Our Sustainability Policy
PURPOSE
Clean Travel has developed this Sustainable Development Policy to identify, monitor and improve the environmental and social aspects of the company. We are committed to promoting, following and implementing sustainability to maximise positive impacts and minimise negative impacts on tourism from our operations, and to influence our partners to do the same.
SCOPE
The Sustainable Development Policy applies to all Clean Travel employees and Clean Travel partners.
THEMES AND GOALS
The Sustainable Development Policy is divided into 3 themes consisting of a set of principles and actions.
The themes are:
- Internal Management;
- Partner Travel Operators and Accommodation Providers;
- Destinations, Excursions and Activities.
1. Internal Management
Clean Travel commits to internal sustainability management, practised by following actions and principles that ensure environmental protection, enhance community relations, and protect human rights.
(a) Social Policy and Human Rights:
Clean Travel commits to:
- Grant employees the freedom of employment and contract termination with notice (ideally minimum one month) and without penalty;
- Include labour conditions according to national labour law and a job description in the employment contract;
- The wage rate is to be mentioned in the contract and equals or above the national legal wage;
- Determinate and compensate for overtime working hours based on agreement;
- Grant employees fixed paid yearly holiday and sick leave and unpaid annual leave allowance;
- Comply with the health and safety policy for employees which complies to national legal standards from the co-working space the company operates in;
- Operate in a space where first-aid sets and trained staff are available at all relevant locations;
- Obey national concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment;
- Create opportunities for students to participate in an internship;
- Declare not to hinder trade union membership, collective labour negotiations and representation of members by trade unions;
- Ensure that employees are free to enter or leave their employment through their own choice without penalty (in accordance with their contract).
- Prohibit discriminations, regard to recruitment, conditions of employment, access to training and senior positions, or promotion in terms of gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion/beliefs or sexual orientation;
- Ensure all employees have an equal chance and access to resources and opportunities for personal development through regular training, education.
(b) Environmental Management actions and principles:
Clean Travel commits to:
- Switch-off lights and equipment when not being used;
- Prefer low energy equipment when buying new items, including considerations of cost and quality;
- Actively reduce the use of disposable and consumer goods;
- Favour the purchase of sustainable goods and services, office and catering supply, giveaways and merchandise;
- Comply with the legislation concerning waste disposal;
- Take action to reduce the amount of (non-refillable) plastic bottles of drinking water for office use;
- Separate all materials which can be recycled and organise them for their collection and proper disposal;
- Use products twice or three times when possible;
- Avoid harmful or hazardous products or products which need, and give preference to environmentally friendly alternatives;
- Set copy and printing machines by default to double-sided printing;
- Reduce transport-related impacts by telework, tele/video meetings, work-at-home policies or other means;
- Encourage employees to use environmentally conscious methods of transport when commuting to work, i.e. walking, cycling and public transport;
- Provide environmental guidance, training and information to all employees;
- Encourage employee involvement.
2. Partner Travel Operators and Accommodation Providers
Clean Travel has developed and implemented a policy to improve the sustainability of our partners as part of its ongoing operations and Learning Academy.
Clean Travel is committed to achieving a tourism supply chain that is fully sustainable and has created a community certification model for partner travel operators and accommodation providers to follow.
Our community model has 3 pillars and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 3 Clean Travel community pillars are:
- Benefit the community by hiring local staff, provide fair wages and support locally-owned businesses (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10);
- Protect cultural heritage by celebrating cultural diversity alongside the conservation of wildlife and nature. Incorporate elements of local art, architecture, or cultural heritage; while respecting the intellectual property rights of local communities (SDGs 11, 16, 17);
- Be friends of the earth by proactively work towards a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment, with a special focus on waste management, water and energy-saving (SDGs 7, 12, 13, 14, 15).
When selecting partners, preference will be given to travel operators and accommodation providers that contribute to two or more standards of the 3 pillars.
They shall provide supporting information, evidence, or documentation, that demonstrates the implementation of the 3 pillars in their tourism policy.
This information can be; evidence of sustainable travel certification, proof of the support of local charities, client reviews, amongst others.
Clean Travel Partners shall:
- Comply with all relevant national laws protecting the rights of employees;
- Provide a child protection policy if it is relevant to their operations.
- Have Legal registration documents, including those that show that they are legally able to provide the services advertised;
- Provide insurance documents, including those that show that they have the required civil, professional and public insurance to provide the services advertised;
- Provide clarification, with supporting documentation and evidence, on how they align with the Clean Travel Community. The evidence requested varies depending on the operator;
- Provide at least 20 publically available reviews (Tripadvisor, Google, etc.) that support the information provided.
Clean Travel commits to make sustainable development concrete to every partner and to stimulate and motivate partners to adopt sustainable practices by:
- Paying attention to the local benefits of communities when selecting tour operators;
- Motivating and encouraging partners to become sustainable-certified;
- Evaluating sustainability practices by requesting partners to provide evidence clarifying their sustainability goals and strategies;
- Evaluating sustainability practices through the Clean Travel Ambassador program;
- Informing partners about Clean Travel’s sustainability policy and that they are expected to comply with it and communicate it to final customers where relevant;
- Motivating incoming partners to participate in the Clean Travel Learning Academy;
- Encouraging partners to follow best practices/training on sustainable tourism through the Clean Travel Learning Academy;
- Including clauses in the partner contracts that enable Clean Travel to end the contractual agreement prematurely if the partner company does not take adequate measures to prevent sexual exploitation of children.
- Ensuring that the rights of children are respected and safeguarded by stating the prohibition of child labour in the contract Terms and Conditions;
- Including standard sustainability clauses in all contracts with accommodation providers;
3. Destinations, excursions and activities
Clean Travel safeguards the authenticity of the communities and the natural environment and is strongly against harming wildlife and polluting the environment.
We aim to maximise positive impacts and minimise negative impacts at destinations to ensure the sustainable development of the places.
Clean Travel commits to:
- Not offer any excursions that harm humans, animals, plants, natural resources such as water and energy, or which are socially and culturally unacceptable;
- Not offer any excursions in which wildlife is held captive, except for properly regulated activities in compliance with local, national, and international law;
- Not partner with tour operators that offer excursions or activities involving harvest, consume, display, sell, or trade of wildlife species;
- Promote and advise travellers on excursions and activities which directly involve and support local communities by purchasing services or goods, traditional crafts and local (food) production methods;
- Promote and advise travellers on excursions and activities which support local environment and biodiversity such as visiting protected areas or environmental protection projects;
- Consider partner with tour operators that offer excursions and activities which encourage the use of sustainable means of transport;
- Consider sustainability aspects in the selection process of new destinations and possibly offer an alternative, non-mainstream destinations;
- Not select destinations in which tourism leads to structural negative local effects;
- Comply with legally based spatial planning, protected areas and heritage regulations;
- Support initiatives that improve the relationships between accommodations and local producers.