Responsible Travel & Sustainability Policy

Last updated Nov 2024

What is LiNGER?

LiNGER is a luxury tour operation with a conscience, where travellers LiNGER longer, travel responsibly, immerse themselves in the culture, give back to their destination, absorb, engage, and explore.

Mission Statement

To enrich life through travel through unpretentiously luxurious, active, off-the-beaten-path, bespoke sabbaticals and experiential holidays, guided by authenticity and care for our planet.

What does Sustainability mean for LiNGER?

Travel can be a source for good, when done well.

Everything we do at LiNGER rejects the generic, the ostentatious and the exploitative. We seek out truly special, personal experiences in lesser-known destinations using responsible suppliers, to bring each country to life. Our trips are, by their very nature, more sustainable.

How sustainable are LiNGER trips?

Flying:

Where we are able to make a difference, we do. We promote off the beaten path destinations and independent locally-owned accommodation. We and use suppliers with a conscience and who participate in environmental, cultural or community programmes. We encourage overland travel between destinations rather than flying where possible.

However, flying is normally involved in our trips. Beyond travel by plane to the destination itself, we occasionally book private charter flights to reach more remote areas. Helicopter flights feature as activities in some of our itineraries. We cannot dismiss the environmental impact of this mode of travel. Nevertheless, enabling travel to the lesser known places our travellers visit allows these destinations to benefit from tourism. Many would suffer or resort to exploitation of natural resources were the income stream of tourism to be severed.

Off the beaten path:

We encourage travel to emerging destinations. As many of our trips span long time periods, as sabbaticals or extended holidays, our travellers can often see both the more popular highlights of a country as well as venturing further field. Where possible, we promote travel at off-peak times of year and during ‘shoulder’ seasons. This helps to spread investment to communities that would otherwise struggle, particularly in low periods of the year. It provides livelihoods in lesser-known yet incredible places, empowering local people to protect the land and wildlife as the benefit of tourism is felt, as opposed to resorting to its exploitation. Bringing sources of income to more remote locations also prevents the drain of populations to urban centres.

Responsible accommodation:

We seek out accommodation that is individual, family owned and run by local people. We prefer properties whose owners care about their employees and their community, source food locally where possible or grow their own, and eschew plastic waste. We give preference to properties that run community or environmental projects or have protected areas of land from exploitation. When selecting eateries, we mix fine dining with the best street food spots and market stalls known only to locals. This supports small businesses and allows travellers to taste and experience the true essence of their destination.

Local & Independent Providers:

Our guides are almost all locals who are passionate about their subject matter and have personal tales to tell. We include little known yet truly engaging activities, run by individuals and small businesses from the area. Our itineraries encourage visits to enterprises and cultural centres run by local people committed to enhancing their environment rather than harmfully profiting from it.

Voluntourism:

We offer the option of giving back during a trip. We have an extensive network of trusted and reputable NGOs and charitable organisations with which we can partner in many of our destinations to allow our travellers to make a meaningful contribution. Several of these we have volunteered at ourselves. This could involve participating in a programme run by the property in which they stay, spending a day at an animal sanctuary or tracking wildlife (such as jaguar tracking at Salva Bananito Lodge in Costa Rica). species in a jungle. It can also be sharing a specific skillset the traveller possesses with a local community (e.g. micro-business skills or English teaching). We also provide recommendations for charities we know and trust if travellers would like to make donations.

In summary:

Steering away from the generic and the mass market and supporting local people helps spread the benefit of tourism. Promoting travel to remote places and lesser visited sites provides financial reward to local businesses and communities who care for their environments, people and cultures.

How sustainable are LiNGER’s partners?

Responsible Accommodation:

We hand select stays that we know personally and that fit with both LiNGER’s level of clientele and our ethos – subtly luxurious, off the beaten path and with a social and environmental conscience. Many stays support local initiatives – for some, the hotel was created to support the initiatives they created, such as Sol y Luna in Peru. Most properties have a story to tell, for example, ‘Here Be Dragons’ hotels on Sao Tome & Principe rescuing land from developers, empowering locals lacking employment to take management positions, and building beautiful lodges that don’t leave a trace. Or Finca Rosa Blanca in Costa Rica investing their savings in buying degraded forest land and creating a bio-diverse, award-winning organic coffee plantation.

Our accommodation doesn’t have to be grand – we support cultural interchange via homestays with carefully selected hosts. We also mix up the more rustic with the unpretentiously luxurious to provide an authentic and varied experience.

The exceptions:

Logistics mean that not every accommodation we select will reach the highest standards of sustainability. The occasional night at an airport hotel will be necessary. Some destinations are not very far down the path to sustainability and the selection available in some locations is limited. In these situations, we choose the best available option. We plan each trip to include and showcase places that do focus on conservation, culture and community.

On-the-ground partners:

We select our suppliers based on the level of service they can offer to our clients, the quality of on-the-ground support, and the level of authenticity of the experiences they can cater for. Many have B-Corp certification or are working towards a certification in sustainability, although this is not a pre-requisite. Our key criteria for selection is that they have the resources, network and knowledge to keep our clients safe and supported while travelling, that they can provide a seamless, professional and reliable service, and have the openness of mind to accommodate the creative ideas we generate for our clients’ trips. This includes being able to work with local guides, local providers, family-run businesses and charitable outfits, alongside accommodating volunteering opportunities at reputable organisations.

Certification:

Many of the hotels and suppliers we work with are B-Corp certified or part of the Long Run. These are well-reputed and worthy accreditations which not only recognise sustainable practices but promote continual development. Some countries operate their own programmes, such as Costa Rica, which is at the forefront of conservation worldwide. Many of the hotels we work with have achieved ‘Elite Level’ Certification for Sustainable Tourism and a 5/5 ranking from the Blue Ecological Flag programme.

However, we don’t insist that our suppliers be certified by an official scheme. It can take a long time and a lot of investment to achieve certification – a lot of small companies don’t have the resources. This applies to a lot of the suppliers and properties we deal with, who are small and independently owned or family-run. Many run charitable schemes and have a strong sustainable ethos, but haven’t gone through the process of certification. As we know our suppliers personally, and have stayed at their properties or visited their activities ourselves, we know their approach to the environment and their people is responsible.

How sustainable are LiNGER’s business practices?

Diversity and Equality:

Staff are employed based on aptitude, irrespective of any characteristics of identity or appearance. Our small body of employed staff and valued contractors is a mix of male and female across ages, life stages and ethnicities.

Flexible hours:

To enable LiNGER to employ highly talented people who have young children, working hours accommodate the school day and school holidays.

Volunteering:

We encourage our staff to engage in volunteering. Examples include rewilding farmland in Wales, and coaching at local children’s charities. All the staff at LiNGER, and most of our trusted and well-integrated contractors, have volunteered around the world, making giving back central to our ethos.

Affiliations:

We are members of, and signatories to, travel organisations and programmes that promote responsible travel. These include PURE Life Experiences (a luxury experiential travel community with outreach projects), Remote (encouraging sustainable travel in Latin America), The Long Run (guiding travel industry businesses through their sustainability journey), Latin American Travel Association (LATA – the UK body representing Latin America), and the programmes Better Business Act, Future of Tourism and Inspire – Positve Impact Tourism. We have participated in voluntary projects run by these organisations, both in terms of community outreach programmes and in developing our own sustainability policies.

Office practices:

We work under the principles of reduce, reuse then recycle. We are committed to continuous improvement in all areas within this policy and the education and training of all employees in environmental issues and the environmental effects of their activities.

Paper: Our aim is to be a ‘paperless’ office except for essential documentation, and therefore use both sides of the paper before recycling. Printed materials are kept to a minimum as are business cards – our tangible card are made out of recycled t-shirts and we use a digital card when possible. We only have one printer and do not photocopy.
Recycling: We recycle as many materials as possible including paper, cardboard, printer cartridges, cans, plastic and tetrapaks. We also have an office compost bin for food including teabags and grounded coffee waste. Recycling and compostable materials are collected by the local council.
Energy use: In our office we fit LED energy saving bulbs and our policy is to turn off (not leave on standby) PCs and other electrical items overnight or during holidays, and we turn off our computer monitors during lunch breaks and meetings.
Suppliers: We expect high environmental standards from our suppliers where possible. We use green energy provider www.outfoxthemarket.co.uk which uses Wind Only as its source and our office cleaning company was chosen for its green principles.

Responsibly sourced products:

We provide a pre-trip gift of travel items to each traveller. This contains sustainable products which are used by our clients, including jute bags made partly from cork, high-quality reusable water bottles made from recycled material, luggage tags also made from recycled material, and fairtrade tea, coffee and spices sourced from community-run projects.

Fair pay:

We work with a different local partner in each of the countries to which we plan trips. In our eyes, they will be the best in the industry and the most aligned to our business approach and ethics. We do not source the cheapest and only work with partners who pay their staff a suitable living wage.

Allowing Destination Management Companies to pay their staff well will attract and keep the best in the profession, as well as enabling a good standard of life for employees, including drivers, guides and office workers. We know that having excellent and trusting relationships with our DMCs is not only ethical, but helps us to create trips that are extra special.

Charities:

For every trip operated by LiNGER, we contribute an amount to an annual fund. We then donate this to a chartable cause. We select a cause both in an emerging market with which we work, and a cause closer to home. Examples of beneficiaries include renovating a playground at a school in Sri Lanka, where we partnered with Rosyth Estate House, and purchasing kit for a children’s community football team local to our UK offices.

Supporting small businesses:

As an independent, small business, we support other likeminded companies in our area. We endeavour to feature one such company, which will also be of interest to our clientele, in each newsletter, alongside promoting travel further afield.

How do we act responsibly towards our clients?

Diversity, Equality & Inclusivity:

Our clients span religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, ages and life stages. As each of our trips is bespoke, we cater for cultural requirements, dietary needs and mobility issues.

Financial protection:

We are a fully bonded ATOL certified tour operator in the UK. For our UK clients, we hold all funds in a UK Trust account, managed by Protected Trust Services (PTS).

Cultural acclimatisation:

We provide a pre-trip documentation package which includes details of cultural, religious and social sensitivities to ensure our travellers are well-informed prior to their travels. This will cover specific customs relevant to each country, as well as social etiquette with regards to eating, clothing and behaviour when in public.

On the ground support:

We have a trusted partner on the ground to support our travellers everywhere they go. These partners are our eyes and ears on the ground and are available to contact 24/7, They respond immediately to unforeseen circumstances. The trip planner is also available to respond to any situations and implement mitigation. We are accustomed to dealing with unforeseen events. We act as necessary to make the necessary re-arrangements to prioritise our travellers’ safety in the case of political upheaval or acts of God.

How do we review our sustainability practices?

We constantly re-evaluate our approach to sustainability via participation in training programmes run by highly reputed organisations such as The Long Run and Latin American Travel Association. Affiliations with organisations such as Responsible Travel, Inspire Global and The Better Business Act also aid us in keeping abreast of best practice.

How does LiNGER measure sustainability?

We are currently (Q4 2024 – Q1 2025) participating in a sustainability training programme run by the Latin American Travel Association and The Long Run. This framework is centred around the 4Cs: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce.

As part of this, we will be developing three new elements within our Responsibility Policy:

Strategy: Step 1 is to define where we want to make an active difference that is in tune with our values and our growth aspirations – be that for a particular property we want to help become more sustainable, a location or a charity. Enabling places to attract tourism is a way to work on the ‘Commerce’ element of the Long Run’s ‘4 C’ framework.
Active change: Step 2 is to choose a programme or property to work with to help them progress on their sustainability journey. We already collect a fund, with an amount allocated per traveller, and will dedicate this to the selected cause, alongside mentoring in areas in which we have expertise.
Metrics: Step 3 is to develop a set of metrics that tracks what we are able to influence that also falls within our strategic priorities. This may include areas such as funds donated to causes, % of suppliers that are independently and locally owned, % of properties used that run charitable programmes, personal contact with each of the suppliers we have used annually, % of suppliers who are able to adhere to a list of sustainability criteria to be defined, among others.