At Amazing Galapagos, we firmly believe that responsible tourism is the only way one can guarantee the sustainable development of travel for present and future generations. As a result of this belief, ever since we started we have involved the local communities and worked with them as suppliers of goods and services, helping them by contributing with medicines, school materials and health issues. Tied in with this, was our commitment to the environment trying to minimize our footprints and respecting the traditional way of life of the peoples through whose territories we passed.
We have also managed to educate and influence our field staff and their communities to improve their quality of life by enhancing their interaction with their own environment. Our work in this area has also caused other operators to improve their environmental performance since it implied improving their standards to be able to compete in this industry.
For further details, here are our Responsible Tourism Principles.
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Consider environmental management a company priority, committing ourselves to complying with applicable legislation and other voluntary compliances established by us.
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Annually review our quantifiable goals to reduce to the maximum possible levels the generation of solid waste, pollution of water, the risks of fire and the disturbance of wildlife caused by our activities, products and services.
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Responsibly use tourist attractions and the surrounding natural resources preventing their unnecessary abuse and/or consumption minimizing impacts caused to the lifestyle of communities in harmony with the landscape, flora and fauna.
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Promote the proactive participation and training of workers, clients and suppliers in the maintenance of the Environmental Management System, involving and committing them to the compliance of the environmental goals through continuous improvement.
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We use locally owned and run accommodations.
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We purchase our equipment and food from locally produced sources.
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We support local income generation and small business enterprises by supporting locally owned shops and restaurants.
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We hire permanent local staff, local tour leaders and guides.
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We encourage clients through our sales department and leaders, the literature and presentations to act in a responsible way and with an insight and understanding of the host destination.
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We work together with our business partners in the host destinations to implement the highest of standards and where necessary work out an agenda on how these standards can be met. We will take into consideration economic, environmental and cultural issues when looking at new destinations.
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We will aim to ensure that our type and scale of tourism is appropriate to local conditions and operate within the limits set by appropriate local infrastructure and carrying capacity.
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We aim to minimise water and atmospheric pollution from tourism developments.
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We aim to achieve zero litter policies.
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We aim to integrate environmental
considerations into all economic considerations.
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We provide regular and ongoing training, in the principles and practices of responsible tourism, both to our staff in the office and those employed out of the office.
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We provide financial support for local economic and environmental projects that will benefit the local communities. Thereby actively encouraging local community involvement in Tourism Projects.
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Where ever possible we believe in putting money directly into the communities we visit by using locally owned and run accommodation and eating locally produced food.
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We are careful to ensure that local staff and operators receive a fair rate for their services.
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Our groups are small and sustainable tourism is on the forefront of our agenda.
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We encourage our own staff to take an active interest in responsible and sustainable tourism and train them accordingly so that they can put our policies into practice.
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We endeavour to ensure that our practices help in the environmental conservation of the areas we visit.
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We provide our clients with advice and guidelines on how to respect the social, cultural and religious beliefs of local communities.
**We thank all candidates for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
