Responsible Travel - Ski and Snowboard

Making a Difference -Ski Holidays

At Neilson, we recognise that there are certain impacts associated with ski activities, both negative and positive, over which we and our partners have considerable control. We send thousands of skiers  on holiday each winter so even the smallest adjustment to the way we run our holidays will have a considerable effect. So the best course of action open to us is to identify those impacts, build on the positive, reduce the negative and continue to seek solutions to the challenges facing us in this arena. We have already started along this road with the following initiatives:

Awareness:

•    'On the mountain advice' is printed in our ticket packages and is covered at all client ski briefings by our reps in resort
•    General tips for responsible travellers are available on our website and cover such issues as energy and water conservation, littering, buying locally, and ski specific tips.
•    Our travel documentation contains tips for travellers, in particular ski ones, plus information about the Travel Foundation and a few words of the local languages.
•    At our start of season staff briefings, we task 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 during their season.
•    The Travel Foundation have produced a DVD aimed at introducing overseas staff to the principles of responsible tourism. All our ski staff take part in this new training at the start of the ski season.
•    We have introduced a Responsible Travel Award for our ski accommodation suppliers in recognition of their contribution to sustainable business practices and highlighting the winners in our brochure with a special logo. We hope that the added kudos will encourage more of our suppliers to take part. The additional informaton also helps our customers to make a more informed choice about where they take their holidays.
•    A back-of-house poster has being designed and printed by the Travel Foundation for resort offices to raise awareness amongst our staff.

Social/Economic:

•    We have moved away from selling bar crawls and are focussing instead on mountain based activities run in partnership with local suppliers such as ski clinics, ice fishing, dog sledding and visits to national wildlife parks.
•    In Neilson-run chalets and lodge hotels, we source our food and drink locally where possible.
•    In Neilson catered chalets and lodges we leave one night per week free to encourage our guests to try out the local restaurants.

Environmental/Waste Management:

•    We no longer routinely provide toiletries to guests in Neilson-run accommodation - they must bring their own or buy a Platinum Package.
•    Old ski uniforms are donated to Mission without Borders via Global Hands
•    Our ski brochure is printed on paper from managed forests, for 2005/6 we made it 25% lighter and our print run has been reduced by 27%  over the last 3 years. We tell our customers about this in our brochure.
•    We now print our promotional booklet, “The Nth Degree” on 50% recycled paper. This has been nominated for an award.
•    This winter in some of our French properties, we are trialling a system of installing flow restrictors to the taps and showers, plus putting Eco-Plaques in the toilet cisterns to reduce the amount of water usage. Monitored correctly we hope to reduce our water consumption by around 40%. Such measures are important to help keep the reservior levels at an appropriate level after a winter season of long shower and snowmaking.
•    We have an auto-dosing system for all cleaning materials in our own run properties.

And finally, in November 2005 we won a Responsible Tourism Award at the World Travel Market for “Best in a Mountain Environment” in recognition of our innovative approach to sustainability in the mass ski market.

Making a Difference – Canada

•    No bar crawls are offered here and a good selection of mountain friendly outdoor activities are offered such as snow-shoeing, interpretive nature walks, dog sledding, ski clinics, wildlife observation tours and a night time snow-shoeing event with stargazing called "Heavenly Bodies"
•    Banff and Lake Louise (and their ski areas) are located in Banff National Park and Jasper is located in Jasper National Park. Many aspects of environmental protection in these resorts are controlled by Parks Canada. For example, there is no commercial snowmobiling in the Parks, no dog sledding, no heli-skiing - you have to leave the Park to take part in these activities. The ski areas in the Park have strict limitations on development.
•    All Canadian ski resorts (except Tremblant) have non-smoking policies in bars, restaurants and hotel lobbies.
•    Fairmont Hotels. All guest rooms are supplied with a leaflet called “Making a Difference Together” which includes information on waste reduction (they have an extensive recycling programme which covers most things from paper to wine corks!), water conservation measures (the installation of flow restrictors and other such measures has reduced their water consumption by an average of 31%), habitat and species protection schemes and encouraging customers to help, too.

Making a Difference – Neilson Chalets and Hotels - Austria

In addition to the extensive recycling that is so prevalent in Austria, in all Neilson-run chalets, hotels and lodges we also ensure:
•    Our free chalet wine is all locally sourced wine – from a winery in Vienna
•    Most of our other Austrian wine on offer is organic (following a scandal in Austria some years ago where antifreeze was being used and now many wineries are erring on the side of caution).
•    We now have a biodynamic wine on offer in the Tyrol and Mounty – lots of info can be found on websites such as wineanorak.com and the vineyard’s own site – M.Chapoutier. – this is taking organic a step further where the entire farm is also in tune with the tides / moon. We have information available to guests who are interested in it. It tastes good too!
•    The beer we sell in all properties is also locally produced – Ottakringer is a brewery in Vienna – this is our tap beer.
•    All our self run properties have water saving advice sheets on the backs of the bathroom doors.
•    We employ 3 local cleaning ladies and a general manager – They all work within the legal guidelines of the country and are paid locally complying with all local tax and employment laws.
•    All our hospitality staff had a training session in our in resort training on the responsible business policy and everyone watched the Travel Foundation DVD.
 
Making a Difference – Neilson Chalets and Hotels - France

•    We are sourcing produce for our Neilson run chalets and hotels locally wherever we can. For example we provide wine which is sourced locally in the Savoie region from a family run business, bread is always bought from a local bakery in resort and local seasonal food produce utilised whenever possible.
•    Our Platinum Chalets in France use toiletries which are produced a few hours from the alps in Provence.
•    We employ 2 managers, 2 cleaners and a waiter locally. They all work within the legal guidelines of the country and are paid locally complying with all local tax and employment laws.
•    All our staff have had at least one training session on Neilson’s Responsible Travel policy and how we plan to implement this in resort.
•    Several of our properties use water saving devices such as water saving tap nozzles, and more are to be introduced this season.
•    All Neilson-run properties will be recycling waste including glass, paper, cardboard and plastic, where local facilities are provided.
•    In established Neilson resorts we have maintained long-standing and successful relations with numerous locally based businesses and suppliers, for example chalet owners, ski schools and ski hire shops, some of whom we have worked with for decades!
•    In resort we are encouraging guests to use any public transport systems already in place and are using lift shares between resorts for staff.
•    All our chalets are using Neilson rucksacks or re-usable bags when shopping locally to minimise the use of plastic bags.
•    This winter all Neilson run properties will be monitoring their use of utilities on a regular basis and looking at ways to save energy and reduce consumption.
•    Several of our chalets are now fitted with movement sensors on outdoor lights and indoor lights in public areas to help save energy.
•    All our guests are encouraged through the resorts’ socials programme to be sensitive to the local community, and to support local private business. For example for chalet guests a meal night is offered once a week in a local restaurant, offering the opportunity to sample regional dishes such as fondue and raclette.


Updated December 2006