Choose Tours that Support Local Communities

Choose Tours that Support Local Communities

Whilst exploring a destination, you may include going a on tour, either over multiple days or just part of a day. Regardless of the duration, it would be good to know the tour you chose is supporting local people of where you’re visiting. 

You can opt to book direct in person with the guide or tour operator at a destination once you arrive, that way possibly saving some money, whilst checking the authenticity of the guide or operator. If not you can book online prior, yet it’s not always easy to verify where the owners are based and where your money is going. 

One method to check if a tour operator positively contributes to the local community, is to see if they are certified for sustainable travel in some form. One example of this is GSTC certification (Global Sustainable Tourism Council), which has a set criteria a tour operator must adhere to for its accreditation, to justify that it is indeed a sustainable operator. 

Although not all tour operators will have the GSTC certification, this does not mean they are not adhering to sustainable methods though. Have a look at their website to see how they contribute to local communities, if in fact they do support and contribute to local people, it would be highly visible on their website. 

Take G Adventure as an example, they are taking their impact on local communities as a scorecard and report a score on each of their tours, for the traveller to be aware of their impact to the community and make an informed decision.