Ski Safari & Sustainable Tourism

As a long haul ski tour operator, we recognise that travelling to destination, skiing, snowboarding and other mountain activities all have an impact on the environment and on the communities we visit. We are mindful of the need to minimise our impact and so, over the last decade, we have developed our Sustainable Tourism policy and our office practices.

In recognition of this, the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) have awarded Ski Safari with 4 (out of 5) stars for our Sustainable Tourism practices.  For more information, click on AITO's ST programme.

Here's what we are doing...

Carbon-offsetting:
We offset the carbon emissions generated by the flights that we sell and the flights taken by our staff on work related trips. So, when you book with us, you can be assured that we are doing this on your behalf. 

We offset through TICOS (Tourism Industry Offset Service). The offset project we have elected is located in South Africa. It provides subsidised solar and fuel-efficient stoves to poor communities, allowing families to move away from open-fire cooking which requires enormous amounts of wood fuel and often leads to smoke-related illnesses. The project provides immediate environmental, economic, health and social benefits and is based on a business model that engages local communities and encourages grass-roots entrepreneurship.

For more information, please see TICOS solar stoves project.

Non flight travel options:
Take a look at our train and self drive holidays to our Swiss resorts.

Transfers:
We encourage the use of public transport and shared transfers in destination as a way of getting from the airport to resort or travelling in between resorts. Take a look at our Swiss Glacier Express Ski Safari for an example of how to do this in style.

Sustainable Choices:
We ask resorts and hotels how they limit their environmental impact, whether they promote sustainable tourism and whether they are involved with any socially beneficial projects. We then use this information to grade the resorts and hotels for their responsible tourism policy. So, if you are interested in going to a resort that is really making an effort, you can incorporate responsible tourism into your search criteria. Where a resort is exemplary, you can find out more through the “How Green?” link on the resort page (see Whistler). Where a hotel is doing a great job, we have added details on the “How Green?” tab of the hotel’s page (see the Westin Riverfront in Beaver Creek).  

Our office: 
75% of our staff cycle or walk to work and we recycle all waste paper, unused brochures, plastic, glass and cans. For the coming year, are completing an audit of our office to reduce the amount of paper, energy and water that we use.

Our brochure:
Our brochure contains material sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), it is made from 10% recovered fibre and is manufactured under strict environmental management systems, the international ISO 14001 standard, EMAS (Eco-Management & Audit Scheme) and the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) regulation.

Here's what can you do...

Brochure:
Rather than requesting our brochure, you could use our website and the downloadable brochure pages available on each resort page. If you want to receive a brochure, we encourage you to share it with friends and then recycle it.

Choosing a holiday destination:
You can use our search facility to find out which resorts and hotels are best for their environmental and social policies.

In Resort:
Once in resort we ask our customers to be aware of the following:

Vegetation damage – Above 1500m it can take between 30 and 50 years for a tree to grow to a height of 4m. Ski and board edges can seriously damage vegetation. Please avoid areas where young trees are growing.

Wildlife – Please be sensitive to mountain wildlife. Many species survive by conserving energy when conditions are harsh. If birds and animals are disturbed by skiers they can expend 10 times as much energy trying to escape as they would at rest.

Litter – Vast amounts of litter are left by skiers. It can be damaging to wildlife and food scraps attract predators. Disturbance to the mountain ecology impacts down the flora and food chain. Please take your rubbish off the mountain with you. If you smoke on the ski lifts, please take something to dispose your cigarette butts in rather than discard them on the mountain

Traffic – Most of the resorts we offer provide excellent shuttle buses, please make use of them to cut down on the number of car journeys.

Accommodation – Please respect hotel policies regarding re-use of towels and energy. Turn off lights and TVs when you are not using them, regulate your room heating system efficiently and sort your rubbish so that it can be recycled by the property.

People – Please respect the local population and the fact that they are not on holiday, but living and working in the same way as you do at home. Respect local customs such as tipping.

Restaurants - Support locally owned establishments that use local produce.

If you have any comments about our responsible tourism practices and those in resort, whether good or bad, we would love to hear from you. Please also let us know whether you would like us to continue to print brochures or whether you would prefer to use our website. Send us your comments to: rebecca@skisafari.com .