Sustainability

Sustainability & Responsible Tourism

At Absolute Travel we share a passion for travel and are naturally advocates of its benefits. Residential trips and tours transform the learning experience of young people and raise their aspirations. These opportunities promote resilience, responsibility and diversity which in turn can lead to greater achievement, engagement, enhanced wellbeing, tolerance and an increased self-confidence. Travel also opens the door to new activities, new friendships, new life skills as well as an introduction to new cultures, new climates, new countries and new challenges. The natural landscape is integral to our trips, from enjoying the breathtaking mountain scenery when learning to ski or the lakes and rivers for water sports activities. Respect for our habitat and the world around us has never been more important.

We must, however, always be mindful that travel and tourism is a significant contributor to global emissions and their environmental impacts.

We take our responsibility to the environment seriously. We are mindful that the landscape and environment plays a vital role in everything from winter sports in the mountains to activities on the lakes or fields and we rely on, and are thankful for, the goodwill and generosity of our hosts and facilities in destinations around the world.

What We All Can Do

As tourists we are privileged to have the opportunity to travel, explore and appreciate life away from home and share a collective responsibility to ensure the sustainability of the world we inhabit together. Here are some tips on how you can reduce your carbon footprint and impact when travelling:

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  • Travel lightly – the heavier your luggage, the larger your carbon footprint. Take a lightweight case and only pack what you really need for the trip. Take travel-size reusable toiletries containers.

  • Save paper – only print documents when necessary, and try to keep tickets, itineraries and guidelines online and/or on devices whenever possible.

  • Use water sparingly and responsibly in accommodations and other venues and using showers rather than baths. Only putting out towels and other items for washing in accommodations when really necessary.

  • Use refillable water bottles and other reusable items.

  • Recycle paper, plastics, bottles and other elements when travelling or in destination.

  • Respect the environment – dispose of waste both appropriately and responsibly in all the destinations aiming to leave all places better than you found them.

  • Adhere to local regulations, customs & cultures particularly within historical sites, places of worship, villages, towns & cities.

  • Turn down heating and air-conditioning in your rooms while you are out for the day. Turn off the lights, TV and other electronic devices when not in use.

  • Consider offsetting your Carbon Footprint - while you can take measures to limit your impact, you may also wish to consider mitigating your unavoidable carbon emissions. See details below.

What We Do

We believe we have a responsibility to our staff, our customers, and our planet, and are committed to making Absolute Travel and Tours Ltd as sustainable as possible. We are taking active steps to reduce our negative environmental impacts and promote sustainability throughout our organisation.

We will assess our environmental impacts and set objectives to improve our internal carbon emissions. We will review this annually.

It is Our Policy to:

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  • Recycle waste whenever possible and encourage staff to reduce use of single use plastic.

  • Avoid the use of paper wherever possible. For example, all invoices, quotes, and travel documents are typically emailed as electronic files.

  • Monitor and minimise energy consumption. For example, use low-energy light bulbs throughout and ensure that computers are shut down when not in use.

  • Encourage the use of low-impact transport for travel to and from work and travel for business. For example, we offer the Cycle to Work scheme, have installed an EV charging point at our office, and use public transport to attend meetings whenever possible.

  • Avoid unnecessary travel utilising video and audio conferencing, telephone, and email.

  • Comply with all relevant environmental legislation and regulations.

  • Work with partners who embrace sustainable tourism including our main award-winning sports festival hotel in Spain. Visit Samba Hotels to see their blog too.

  • Promote environmental awareness among our staff, our customers, and our wider network.

  • Take active steps to address our own environmental impact by partnering with World Land Trust (see further details below).

We are delighted to be able to announce our partnership with World Land Trust (WLT), and through them pledge to Save 25 Acres of Habitat every year.

World Land Trust is an international conservation charity that protects the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats. Habitat loss is the greatest threat facing wildlife worldwide but working with a network of local partner organisations, WLT helps people across the world protect and restore their land to safeguard biodiversity and the climate. Their aim is to protect the world’s most threatened habitats and species for the future.

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"The world loses the equivalent of 31 football pitches of forest every single minute". World Land Trust

What You Can Do

While you can take steps to reduce your carbon footprint and impact as detailed above, you may also wish to consider mitigating or balancing your unavoidable carbon emissions. There are many online tools that you can use to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions associated with your trip, and indeed your everyday life, and various charities and funds that you can donate to either individually or collectively to help you carbon balance.

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See World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced calculator here:

Carbon Balanced