotels to transport companies), especially on our international trips. We apply sustainability practices in the selection and contracting of service providers for the delivery of our on trip experience as follows:

• Set targets and actions for achieving sustainable supply chain goals in consultation with suppliers. Develop a policy and standards for how to reduce impacts and measure the current performance of service providers to establish priorities for action.
• Assess suppliers on their performance and supporting improvements, and providing incentives for meeting the standards.
• Support suppliers in their efforts to be more sustainable by raising their awareness on sustainability issues, providing feedback on performance so they can learn where and how to make improvements, and offering support for sustainability actions.
• Ensure that suppliers comply with sustainability standards by creating incentives for good performance and using contractual procedures to enforce requirements.
• Refuse to work with suppliers who engage in exploitative practices (from selling endangered species products to harming threatened habitats).

Customer relations: We apply sustainability practices in our customer relations by providing information on appropriate behavior as follows:

• Encourage travelers to purchasing local products and respect local cultural norms Encourage travelers to avoid environmental impacts such as littering or wildlife disturbance.
• Promote the vision and philosophy behind STOP in all marketing campaigns.
• Train our guides in low-impact travel (in an environmental and social context), regional conservation issues and/or projects.
• Advocate creative charitable contributions as incentives for booking Horizon trips (see our book a trip, donate a buffalo campaign).

Co-operation with destinations: We apply our sustainability practices, both individually and through joint industry forums, to influence the sustainability of destinations by supporting sustainable decision-making by destination authorities and other local actors and by engaging in philanthropic activities.