Doing the right thing - responsible travel
RAW Challenges is committed to a style of travel that is environmentally, culturally and socially responsible. With your participation we aim to travel in a way that conserves the areas we visit and bring positive benefits to local communities.
Our travel style
Responsible travel has become a buzz-word in the travel industry. It's difficult for everyone to be aware of how their journey impacts communities around them, and so there is a duty of care on the travel operator to act in a responsible manner.
Small is Good
When a ship filled with 2,000 people unloads it's passengers onto the docks of a small pacific island the human tide it creates alters the local community, economy and geography. Over time the effects are profound and often change the nature of the local communities so much that they no longer reflect any of the charms or values that made them popular. By contrast a single yacht mooring in a sheltered bay every couple of weeks brings joy and friendship to the community they visit, and the exchange of culture is far more genuine and rewarding for all concerned.
It's little wonder that truly adventurous travel has found much in common with Responsible Travel. The least travelled path and the most remote landscapes are a haven for the RAW Challenges traveller; the time spent far away from anything resembling a tourist trail is the most treasured.
Local is Good
Small is good when dealing with local tourism services too. Very large companies leverage their market dominance to get cheaper rates and bigger profits. This is never good for the local industry who end up earning less and less for their valued services to gain assurances of continued custom. RAW Challenges has it's own operations employing local people and developing their talents and futures in Tourism.Where we work with other operators they are small local companies and we build personal relationships with those people. So our travellers benefit from dedicated local staff and operators who put quality above profit.
Small also means sharing the joy. We operate a limited number of trips each year, but to a wide variety of destinations.
Respect for Culture
Responsible Travel is not just a marketing term, it's about playing a positive role in the local communities when travelling or with charitable contributions. A great deal of our travellers are already dedicated to charity, so this comes naturally. Our selected range of RAW Challenges tours bring the elements of charity and travel together in a very real sense. Respect for the local customs and beliefs also flow from this elemental mindset.
Carbon Footprints
The final issue when travelling responsibly is to be mindful of our ecolocigal footprint. Living for two weeks in a palm-thatched hut and eating berries may be gentle on the planet, but flying half-way across the world in a jumbo-jet to get there does impact on global climate change. We do encourage our travellers to consider the benefits of offsetting their travel with Carbon Credits.
There are many considerations to responsible travel and none of us have answers to them all. But just the fact that you are thinking about them is a good start!
