Responsible Tourism Policy

In keeping with the guiding principles on responsible tourism presented in the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism (2002), Balkan Trek seeks to uphold the following key commitments:

• To develop high quality products that compliment and enhance the destinations in which we operate.

• To operate tours that support local communities and small micro-enterprises, ensuring that the local people are fully involved in and benefitting from our activities.

• To ensure that all our local suppliers receive a fair and sustainable income from the services and products they provide.

• To initiate and support activities aimed at including, embracing and protecting all members of society regardless of gender, race or creed, and to fight against all forms of discrimination or exploitation.

• To reduce the environmental impact of all aspects of our operations, as well as encouraging our partners and suppliers to do the same.

• To establish programmes and projects that incorporate traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), thus helping conserve local biodiversity through the preservation of traditional agricultural practices and ways of life that support the sustainable use of natural resources by the local communities in which we operate.

• To recruit and employ suitably qualified staff who are passionate about upholding and promoting the principles of responsible tourism, and who demonstrate this to and encourage this in our clients through all aspects of their behaviour and work.