Our Awards - Our Eco-rating system - Our Eco-history - Sticking to our Principles - Our Clients' Role - Responsible travel links
Tribes is a world pioneer of fair trade, ethical and responsible travel and ecotourism holidays.
In Sept 2006, Tribes’ founder, Amanda Marks, was listed in The Times “50 People to Know in Travel”. Travel editor Cath Urquhart said all the listed people “have created, or achieved, something new and interesting in their specialist field, and their companies and services are ones that every traveller should know about”.
We have won two prestigious global awards for our philosophy in responsible travel:
2005: Overall Winner and Best Tour Operator of the Responsible Travel Awards.
2002: Global Winner and Best Tour Operator of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.
Prof David Bellamy, chairman of the “Tourism for Tomorrow” judging panel said: "Tribes Travel will make a great global role model for other small tour operators. They have successfully combined the wish-lists of discerning tourists with the needs of local communities worldwide. Responsible tourism principles such as these are vital if we are to protect biodiversity and cultural diversity for generations to come."
The five star award is the highest level of Responsible Travel recognition offered by AITO. It means we have successfully implemented and continually improve an Responsible Travel policy. To achieve five Responsible Travel Stars, we fulfil a number of criteria covering the areas of RT policies, implementation of sustainable office practice, communication with customers, environmental practice and practical destination activity with the latter two areas having the most points allocated to them.
Tribes’ Social & Environmental Responsibility Reviews
Tribes is in the process of reviewing lodges and other facilities in terms of their social and environmental responsibility. We award a globe rating based on our research. If, like us, it is important to you to ensure that you are backing tourism services which help the environment and local people, this can help you decide on which accommodation you may prefer to use.
For more information about this, please see our Eco-Rating page.
Our Eco-History
At the time the company started in January 1998, in the UK the term fair trade was really only known in connection with food products such as tea, coffee and honey, and through Anita Roddick’s Body Shop.
In 1998 there were many companies offering ‘green’ and ‘ecotourism’, which mainly related to tourism which helped the environment and wildlife. Of course this was (and still is) an extremely valuable aspect of tourism. However the thing which Tribes felt was missing was a connection with the local people whose lives were affected by holiday makers. We wanted the local people to be able to benefit more directly from the travellers coming to their country.
Tribes was therefore set up with a fundamental principle of aiming to offer holidays which benefited local people as well as the environment and wildlife. Tribes was the first travel company to use the term Fair Trade Travel, and it is trademarked to our company. The company name reflected our belief that the people in the destinations should be a prime focus for what we were to offer. This was never intended to be an exercise in ‘gawping’ at local people, but a real wish to involve them in the tourism which many were already affected by, but rarely gained from.
Sticking to our Principles
We have stuck firmly with this philosophy of fair trade, ecotourism and responsible travel, and today it remains a very important aspect of our services. We are acknowledged experts in this field, as well as being proud to offer a very high quality, personal tailor made travel service to our clients.
Not everything we sell is fair trade of course, but one of our business aims is to have an annual increase in the number of ‘bed nights’ we sell to our fair trade products.
Fair Trade Travel is a difficult market to be involved in, as it is still a relatively new concept which is still evolving. There are not really any accepted parameters we should be working within, and there is no international organisation setting standards to follow.
Tribes has been instrumental in encouraging the growth of this travel sector, but we still don’t profess to get things right all the time. When recommending products as fair trade, ethical or responsible, we work mainly on our wide knowledge of the tourism industry linked to common sense, plus our research (on the ground and through questionnaires and talking to other industry people and NGO’s) and, importantly, feedback from our clients too.
We have a wide range of hotels, lodges, and activities which we recommend to people wanting to ensure they are making a difference when they travel.
Our Clients’ Role
Some of our clients travel with us simply because we offer a great travel service in a friendly and informative way, and we really know the areas we sell.
However a high proportion also travel with us due to our principles of travelling with respect. They know that we can recommend some fascinating and inspiring places to visit, which have the added advantage of benefiting either the local people, wildlife and environment –or all of them.
In many instances we are able to give our clients information about how a hotel, lodge or service is helping local people or wildlife, and minimising negative impact on the environment. We do this by our system of Responsible Questionnaires which we ask suppliers to complete for us. This is an ongoing process and we do not have these for all services just yet, but we are continually working on it.
We aim to give our clients plenty of information, thereby giving them the knowledge to allow them to travel with respect and sensitivity. They also become an integral part of our ‘auditing’ process by the feedback they give us after a visit.
Our links with Fair Trade and Responsible Travel associations
The Tribes Foundation : The Tribes Foundation is a UK charity whose principle aim is to relieve the poverty of indigenous communities in areas outside of the UK which are affected by tourism. The charity backs poverty alleviation, education, cultural preservation and conservation projects within these regions. Guy and Amanda Marks set up the charity and are two of the trustees.
The Travel Forest : This is a carbon-offsetting project run by The Tribes Foundation, through which Tribes Travel automatically offsets the flights of all clients and staff.
Tribes Trading : This is an ethical shopping site begun by Guy and Amanda Marks, and which started trading in January 2007. It sells ethical, fair trade, eco-friendly and organic goods from around the world.
FTTSA (Fair Trade in Tourism in South Africa): This is a non-profit marketing organisation promoting the fair trade in tourism concept and tourism businesses of disadvantaged communities. Tribes is pleased to use the products and services audited and recommended by FTTSA.
Kahawa Shamba : This is a community-owned and run tourism initiative of the Chagga people on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Tribes was set it up and still advises where needed.…
Incatambo : A community-owned and run hotel in Peru, which Tribes helped set up and is still involved with on an advisory level. We hope this will be available for booking later in 2007.
TWIN Trading : This charity was established in 1985, and is the leading alternative trading company in the UK. TWIN was one of Tribes partners in setting up Kahawa Shamba and Incatambo, and were the key organizers of both projects.
Café Direct : The well-known coffee company set up by TWIN, and another partner with Tribes for the Kahawa Shamba and Incatambo projects.
Tribes Trading sells Café Direct products. Click to go to the site.
Tourism Concern: a UK NGO which lobbies for better practices in the tourism industry. They say “We work with communities in destination countries to reduce social and environmental problems connected to tourism and with the out-going tourism industry in the UK to find ways of improving tourism so that local benefits are increased.
Tribes is a part of their International Fair Trade in Tourism network, and also a member of their Ethical Tour Operators group.
TONPAD (Tour Operators Network for Poverty Alleviation at Destinations) : A tourism enterprise which started in March 2006, with members (including Tribes) from around the world.
AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators) : AITO represents some of Britain's best specialist tour operators. Members are independent companies, most of them owner-managed, specialising in particular destinations or types of holidays. The common aim of all AITO members is to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction by concentrating on three main pillars: Choice, Quality and Service, enshrined in the association's Quality Charter.
Companies admitted to AITO are all vetted and fully bonded for client's protection, in compliance with UK and European regulations. They are also bound by AITO's own Code of Business Practice. AITO is the first tourism industry association to incorporate a commitment to Responsible travel and ecotourism in to its business charter. Tribes has the top rating for this.