Responsible Tourism

The well-known saying, "take only photographs, collect only anecdotes and leave only footprints" is certainly true. However, we try to ensure that we tread only softly in all the countries we visit. Since our earliest holidays over 60 years ago, we have been committed to ethical tourism in all our destinations.

What is Responsible Tourism?

Travel enriches lives and boosts communities who rely on tourism as their main economy. However, with increasing air travel and more people than ever travelling the globe, mass tourism inevitably brings with it some negative side effects. Issues such as global warming, degeneration of local environments, and the overwhelming of communities and cultures,  mean it is important that we work to help slow the pace of these damaging effects and keep our world a beautiful place.

How we work at Ramblers Worldwide Holidays

Our holidays are designed for you to discover the essence of the country they are visiting. Travelling in small groups not only gives you an 'up close and personal' experience of your destination, but minimises impact on the immediate environment. We feel that the most important starting point to protect the environment is to be ‘out in it’. Without being out there and having an awareness of its beauty, importance and vulnerability, there is no understanding or sense of loss when it is threatened.

• We aim to operate within the Travellers' Code set out by the Friends of Conservation and we try to ensure our holidays give consideration to local people and cultures.
• Our tour leaders are usually familiar with local language and customs - some are residents. And we often use local guides, transport, porters and food to benefit the local economy without exploitation.
• We try not to insulate you too much from the realities of local life. You'll be on holiday to gain new experiences and you'll have them in abundance.
• We like to develop long-term relationships with our destinations, hoteliers and other local partners.  In order to achieve this, it is vital that we take care of the places we visit and support the people we work with overseas to ensure that we can all keep enjoying these destinations year after year.
• We also help to put something back into the communities we visit by funding various environmental projects overseas and in the UK. See our section on Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust for more information.  
• Closer to home, we've installed a full size waterwheel into the refurbished mill which is our office to provide us with our own sustainable power, with any excess going to the National Grid. We recycle our office paper, use environmentally friendly cleaning products and operate a 'green travel' system to get our staff to and from work. Follow this link for more information on Lemsford Mill. We welcome visits by research and university groups too!

• Reduce My Footprint is the travel industry's climate programme set up to help us all reduce our individual carbon footprints. In addition to advice on action, www.reducemyfootprint.travel offers you the opportunity to offset some of the activities that generate carbon dioxide through projects that reduce emissions and bring economic and social benefits to communities around the world. We're all accountable for our actions, so it's well worth visiting the site to see what you can do.

View our Responsible Tourism Tips >

Read more about Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust >