Travel should be a force for good. When done well, it can revitalise communities, boost economies, preserve habitats and create opportunities. For those of us doing the travelling, it can educate and inspire, altering our perspectives and opening our eyes.

We are passionate about travel’s transformative power. And this passion runs through the heart of the business. So we only work with companies that are committed to delivering life-changing experiences for their guests while supporting conservation and community initiatives in a meaningful way.

We work with property owners that actively seek to make positive impacts; those that collaborate closely with locals, help reduce human-wildlife conflict, preserve the environment and seek to consciously educate the next generation of conservationists. Many of these businesses also create opportunities for guests to take part in their conservation activities – in non-contrived ways – so they leave with a greater understanding and a deeper connection.

In short, we work with people that have a profound love of the places within which they operate, and who want to share them with the world.

Showing Support

In addition to working with people and businesses operating in a conscious and ethical way, we also give a percentage of annual business profits to the Mara Elephant Project, an initiative which aims to protect elephants and their habitats across the Greater Mara Ecosystem, Kenya’s most important wildlife area. The project trains Maasai to be the front-line guardians of this unique environment. Often the only law enforcement presence for miles, these rangers monitor and safeguard the animals as well as collaborating with communities within the Maasai Mara.

When it started in 2011, the Mara Elephant Project partnered with Kenya Wildlife Service to primarily focus on anti-poaching – and results have been significant, with hundreds of poachers arrested and thousands of kilos of ivory seized. But its focus has moved into developing relationships with communities, to help local people play an active role in elephant conservation. We believe that this has the power to make a real difference to the future of the African wilderness.

Carbon Offsetting

But what about the environmental impacts of running a travel business? We work with Chooose, a platform that helps to balance the carbon footprint of the whole business, from office emissions to air travel. Working out our footprint, using robust methodologies, we can help offset it by contributing to carbon-reducing initiatives across the developing world.

If travel is going to make a positive difference to the planet, we need to think about its impacts at every step of the journey.