Sustainable Travel

Travel With Purpose

How can YOU experience purposeful, sustainable travel?

We have spent the last 25 years fostering meaningful relationships with local suppliers, responsible hotels, indigenous communities and environmental initiatives, and we encourage our guests to get involved and see with their own eyes how their travels are having a positive impact.

With this in mind, we will design a trip for you to meet your tastes and sustainability requirements: do you want to stay at the most eco-friendly properties? Do you want to experience visits directly run by the local communities? Do you want to do a bit of volunteering? Do you want to donate to a good cause?

Whatever it is that you prefer, we will point you in the right direction. Read on to learn about what we are involved in and how we are deepening and enhancing our practices to make our guests’ trips truly sustainable.

What is travel with purpose anyway?

Sustainable, regenerative and conscious travel has been at the heart of what we do since we first launched, 25 years ago. We were ahead of the curve. We are as passionate about protecting our fragile region, working with responsible properties and supporting local communities, as we are about designing unforgettable luxury travel experiences.

We call this travel with purpose: experiencing something extraordinary while having a positive impact on our destinations. Travel with purpose is an ethos, one that touches every aspect of our business practice and our tailor-made, low-impact trips to Peru, Bolivia and the Galapagos.

How do we implement sustainable travel?

We try to help our community in everything we do. For example, the bottles we give our guests to carry drinking water during their trips, is part of a non-profit project called Peruanos sin Agua. Likewise, the bags our guests receive as their welcome pack on arrival is also part of a non profit project favoring marginalized women in rural communities throughout Peru.

We base our responsible travel efforts on five pillars of sustainability:

1. Regenerative Tourism

1. Identifying and donating to regenerative tourism programs in the areas you visit.

We know entities –some of which are our partners and suppliers, that prioritize regenerative tourism. This includes educating the local population (through sponsoring schools and educational projects such as Kusi Kawsay and Colegio Sol Y Luna) preserving or improving the environment (through sponsoring and promoting projects like Valle Sagrado Verde and the Tambopata Macaw Project) thereby having a positive impact on the environment rather than just minimizing impact. We support and promote our local partners’ sustainable and regenerative travel initiatives by contributing our own funds; raising money on their behalf and encouraging our guests to donate.

2. Eco friendly accommodation

2. Partnering with Eco-friendly hotels and properties: Connecting with Peru

We are delighted that our hotels partners are all, in different ways and degrees working to the same objective: to provide quality services while minimizing their impact on the environment. This includes waste management programs, recycling, energy efficiency, and local community inclusion and training. We have carried out a thorough research project to analyze the ethical practices of our hotel partners. This project has not only been fascinating and fun, but it has enhanced our understanding of the actions our partner hotels are taking, and harnessed our efforts at responsible sourcing. Our featured Sustainable Itinerary, Connecting with Peru, takes you to visit and stay at some of the properties that won five stars in our rating. (For more details on our report please email us at travel@aracari.com)

3. Promoting Cultural and Natural Heritage

3. Promoting the Preservation of cultural and natural heritage

We aim to protect and promote local heritage and cultural traditions by showcasing products, experiences and initiatives that respect and foster local culture, such as Tierra de los Yachaqs and The Center For Traditional Textiles in Cusco.

4. Showcasing Community-based Tourism

4. Showcasing and Promoting community – based Tourism initatives.

We support a number of community-run projects which offer authentic and fulfilling travel experiences while promoting local entrepreneurship and the preservation of traditional lifestyles, such as Tierra de los Yachaqs and Homestays at Luquina Chico.

5. Activism

5. Activism

We speak out for and support the rights of local populations and campaign against initiatives that jeopardize cultural heritage or bring about environmental degradation. We have, for example, been a strong voice against plans for a new airport in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru, an area which should be highly protected.