Responsible travel for families | Intrepid Travel NZ

Little travellers like to ask the big questions. That’s where we come in.

With so much for kids (and big kids) to learn from around the world – we believe in doing our bit to bring up the next generation of responsible travellers. This means educating the travel community in low-impact, sustainable travel practices and sharing ways in which we can all travel responsibly.

How does Intrepid travel responsibly?

On our family trips, we’re committed to travelling in a way that respects local people and their cultures; we believe in connecting with the communities we visit and while on the road, we look for ways to leave a lighter footprint on the environment.

Intrepid’s family trips involve:

Real life experiences that encourage cross-cultural understanding between travellers and the people in the communities we visit.
Spreading the economic benefits of tourism by purchasing from and staying with a range of local businesses.
Minimising the amount of waste and promoting recycling wherever possible on our trips.
Avoiding the exploitation of the vulnerable – including women, children, animals and endangered species in the countries we visit.

How can my family travel responsibly?

For a family, there’s a million things to get organised before you hit the road. But travelling responsibly doesn’t have to take a big effort.

Learn a few words of the local language. It’s a fun activity for your family and people will appreciate it – even if the pronunciation isn’t right.

Be open to sharing with new cultures. Travelling as a family gives you the opportunity to meet local families and share your culture as well as learn from a new one. This can happen anywhere – on a bus, riding the train, in the market place or while out visiting sites.
Ask permission before taking someone’s picture and respect photography rules in places of worship. It works both ways. You can politely say no if locals try to take photos of your child. Remember, they might be curious too.
Say no to elephant riding safaris, cub petting, walking with lions and anything that involves animal cruelty. You won’t see these types of activities on our trips.
Give smiles, not gifts, in the communities you visit. It’s a good intention but there are other ways to give back without disrupting the local culture and creating dependency.
Shop for locally made products and support local artisans to help keep traditional crafts alive in the places you visit.
Reduce your waste and recycle. On our family trips, we give you a tote bag (or you can take your own) so you can say no to plastic when shopping in markets.
While it may not always be convenient, we encourage you to refill your water bottles wherever you can. Check with your guide as to whether drinking water dispensers are available on your trip.
Dress for comfort and be prepared to cover shoulders and knees and remove hats when in traditional areas and places of worship.

You can check on all of these with your trip leader who can guide you on what’s most appropriate in the country you’re visiting.

Being part of something bigger

Your trip is carbon offset

We offset the carbon emissions from all our trips into international accredited renewable energy projects – at no extra cost to you.

We signed the UN Global Compact

We’re committed to addressing sustainable development issues focused on the environment, human rights, labour and anti-corruption. We report on our progress annually.

We’re a B Corp

To hold ourselves accountable to our sustainability goals, and to ensure we remain a responsible business long into the future, we have joined the B Corp movement, becoming the largest B Corp certified business in the travel industry, globally.