Responsible travel

Responsible travel is important to Peregrine. Maintaining our integrity and upholding principles of sustainable development are core to our travel ethos.

Our values are ingrained in the culture of our business and in the design of our trips. We respect the people, cultures and local environments that we encounter while travelling and encourage the spread of good will and cross-cultural sharing. We are committed to making a positive contribution wherever possible.

Economic Impact

We aim to ensure we create economic benefits that can be shared across our staff, host communities, suppliers and key stakeholders. Our trips are designed to ensure that we support local communities by:

Hiring local leaders and staff from the destinations where we operate, therefore contributing directly to local employment and ensuring competitive local remuneration
Using locally owned ground transportation and locally run accommodation
Recommending local eateries, shops and businesses to our passengers.
Investing in renewable energy projects which support the local economy through temporary and permanent employment, as well as contributing to the communities' infrastructure
Creating procurement policies that ensure we have fair and equitable relationships with our partners and suppliers

Environmental Impact

Peregrine recognises that climate change is a reality and unfortunately the travel industry plays a part in contributing to global carbon pollution. Understanding that we as a travel operator are having an impact, we have decided not to shy away from our responsibility and are working hard to reduce our global footprint.

We develop our trips to be low impact by design. In planning our trips we aim to ensure that we are reducing our impact where possible. Keeping our tour groups small, we can focus on providing a more immersive experience, using smaller-scale accommodation and vehicles. Our group sizes and style of travel ensure that we can steer clear of using large coaches for transport or huge hotel chains, which can often have a bigger environmental footprint.

The emissions that our trips and global operations create are calculated and offset through the purchasing of carbon credits. Our portfolio of carbon offsets are derived from a range of high quality Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or Gold Standard (GS) credits. For example, we are currently supporting the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in Kenya, a program that prevents unplanned deforestation and degradation of forests that are home to vulnerable species including the African elephant, cheetah, lion, African hunting dog and Grevy’s zebra. It is estimated that deforestation accounts for 18% of global carbon emissions, greater than that generated by transport and aviation combined.

In Cambodia we are working to ensure that communities have access to clean drinking water through the purchase of GS carbon credits which fund the production and dissemination of ceramic water purifiers throughout the country.

We also purchase carbon credits from the Akbuk Wind Farm Project in Turkey, a GS project that has resulted in the installation of 15 wind turbines, that collectively reduce 67,570 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year.

Our carbon management plan helps us operate our business in a sustainable manner and address our environmental commitments as a signatory of United Nations Global Compact.

Respect local customs and culture

All of our Peregrine leaders are able to guide you on the intricacies of the local customs and cultural etiquette of the places we travel. We ask you to respect the local culture and be aware of any actions that could negatively impact local communities.

Play your part as a responsible traveller:

When travelling we ask you to do a few simple things ensure your trip creates positive benefits for you and the places in which you travel:

Shop locally from traditional artisans – we strongly encourage our travellers to eat locally produced food and goods. This reduces the embodied energy (energy consumed through production and transport) and supports the local economy and keeps their traditional crafts alive.
Say no to plastic – when exploring those local markets take your own bag and say no thanks to plastic.
Bring a water bottle – we encourage our passengers to bring and refill a water bottle where possible. For disposable bottles, every 1 litre of water sold means 3 litres of water was used to create it. Peregrine is working with TAP to try and reduce the harmful impact of disposable plastic water bottles on our environment.
Ensure that you are familiar with what is acceptable to photograph in the destination you are travelling to – some religious sites and processions are prohibited from being photographed or filmed. Always ask permission before photographing people.
Supporting vulnerable communities – please don’t give money or gifts to beggars, this includes children. Supporting organisations that in turn support vulnerable communities such as educational programs is often a more constructive approach to helping those in need. See The Intrepid Foundation for example of grassroots organisations that focus on the wellbeing of vulnerable people and communities.

Projects you'll support, through The Intrepid Foundation, by travelling with Peregrine

We help travellers give back to the places they visit through our not-for-profit arm, The Intrepid Foundation. Since 2002, we've donated over AU $10 million into over 130 grassroots projects around the world. By empowering local people through sustainable travel experiences, we can make travel better for everyone. The Intrepid Group cover all administrative costs too, so 100% of giving goes directly to the projects.

Learn more about The Intrepid Foundation