Borneo tour, Great Apes and Beach escapes

Planet

Making a difference to planet and people underpin our itineraries and travel philosophy, across destinations. Borneo is one of the best examples of this pledge. As a hot spot for eco conscious travellers who are keen to immerse in local culture and environment in a meaningful and informed way, we have gone above and beyond to ensure that we maximise the positive impact of international travel in the locations that we offer.

One of our central USPs is that we work with locally owned, boutique style special stays as opposed to international chain hotels. This works twofold, by providing the traveller with a once in a lifetime experience full of authentic, local flair and also supporting the local community through investment in locally owned ventures and the employment of local staff. Many of these hotels and independent guesthouses also have policies to reduce their environmental impact. This pertains to our choices across Borneo, for this particular trip and beyond. For instance our hotel on Gaya island are invested in continuing the protection of mangroves and coral reefs which make this such a special place to stay. To quote "The resort is committed to ecologically-sustainable practices to minimise its carbon footprint within the environment". They also have their own marine centre. All accommodation in Sepilok and on the Kinabatangan river are heralded for their nature conservation practises. Our accommodation in Kota Kinabalu is actually based on a nature reserve and has an description of the flora and fauna to spot on their website, as well as facts about the local wildlife to facilitate well informed travellers.

Carbon reduction policies extend beyond accommodation. As part of your tour package, you will also enjoy a range of excursions and activities that have been checked and vetted by our team, and hold environmental sustainability and wildlife protection as key values. For instance, the Orangutan rehabilitation centre and sun bear centre in Sepilok at industry leaders in animal conservation.

Even before take off, we offer tools to our customers to encourage sustainability, carbon reduction and caring for the environment both at home and away. These include 'zero waste while travelling: our top tips', as well as our 'make it meaningful policy' that promotes animal welfare (underpinned by our relationship Animondial, an animal welfare group), 0 waste (exemplified in our almost entirely paper free office), and a slower pace of travel. We’re serious about this animal welfare stuff and want to do everything we can to improve the welfare of animals in tourism. We’ve therefore teamed up with animal welfare experts, Animondial. Their vision is to minimise tourism’s impact on animals, natural environments and the people that depend upon them. They’ve helped us to improve the welfare standards of our trips even further and create long-term plans to support animals in tourism. Best of all though, we’ve worked together to create an Animal welfare in tourism starter kit for small businesses, to help other travel companies improve their animal welfare standards too.
We have previously supported local charities like Reef Guardian which supports the marine park off the coast of Sandakan. Clients have an opportunity to donate £5 to the charity when booking, and travellers can then adopt a turtle when staying on Lankayan Island.

As a business, we are keen to practice what we preach. As a UK team, we recycle 80% of our waste in a closed- loop system, work in a b-corp office space, and are working towards b-corp status ourselves. We also partner with Earthly, a company that chooses nature based solutions to invest in the future of the natural world. This aims to protect, better manage and restore ecosystems while addressing global challenges. All of Earthly’s projects remove carbon, restore biodiversity and improve livelihoods. A £5 donation is added to each parties itinerary as standard.

People

Our trips aim to put positively impacting local communities at front and centre of our itineraries, as local interactions are what make our trips so fantastic.

We work with small, boutique style special stays full of authentic flare work twofold by offering you a unique experience and also supporting local business ventures and local employment, thus supporting the local economy. For instance local markets and wildlife sanctuaries. During your trip, there is a wealth of local shops, cafe’s, bars and restaurants to visit and enjoy. For instance During the clients visit to the National Park, the clients have an opportunity to buy local handicrafts created by the local community at market stalls on the side of the road. This helps bolster the local economy further.

One of the key aspects of our itineraries is that we work with local partners who are based in country in order to provide the most authentic insight into everyday life in the destination, and divert from the usual tourist trail (which is important when considering the mitigation of environmental degradation in tourist hotspots) but also supports the country's economy even before our customer has touched down as the local partner helps to develop their itinerary. Our local partners in Borneo are an exemplary team who have won a number of sustainability tourism awards, including for their local community projects across Borneo and community partnership with 4 different Iban communities. Our local partners comply with all relevant laws that protect the rights of their employees. All staff have employees contracts and understand the terms and conditions of their employment.

We maximise local economic opportunities via local employment by only using locally owned excursion companies where you will meet and learn from expert local guides throughout the trip on excursions. For instance, on the Kinabatangan river, the local experts know the area like the back of their hand. This benefits both the traveller and the local community by offering the best expertise and tours available, and supporting local business initiatives.