South Korea discovery tour

Planet

Carbon reduction

By travelling in a small group, led by a local guide, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment. For example, we don’t just stay in busy cities such as Seoul or Busan every night of the tour.
We choose to travel predominantly by road during the trip and bullet train from Busan to Seoul as opposed to taking any domestic flights.
Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary mostly use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
Vegetarian options are available at most of the accommodations and restaurants.

Environment and wildlife

Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regard to working animals and wildlife viewing.
We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste. For example, we encourage eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles and instead encourage clients to drink the tap water, which is safe to drink in South Korea. We encourage all clients to take a refillable water bottle with them on the tour.
Our guides educate guests on how to appropriately separate and dispose of any waste and encourage guests to use reusable chopsticks and canvas tote bags for shopping.

Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own reusable water bottle on this trip. Tap water in South Korea is safe for drinking, hence we strongly encourage clients to bring their own reusable water bottles for this purpose and minimise our usage of single-use plastic bottles.

People

Local economy

The use of a local guide means our customers will be well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels and restaurants, the emphasis on eating locally produced food, and by supporting other local enterprises.
Guests stay at Haeinsa Temple, one of the oldest in Korea. Here we experience a strict Buddhist lifestyle and meet monks who dedicate their lives to prayer and meditation, enjoy a vegetarian Buddhist dinner and join a tea ceremony. Our visit and stay contributes to the upkeep of the temple.
With a strong emphasis on culture and history, this trip provides plenty of opportunities to visit various museums and cultural sites. Our visits benefit the local people and contribute to the preservation of their cultural assets through the money spent on entrance fees and other purchases made in the area.

Cultural respect

The most common greeting in South Korea is with a bow.
Objects, gifts and food should be offered and received with two hands.
Spoons are used to eat soup, but chopsticks are used for everything else.