Our Responsible Travel Policy

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Neilson Responsible Travel Policy

Neilson Active Holidays have been operating top quality activity holidays for over 25 years and recognises that in order to sustain a high quality travel and tourism product it is vital to take responsibility for the conservation, protection and, where possible, improvement of the social and physical environment in which it operates.

Responsible travel is about respecting the different countries and cultures that we visit and helping to give them the resources they need to manage their long-term future. We operate our holidays in some very beautiful places and we want to keep them this way. Our tourism can be a great boost to the local communities in which we operate. We encourage our guests to explore the local environment and enrich their holidays by experiencing local culture and traditions. This philosophy has enabled us to grow with the communities in which we operate and not swamp them.

Neilson are committed to a more ethical and sustainable approach to the way we run our business via involvement in the local communities where we operate, providing jobs, training, supporting local economies and community development and reducing our impacts on the environments in which we operate. We aim to promote awareness among clients, staff and suppliers through provision of information and training opportunities.

With these aims in mind we have already started taking responsibility for our impacts by implementing the following initiatives:

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR: PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES

At home: In Brighton we have been:

Working with Zap Art a community based street art project
working with eb4u – the east Brighton NDC area to set up to facilitate changes within the local community
working with Brighton Festival Fringe, the largest English fringe festival, providing facilities for artists and performers in Brighton
Working with Adventure Training Ltd, a charity running events for disadvantaged children, some of whom we have subsequently employed
Working with sail4cancer, a charity that uses sailing as a fundraising vehicle for cancer treatment and research, and provides sailing opportunities for patients and their families in the hope their quality of life may be improved.
Working with the Travel Foundation on the production of a training video aimed at introducing the concept of responsible travel to overseas travel staff.
Running National Blood Service days for staff in our Brighton office.
Offering staff the opportunity to enjoy subsidised stress-busting neck and back massage sessions at work.
Offering work experience opportunities to UK and overseas students via Brighton City College
Building information about our Corporate and Social Responsibility values into our recruitment and induction processes to raise awareness of our culture and encourage support of our expectations

Overseas: We have been:

Encouraging our guests to enhance their holiday experience by learning a few words of the local language, sampling the local cuisine, exploring the local areas, enjoy and respect the local culture. All this via client literature and staff/client briefings.
in our Neilson-managed hotels we have been recruiting and training local staff, providing promotion opportunities where possible.
when numerous Neilson customers contacted us to offer their assistance to our friends on Grenada, we had no idea that we would end up receiving over £4000 of donated funds to help the people of the island who had lost so much to the hurricane of 2004. In liaison with our friends and colleagues in the Caribbean, we bought and shipped out the following items with this kindly donated money:

Two shipments of food, first aid and toiletries to help in the immediate aftermath
A large consignment of tools to help continue the rebuilding of homes and schools on Grenada
The final portion of the money is to be spent on providing a new roof for the cricket pavilion at La Sagesse, helping the island's children to keep playing their national game as they always have

on our shore-based activities programmes we have been employing and training local people as assistant instructors with the long term goal of their achieving professional Royal Yachting Association Instructor Qualifications.
on our Croatian yachting programme we have been successful in recruiting two local staff as engineer and mate on our flotilla
we register all our yachts to fly under the flag of the countries in which we operate. While this can be an expensive process, (albeit benefiting the local economy) it ensures our compliance with local legislation, which in turn helps cement good relations with local authorities, essential for the smooth running and risk management of our operations.
we proactively seek to work with local authorities and communities to reduce the negative impacts and increase the benefits of our activities in our destinations

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR: LOCAL ECONOMIES

At home: In Brighton we have been:

running fund raising days in support of the Variety Club of Great Britain, the RNLI and the Tsunami Disaster Fund
collecting used postage stamps for local charities

Overseas: We have been:

By avoiding fully-inclusive board arrangements and by recommendations in our literature and in briefings, we encourage our guests to eat out where possible to enhance their holiday experience and boost the local economies
Where we manage accommodation units all food and drink is sourced locally where possible
Where we manage accommodation units we endeavour to employ as many local staff as possible to run the unit. Where necessary we provide full training.
On our activities programmes we have been employing and training local people as assistant instructors with the long term goal of their achieving professional Royal Yachting Association Instructor Qualifications. We are also employing staff to work on our flotilla programme in Croatia.
Approximately three quarters of our yacht spares are sourced locally. Not only does this benefit the local economy, it cuts down the transport miles and all the associated impacts that go with that aspect of importation. In addition to sourcing standard spares items, we are also working with local suppliers to supply some of our more specific needs such as customised flags and other branded items.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR: THE ENVIRONMENT

At home: In Brighton we have been:

encouraging staff to cycle to work by providing showers, a lock-up bike shed, drying cabinets, changing rooms and hairdryers.
introducing interest-free loans and discounts for staff to purchase bikes and safety gear to cycle to work.
recycling everything possible including paper, cardboard, cans, plastic bottles, CDs, glass and even coffee grounds. Mobile phones, IT hardware, toner cartridges, etc, donated to charity. Old buoyancy aids donated to Sea Scouts, etc.
implementing an office-wide desk bin ban to encourage staff to waste less and sort out their recyclables more
recycling unwanted Christmas presents for fun charity auctions
reusing ceramic mugs, cutlery, glasses, crockery, old letterheads, old uniforms (for rags in boatyards), and office furniture, where it is possible it is always sourced second hand
energy saving by removal of lights from vending machines, fixing timers switches to water coolers and light boxes, etc
running a water awareness day in the offices following a water survey by Southern Water. All staff given Save-a-Flush bags and tips on water saving ideas
also recycling old uniforms by donating them to Mission Without Borders who took them to Albania to Summer Camps for orphaned and needy children.

Overseas: In general we have been:

providing our guests with literature (in confirmation booklets and newsletters), website information and briefings containing responsible travel tips which include:
Conducting surveys of overseas accommodation and resorts for environmental and ethical practices and impacts. To be used as basis for setting objectives in areas highlighted by survey .

Overseas: In resorts we have been:

In Halkidiki, Greece: We are trialling a new recycling initiative courtesy of a local school. They have loaned us their recycling collection bins (which were provided by the municipality) for the duration of the summer. We have these located now at our centre and the local council will collect and recycle the contents.
On our yachts: We have provided a yachting-specific sheet of tips for conserving the marine environment. All our old oil is syphoned into cans to avoid any possibility of spillage. Where possible, all materials are reused in some way, for example, old yacht ropes become mooring lines for dinghies and old sailcloth is made into laundry bags or car covers and also some of our old uniforms are used for cleaning the engines.
On our shore-based activities programme we no longer use anti-fouling on our dayboats and where possible we use 4-stroke outboard engines on our powerboats to reduce noise, fuel consumption and emissions.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR: FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Tasking our overseas staff to identify 3 long-term initiatives that will bring positive benefits to the economies, communities and environments in which they live and work
Working with The Travel Foundation to seek ways to develop practical, sustainable tourism solutions to help protect and enhance holiday destinations.
Working with the Federation of Tour Operators to develop responsible travel codes of practice.

Updated 9th July 2008