Having seen a significant increase in the number of trips to experience the Northern Lights this winter, Peasedown St. John based soft adventure travel specialist, Off the Map Travel, has doubled the month-on-month amount of carbon it offsets compared to the same period last year – building on its green travel policies that has made it one of the UK’s leading ethical adventure travel providers.
This comes as a result of the founder of the business, Jonny Cooper, setting and implementing Off the Map Travel’s Responsible Travel Policy, a policy that goes significantly beyond industry requirements to protect the culture and environment of its destinations. To support the policy on a global level, the specialist travel business has offset the impact of every flight associated with its tailored trips, through ClimateCare projects.
Over the last seven months, the increase in travel to Off the Map Travel’s destinations has seen the company offset 129 tonnes (128,920 kg) of CO2 − the equivalent of taking 27 family cars off the road for a year.
Jonny Cooper, director of Off the Map Travel, said: “We feel our Responsible Travel Policy is an important part of what sets Off the Map Travel apart from others in the travel industry. We look at every aspect of our trips to ensure that our guests not only have a tailored and memorable time, but can travel safe in the knowledge that they are not adversely impacting the culture or environment of our destinations, helping to preserve these experiences for generations to come.”
“Businesses like Off the Map Travel are setting a great example by choosing to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions with our Climate and Development projects,” says Rob Stevens, Head of UK Operations at ClimateCare. “We hope that others in the industry will follow their lead, increasing investment into projects that not only reduce carbon emissions, but help to tackle poverty and improve health in developing countries. As Forum for the Future Founder Jonathon Porritt recently said; it should be an essential part of the CSR and carbon management strategy of every responsible business.”
Councillor David Dixon, Deputy Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, added: “With Bath’s business community becoming ever more engaged in environmentally sound policies, is wonderful to see a business such as Off the Map Travel, use their passion to both set responsible policies and take real action through a carbon offsetting programme. Hats off to the team and I know that success stories like this will inspire others to take up the mantle.”
As the business expands to include additional destinations, soft adventure experiences and northern lights expeditions, the team continues to focus on delivering authentic and low impact holidays. Jonny Cooper, director of Off the Map Travel, explains: “Not only are we offsetting the impact of the flights, but we have worked hard to choose accommodation and activities that deliver authentic and low-impact soft adventure experiences that really benefit the local economy whilst giving people incredible memory filled holidays that will stay with them forever.”
Off the Map Travel work with Climate and Development experts ClimateCare to offset carbon emissions from its tailor made holiday experiences. ClimateCare ensures this investment delivers benefits for people as well as the environment. Projects supported include the multiple award-winning LifeStraw Carbon for Water Project, which delivers safe water to more than 4.5 million people in Kenya and the Gyapa cookstove project in Ghana, which creates local jobs, saves families money on their fuel bills and reduces deforestation. ClimateCare recently won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its outstanding contribution to alleviating poverty and tackling climate change.
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