Highlights of Turkey holiday

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION:
While sightseeing in Istanbul we walk and use public transport - tram and ferry - and have chosen a centrally located hotel to enable this. We travel through Turkey by charter bus and there are no internal flights.
For many of the meals that are not included our trip leader will arrange group meals at local restaurants where is it possible to try some of the tasty and healthy Turkish food. Often these will be made from locally sourced, fresh ingredients including plenty of local vegetables. Be sure to try local specialties that the leader points out or freshly caught fish when seaside locations such as Canakkale. It is also easy for vegetarians to find tasty and heathy alternatives to meat or fish dishes.
As a travel company we are acutely aware of our impact on the environment. All of our tours display a carbon footprint, and we strive to reduce our emissions by regularly reviewing our tours and embracing low-impact styles of travel such as trains, public buses or walking – which offer the added benefit of getting a closer connection with the destination and local community.

ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFE:

Most of the hotels we use in Turkey harness solar energy to help produce hot water, which in turn helps reduce the need for gas and electric power. This is effective across many months of the year.

In Dalyan we encourage a visit to the Turtle Conservation Centre (DEKAMER). The conservation centre works to protect the turtle nesting areas on Iztuzu Beach, cares for and rehabilitates injured turtles and attempts to educate the local fisherman on the importance of using propeller guards. There is the chance to donate to their conservation and rehabilitation work.

In order to use less fuel on our minibuses the air-conditioning is only switched on when our customer board the bus and the engine is switched off whenever the bus is parked up.

We strive to support nature and biodiversity through protection and regeneration projects, and for every customer that travels with us we make a donation to Rewilding Britain and Cool Earth.

We include a large water dispenser on the charter bus to refill clients water bottles each day and minimise waste. We encourage customers to avoid single-use plastic on tour, and our leaders give advice on refill points each day. Where tap water isn't safe to drink we recommend Water-to-Go bottles, a filtration bottle allowing you to drink water from any source.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We have developed a long term working relationship with our various local suppliers such as hotels and restaurants that help give long term employment. As well as respecting local people, we also like to be an economic benefit to them. We do this by using locally owned hotels, spreading our business to a variety of local restaurants (which is a great way to sample delicious Turkish food) and employing local guides where we can. Add to that that all our trips work to a strict Responsible Tourism Policy and you can be sure that even we've considered every aspect of our operation in Turkey and are confident it is best practice. Learning about the country we are travelling to is of really important on our trips and Turkey is just brimming with history and culture. One of the reasons we prefer to use local Tour Leaders is so they can give a real insight into the local culture; anything from learning about the education system, to making sure we don't fall foul of any taboos. Secondly it is our policy to generate business and employment opportunities in the countries we travel to by employing local people. All our Tour Leaders in Turkey are locals and we've personally trained them all too so they are comfortable in their work and you get great service.

We have been working for over three decades with our local partner that runs this trip. They are a Turkish owned company and they employ local staff in both the office as well as the hotel that we spend two nights in that they own in Cappadocia. We encourage the promotion of local crafts and specialties. Our trip leaders will also proudly promote local culture wherever relevant, mention local crafts and products and choose locally owned Turkish restaurants.
Our leaders are the heart of tours. They bring passion and unrivalled knowledge of the destinations and communities that we visit. Their guidance ensures we observe the cultural norms in a destination, they act as a bridge between travellers and the local community and ensure that tourism is a positive experience for both host and guest. We believe in supporting local; staying in locally-run hotels, exploring markets, buying snacks from street vendors, and by doing this we add money to the local economy and enhance our connection with the local community.

EMPLOYMEMT, INCLUSIVITY & DIVERSITY

Our local partners are an inbound Turkish tourism agency based in Nigde, Central Anatolia. It is run by Turkish nationals, employing 6 to 7 staff from the local community. Between 30-40 local guides and tour leaders, all Turkish nationals, are employed across the season.