Responsible Travel Choices: What I Ask of Operators and What You Can Check

Responsible travel is a set of specific choices, not a label. This page covers the ones I act on when I plan a holiday, and how you can check each one yourself.

Locally owned stays and local guides

Where the trip allows, I ask operators for locally owned accommodation and local guides. The request can be checked against the itinerary. When you compare holidays, ask who owns the property and who employs the guide. A named family-run lodge or a named guide is an answer. A general reference to supporting local communities is not.

Wildlife watched, not handled

My Animal Welfare Policy rules out wild animal shows, swimming with dolphins, washing elephants and holding wild animals for photographs. I look for experiences where wildlife is watched in its natural habitat, from a respectful distance, with a guide who knows the animals. My piece on rethinking wildlife tourism explains why.

Trains in Europe

On several European routes a train between cities is an option alongside a short flight. You travel from city centre to city centre and see the landscape on the way. Whether it suits depends on journey time, connections and cost, so I work through the options for each route before I recommend one. My guide to high-speed train travel in Europe covers the main routes.

Flights

Some trips need a long flight. I tell you where one is needed, and I look at trains and overland transfers for the other legs where the route allows.

Responsible Travel

When I plan a holiday, I ask operators for locally owned accommodation and local guides where the trip allows, and I follow my Animal Welfare Policy on wildlife experiences. Holidays that include flights include a £15 payment to Sustainable Travel International, a non-profit working to protect vulnerable destinations and the communities who live there. It is part of the holiday price, there is no opt-out, and I keep a record of each payment. The Traveller's Pledge and my full approach are on my Responsible Travel page.

Check what you are told

Holiday companies describe their trips in environmental terms, and not every claim can be backed up. I state an environmental claim about a holiday only when I hold written evidence from the supplier and can say what it covers. The rules, the rulings against travel companies and the questions to put to a supplier are in my article on environmental claims in holiday marketing.

Planning Your Holiday With Me

This is a personal service from start to finish. I plan the route and book every part of it, and if anything changes while you are travelling, you call me and I deal with it.

As a travel agent I have 30 years of adventure travel experience, and I have visited around 80 countries myself, so my advice comes from experience and not from a brochure.

There is a belief that travel agents cost more. Booking with me does not. Many suppliers charge the same price whether you book direct or through me, and others sell to the trade only, on contracts with competitive pricing. Either way you pay no more for having me plan and book the trip, and your booking carries ABTA and ATOL protection where stated on your booking. You can read more in why book with me.

Call or WhatsApp 0117 452 1159 or email bridget@worldclassadventures.co.uk