Protect the Environment - Respect Local Cultures
Responsible Travel - Sustainable Tourism
Afro-Brazil Tours recognizes the impact of tourism activity both on local cultures and on the environment. We realize the importance of preserving the cultural and natural heritage of the South American destinations we visit.
We are strong advocates of Sustainable Tourism practices, we are constantly reviewing our South America tour programs in order to find ways to minimize the impact our visits have on the localities we operate in.
Afro-Brazil Tours takes
responsible travel seriously; we work with local communities and conservation
experts to minimize the impact of our travel. We run an Eco-friendly office and
are continuously enrolling our employees in development programs constantly
raising awareness on environmental and cultural impact.
We go beyond the environmental setup of our company and take active action towards environmental and cultural protection.
Afro-Brazil Tours takes part in many activities towards reducing our impact and offering sustainable tourism programs throughout South America. We invite you to join us on our quest towards a green planet.
The first adjective, sustainable, refers to the concept of sustainable development as it surfaces from the economic environs in the 1970´s and is latter applied to tourism.
This principle refers to the non-destructive use of resources, sensitized in the following phrase from the Brutland report:
"Sustainable development is the possibility to satisfy present needs without compromising those of future generations".
Sustainability is characteristic of the tourism product, the natural environment and human resources, including all levels throughout the service delivery process.
The second adjective, responsible, refers to a request and an offer of a trip that imply consciousness of the impact of our actions, in this case regarding the supplier and the consumer of the tourism services. The purpose is to avoid destructive mechanisms and try to turn the travels into a positive impact, for the people we meet, the places we visit and the services we use, as well as for our personal growth.
The third adjective, participative, is used in its broadest sense. Participation means to be a promoter of a project or a tourism initiative, it means to become part of a project and take ownership of its content and modality that represent its deepest interests; offering full availability to those who live in the places we visit to share time, space and practices. Participation is an essential part of the trip; the planning and participative organizing strengthen the process.
These three principles in practice can modify the nature of the behavior of both the host and the traveler: from a passive consumerism position to a true exchange position. Trips conceived under these principles bring forth a new type of tourism; they show the true interest of the traveler to meet the reality of the place they visit and the local traditions creating so many possibilities of activities and favorable situations.
The fact is that this type of travel generally starts in developed countries towards countries in development; it reflects the international economic breaches. In this sense, sustainable tourism is a constructive way to learn, understand and contribute personally towards improving this situation.
At a local level this promotes the creation of new projects, entrepreneurship and associations with the clear objective of using tourism as a sustainable means of income for local economies.
Protect the Environment – its flora, fauna and landscapes
Respect local cultures – traditions, religions and built heritage
Benefit local communities – both economically and socially
Conserve natural resources – from office to destination
Minimize pollution – through noise, waste disposal and congestion
Guidelines and Suggestions for the sustainable traveler