Sustainable Travel and Why It's Important to Trafalgar
Learn how this award-winning travel company is making a positive impact through sustainable travel.
The concept of “going green” has filtered down to everyone in one way or another, but what does it mean in terms of travel and tourism? Generally speaking, sustainable travel rests on three main pillars: ecological, economic and social.
Trafalgar offers guided vacations to more than 300 destinations across all seven continents. More than a decade ago, the award-winning tour provider created JoinTrafalgar with the mission to make a positive impact on the destinations they visit on each trip they take. Efforts are focused around those three main pillars—Helping People, Preserving Places & Wildlife, and Caring for the Planet. Through the initiative, the company has had a positive impact on the destinations they visit.
Here are some of the issues challenging sustainable travel and ways JoinTrafalgar is tackling them.
Winter trips in Europe offer travelers unique experiences.
Helping People
To ensure the vitality of local businesses, it’s important to drive tourism activity beyond the peak season and promote year-round travel. Tragalgar’s autumn, winter and spring Europe trips offer travelers unique experiences while easing the pressures of overtourism. To help the people and communities in destinations across all seven continents, Trafalgar takes guests off the beaten path to discover the rich cultural heritage of the people that make each location so special.
Be My Guest experiences take guests into the homes and small businesses of the local people and Trafalgar vacations takes guests to craft markets and artisan shops so they can purchase souvenirs directly from the artists who make them. To date, more than 100 livelihoods have been protected through Be My Guest Experiences.
Zero elephants are ridden on Trafalgar tours.
Preserving Places & Wildlife
JoinTrafalgar supports numerous conservation projects around the world to help protect wildlife across the globe. Trafalgar has partnered with World Animal Protection to help ensure that all guest experiences meet globally recognized animal welfare criteria. Zero elephants are ridden on Trafalgar tours and no animals are harmed in the name of entertainment. The company supported the National Trust in building a sustainable visitor center at the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Northern Ireland, ensuring accessibility for disabled visitors and families.
Trafalgar has eliminated single-use water bottles on American and European coaches.
Caring for the Planet
Traveling by motor coach is a greener way to travel—it eliminates taxis, rental cars and other individual vehicles from the road. Trafalgar offers e-documentation options to guests and plants a tree for each guest who chooses the paperless option. Through a partnership with One Tree Planted, Trafalgar has planted 150 acres of trees in Northern California and Tanzania. The company is plastic-free in their offices around the globe and have eliminated single-use plastic bottles on American and European coaches.