Sustainable Practices

Sustainability Policy

Introduction

MAD Tours and Events acknowledges our significant role and influence in fostering sustainable tourism. As a travel agency, we interact with a diverse range of tourism stakeholders, including tour operators, hotels, transportation providers, tour guides, eateries, attractions, and our valued customers. To maximize the positive impacts and minimize the negative effects of tourism within our operations, we are committed to adopting and promoting sound sustainable practices. Furthermore, we strive to inspire our clients and partners to do the same.

 

Our Mission

MAD Tours and Events, a progressive inbound tour operator, is dedicated to providing visitors with an authentic local experience by facilitating cultural and environmental immersion through meaningful collaborations with local vendors. We recognize our responsibility to actively engage with vendors, visitors, and the general public to champion sustainability through civic participation and the preservation of local cultural assets in our travel destinations.

 

Our Vision

Our vision is to promote conscientious and exceptional travel and tourism experiences that offer visitors an authentic taste of our destinations and their respective cultures. Simultaneously, we are committed to safeguarding and conserving the natural and human resources of the communities for the enjoyment of current and future generations, both for tourists and locals.

 

Sustainability Management and Legal Compliance

We commit to effective sustainability management through the following actions:

• Appointing an employee responsible for sustainability coordinator tasks.
• Crafting a clear and accessible sustainability mission statement communicated to customers, partners, and suppliers.
• Maintaining a written sustainability policy that seeks to reduce negative social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts while including employee-related health and safety aspects.
• Conducting a baseline assessment of our sustainable practices performance.
• Establishing a sustainability action plan with clear targets, actions, measures, responsibilities, and time planning.
• Developing documented procedures to monitor and evaluate the implementation of our sustainability policy, objectives, and targets.
• Ensuring transparency in sustainability by public reporting and communication.
• Fostering awareness and commitment among all staff to implement and improve our Sustainability Policy.
• We also commit to adhering to all national legislation, regulations, and codes of practice.
• Internal Management: Social Policy and Human Rights
• Our sustainable internal management entails a clear and well-communicated social policy, which includes these fundamental principles:
• Granting employees the freedom of employment and contract termination with a one-month notice without penalty.
• Ensuring that the basic salary of all full-time employees exceeds the national minimum wage and is mentioned in the employment contract.
• Providing employees with fixed paid yearly holidays, sick leave, and an unpaid annual leave allowance.
• Establishing a health and safety policy for full time employees that aligns with national legal standards.
• Equipping relevant locations with first aid sets.
• Offering periodic guidance and training for full time employees on roles, rights, and responsibilities related to health and safety issues, including fire safety and response to natural disasters.
• Prohibiting discrimination during recruitment, employment conditions, access to training and senior positions, and promotion based on gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion/beliefs, or sexual orientation.

Ensuring equal opportunities and access to resources and personal development through regular training and education for all employees.

 

Internal Management: Environment and Community Relations

Our commitment to environmental protection and community relations entails:

• Reducing the use of disposable goods by employing ceramic plates, cups, and glasses.
• Purchasing products in bulk to minimize packaging materials.
• Setting printers for double-sided printing and reusing old printouts for internal documents.
• Implementing an ‘internet only’ policy to reduce brochure wastage.
• Turning off lights and equipment when not in use, and setting equipment to energy-saving mode whenever feasible.
• Using LED energy-efficient lighting.
• Choosing non-hazardous, non-eutrophic, biodegradable cleaning materials certified with an eco-label where locally available.
• Preferring low-energy equipment when purchasing new items, considering cost and quality.
• Complying with national waste disposal legislation by separating materials that can be recycled for proper disposal.
• Reducing transport-related impacts through telework, tele/video meetings, work-at-home policies, or other means.
• Recycling or properly disposing of batteries.
• Monitoring and reducing energy consumption on a monthly basis.
• Monitoring water consumption on a monthly basis.
• Reusing toner cartridges for printing at least once when feasible.
• Ensuring all taps have water-efficient adaptors.
• Offering financial incentives to employees for using public transport or sustainable means of transportation.
• Contributing to the protection and preservation of local historical, archaeological, cultural, and spiritually significant properties and sites.

 

Transportation

We aim to ensure that the vehicles used on our tours cause no more than the average level of pollution. Recognizing the vital role of transportation in sustainable tourism, we endeavor to reduce the overall pollution level.

To achieve this, we commit to:

• Selecting the most sustainable transportation options based on price and comfort when choosing transport to the destination.
• Considering and giving preference to more sustainable alternatives when selecting transportation options for transfers and excursions within the destination, taking into account price, comfort, and practical considerations.
• Ensuring that vehicles are maintained in accordance with guidelines and emission tests, with up-to-date vehicle insurance and registrations.

 

Accommodation

We are dedicated to building a fully sustainable tourism supply chain, where partner accommodations play a significant role in achieving this goal. We actively encourage and motivate partner accommodations to adopt sustainable practices.

Our commitments include:

• Preferring and selecting accommodations that are locally owned and managed.
• Choosing accommodations that employ members of the local communities.
• Clearly and actively communicating our sustainability objectives and accommodation requirements to contracted and other relevant

 

Excursions and Activities

At MAD Tours and Events, we hold a deep appreciation for our culture, community, and the welfare of animals. Our commitment lies in organizing excursions and activities that leave a minimal footprint, ensuring the protection of our communities and the natural environment. We firmly stand against any practices that harm wildlife or pollute the environment.

To uphold this commitment, we:

• Advise our guests on behavioral standards during excursions and activities, emphasizing respect for local culture, nature, and the environment.
• Refrain from offering any excursions that harm humans, animals, plants, or natural resources, and those that are socially and culturally unacceptable.
• Do not support excursions in which wildlife is held in captivity, unless these activities are properly regulated and in compliance with local laws.
• Avoid any involvement with companies that engage in the harvesting, consumption, display, sale, or trade of wildlife species, unless they are part of a regulated activity that ensures sustainable utilization and complies with local, national, and international laws.
• Employ skilled and certified guides to lead our guests in sensitive cultural sites, heritage locations, and ecologically delicate areas.
• Encourage and advise our guests to partake in excursions and activities that actively involve and support local communities by purchasing services or goods, traditional crafts, local food production, or visiting social projects.
• Promote and recommend excursions and activities that contribute to the conservation of the local environment and biodiversity, such as visiting protected areas or engaging in environmental protection projects.

Tour Leaders, Guides, and Staff

We are dedicated to fostering a fair and safe working environment that respects and supports local communities. To ensure this, we:

• Provide all employees with written employment contracts to ensure clarity regarding terms and conditions.
• Prefer working with local tour leaders, guides, and staff and provide necessary training.
• Pay tour leaders, guides, and staff contracted by us at least a living wage.
• Ensure that our tour guides are licensed when require by the city where they work. Ensure contracted full time employees receive regular training and qualifications.
• Include a sustainable travel module in the training program for full time employees, focusing on responsible tourism aspects, including the prevention of child exploitation.
• Instruct our tour leaders and guides to inform clients about relevant sustainability matters, such as the protection of flora, fauna, and cultural heritage, as well as social norms, values, and human rights.

 

Destination

Our commitment is to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative effects at our travel destinations, promoting their sustainable development. To achieve this, we:

• Adhere to legally-based overall planning, protected areas, and heritage regulations.
• Support biodiversity conservation, including protected areas and regions of high biodiversity in our product offerings.
• Do not promote or endorse souvenirs containing threatened flora and fauna species, or historic and archaeological artifacts, except when permitted by law.

 

Customer Communication and Protection

We prioritize the welfare and information of our customers, ensuring clear, continuous communication, and high-level protection.

 

Before booking, we commit to:

• Safeguarding customer privacy and ensuring it is never compromised.
• Providing clear, comprehensive, and accurate information about our company and its products and services, including sustainability claims.
• Offering factually correct, balanced, and complete destination information, including sustainability aspects.
• Informing customers about sustainable alternatives concerning accommodations, excursions, package holidays, and transport options, whenever available.

 

After booking and during trip, we commit to:

• Providing customers with information about the natural surroundings, local culture, and cultural heritage in the destination.
• Informing customers about potential risks and precautions related to health and safety matters in the destination.
• Making an emergency contact number available and accessible 24/7.
• Training our personnel and providing guidelines on how to handle emergency situations.
• Offering clients documented guidelines and codes of conduct for sensitive excursions and activities, aiming to minimize negative visitor impact and maximize enjoyment.
• Providing customers with information about commercial, sexual, or any other form of exploitation and harassment, particularly involving children and adolescents and women.
• Informing clients about applicable legislation regarding the purchase, sale, import, and export of historic or religious artifacts and articles containing materials of threatened flora and fauna in the destination.
• Encouraging clients to support local restaurants and shops, particularly when suitable.
• Informing clients about sustainable transport options in destinations whenever feasible.
• Encouraging clients to donate to local charities and sustainable initiatives.

 

After the end of your trip, we commit to:

• Systematically measuring client satisfaction and using the results for service and product improvements.
• Integrating sustainability as an integral component of our client satisfaction research.