Our Philosophy underpins everything we do

Mission Statement

Through meaningful experiential travel we aim to provide insights into our increasingly global society; develop empathy for other cultures; further understanding of international issues; and heighten appreciation for the earth’s wild places.

We combine a love of travel and a belief in the importance of cross-cultural communication with environmental sensitivity and attention to detail.

The world CAN be a better place.

The vision is for our tours and business practices to have a net positive impact on the world.

A Meaningful Adventure

We aim to provide opportunities to have ‘real life’ experiences…from new food and languages, unique activities, fantastic adventures, to hospitality and homestays with local families …and enough time to relax, refresh yourself and absorb it all. Along the way you’ll learn and share as much (or as little) as you choose.

Education

1. Experiential education focus: where learning is through direct real-life experience.
2. Provision of background information: Historical, cultural, geographical and environmental. So that personal experiences on our trip can be connected with a broader understanding of place.
3. Detailed briefings and informal lectures during trip.
4. Leader initiated group discussions and debriefing of experiences.
5. Encouraging our clients and participants to take an enquiring approach to their travels.
6. Warts-and-all: We go beyond the travel brochure pictures to discover the real country.

Volunteering

Many of our programs and tours have a volunteer component. We really enjoy this aspect of our trips and believe that the well structured volunteer activities we arrange benefit both our partners and our trip participants.

It’s not tokenism – we do not include volunteer activities simply to make our trip participants feel good about themselves. Instead, volunteer projects are planned around the expressed needs of a range of community groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Volunteer projects allow our participants to really immerse themselves in a place and share an experience with local people - bridging the gap that often exists between visitor and host. The rewards are tangible and often unexpected.

Pacific Discovery Sustainability Policy

Definition of Sustainability

Human action impacts the world, whether it impacts the physical environment or impacts other living beings. Actions as simple as making a cup of coffee have impacts that ripple outwards like a pebble thrown into a pond.

In recognising that every action has impacts, our vision of sustainability is for our tours and business practices to have a net positive impact on the world. Our goal is for positive impacts from our tours and business practices to tip the scales towards the positive, so that those negative impacts that do occur are justified through a net overall benefit.

Sustainability is a tricky concept and can mean different things. The term economic sustainability is often used to simply imply a state of continued economic growth, but that is vastly different from environmental or social sustainability. For us, sustainability means balancing the kinds of tourism experience we offer and the expectations of our clients against the ability of our host communities to manage the social impacts of our visiting and the minimisation of our impacts upon the environment, so that host communities benefit, environments are sustained and the ability for future travellers to enjoy the same experience is not compromised.

We’ve done a lot of soul searching about the sustainability of tourism. In a nut-shell, we believe that our small group tours and programs do have a positive effect on the countries and communities we spend time in. Sustainable tourism is an important source of income for communities and a valuable opportunity for cultural exchange. To this end, we utilize small scale locally or family owned and operated businesses for transport, activities and accommodation. We make our tours as low impact as possible, and facilitate as many learning opportunities as we can.

Working Towards Sustainability

Overall Strategies

1. Training and induction of future staff on sustainability policy.
2. Keep as much of tour spending in host communities as possible.
3. Education of clients about sustainable practices.
4. Advocacy of sustainability.
5. Assessment of environmental and social impact of tours in planning stage and ongoing evaluation through client and host feedback.

Encouraging Positive Impacts

1. Working with past clients to facilitate ongoing communication and assistance to communities visited.
2. Encouraging clients to share their experiences after their return from a tour.
3. Facilitation of cultural exchange between clients and host communities.
4. Support, use and encouragement of businesses that actively support sustainability.
5. Raising awareness of the importance of sustainability amongst clients throughout experience with us.
6. Incorporating activities into tours that highlight interconnectedness of world and the importance of clients managing their impacts on the world.

Reducing Negative Impacts

1. Office and tour guides carbon emissions offset through the purchase of carbon credits.
2. Provision of educational information to clients about carbon emissions and offsetting, so that clients can make their own informed decisions about their carbon emissions.
3. Provision of our ‘code of ethical travel’ to clients, in conjunction with on-tour briefings, to facilitate mutually positive experiences for clients and hosts.
4. Use of locally owned businesses on our tours. In the assumption that businesses that are locally owned are to a degree answerable to their communities and money stays in host community/country.
5. Constructive feedback to operators with unsustainable practices.
6. Encouragement of clients to eat local foods to reduce unnecessary food miles.
7. Encouraging clients to conserve resources like electricity and water.
8. Banning non-biodegradable soaps and lotions from waterways.
9. Collection and recycling of used batteries from clients.
10. Requiring leaders and encouraging clients to utilise reusable water bottles with in-built water filters, rather than buying bottled water.

Giving Back

1. Partnership with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) to offer 2-3 week volunteer tours. This initiative was a concept that we approached VSA with, and we donate our time to this initiative.
2. Support of Books for Cambodia, a charity that raises funds to buy books, build libraries and train librarians in Cambodia. We cover all admin and operating costs of Books for Cambodia, so that 100% of donations go towards books, libraries and librarian training in-country.
3. Support of grassroots NGOs within countries we operate in. We regularly donate funds and encourage our clients to support a number of grass-roots organisations. Some examples are:

a. The Trailblazer Foundation – an organisation involved in rural development in Cambodia;
b. The Burmese Teacher Training Organisation – based in Chiang Mai, this grassroots NGO trains Burmese refugees as teachers.
c. The Khmer Development of Freedom Organization (KDFO) – based in Phnom Penh, this Cambodian NGO works with the community of Stung Menchey
d. Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) – based in Kampot, Cambodia, this NGO assists marginalised poor with advocacy and housing.

4. Exposing high school students to the developing world. We offer high school groups interpretive tours to developing countries where the students have the opportunity to do volunteer work, visit NGOs and have meaningful interactions with local people. We offer these trips on a break-even basis, meaning we can offer these experiences for less than they could be arranged by teachers and schools themselves.

Office Sustainability

1. Digitisation of as much administration as possible from online tour payments, to email receipts, email bookings and client files, thereby reducing use of paper.
2. Use of energy efficient light bulbs.
3. Workplace practice of turning off electrical appliances and lights when not in use.
4. Recycling as much waste as possible. Composting, paper, card and plastic recycling. Recycling of batteries and printer cartridges.
5. Reducing use of motor vehicle and encouraging of use of bicycles and public transport.
6. Use of recycled paper and envelopes.

Pacific Discovery Code of Travel Ethics

What is ‘Ethical Travel’?

It’s about providing and having a more rewarding and fulfilling travel experience; being culturally sensitive and minimizing negative impacts on the environment; getting involved with the local people – ensuring that your tourist dollar benefits the community and that the local people are involved in decisions that affect their lives. It’s about helping to conserve the world’s wild places; sustainability; and ‘giving something back’.

We will help you ‘get beneath the skin’ of the countries you visit – meet the local people on their terms, learn about history and culture, and enjoy wilderness experiences that don’t damage the environment. By travelling ‘responsibly’ you’ll be making a positive contribution to the host communities and environments you visit, ensuring that future travelers will enjoy the same privilege.

Ethical tourism is key to our philosophy. We do our best to operate ethically (and welcome any feedback), but we need your help. Following are some suggestions on how to minimize your impact and to facilitate interaction and understanding. By following them, we believe you’ll have a far richer and more rewarding travel experience.

Before You Leave Home

The more you know about your destination before you leave, the more you will be able to appreciate and understand it once you’re there.

Try to read up on the history and culture. There is a recommended reading list provided with your tour dossier/program information booklet.

Many developing countries don’t have very good waste collection services, so try to leave excess packaging (e.g. film boxes, plastic bags etc) at home and when you’re buying toiletries, bio-degradable products are recommended.

Consider the clothes you’re packing. Many countries have a modest dress code. See the packing list for recommended clothing. By dressing inappropriately you may be putting a barrier between yourself and the people you want to interact with. Loose clothing that covers limbs not only protects you from the sun and insects, but also will ensure you’re more readily accepted by the local people.

Likewise, leave expensive jewellery at home – not only can it attract unwanted attention, but it’s a tactless reminder of the differing standards of wealth between the ‘West’ and the developing world.

People, Customs & Etiquette

Travel in a spirit of humility and with a genuine desire to learn more about the people of your host country.

Meeting and interacting meaningfully with the local people and experiencing foreign cultures are often the most memorable highlights of your travels. Your tour will provide many opportunities for both. However, respect, consideration and an open mind are needed for these interactions to be mutually enjoyable. Don’t be surprised if the local people – especially in remote areas – treat you with an equal measure of curiosity.

Put yourself in their shoes. It’s easy to judge another culture by our own standards and assumptions, but it’s worth keeping in mind that you are a guest in their community – please respect your hosts and behave as you’d expect a guest to behave in your home/country.

Other cultures have a different concept of ‘time’ – you’ll find it a lot less stressful if you go with the flow. Keep an open mind and don’t be too quick to judge – we do things differently back home – not better, just differently.

Don’t be too quick to generalise. One experience with local culture is never going to accurately reflect the whole culture.

Please be respectful of local customs. Read up before you go, and ask your tour leader, or a local, if you’re unsure. Observe, listen and take your cue from the local people.

Please respect private property and sites where access may be limited, by asking permission. Please also abide by the laws of the country and community you’re visiting.

Cultivate the habit of listening and observing, not just hearing and seeing.

Make the most of every moment of every day.

Support local traders by buying locally made goods.

Begging

It’s often difficult to resist the pleadings of beggars, be they children calling for sweets or adults with terrible disabilities. We strongly recommend you do not give money or other ‘gifts’ (such as pens or candy) to beggars. Doing so can help create a begging fraternity that undermines traditional culture and social structures, and almost inevitably eliminates any chance for equitable interaction between locals and foreigners.

Gift Giving

Please do not give gifts indiscriminately. It is easy when travelling in the developing world, to be shocked by the seemingly primitive living conditions you encounter. Many travelers compare the locals’ lot with their own, and experience pangs of conscience and outrage at inequalities. In an attempt to relieve the guilt or inspire goodwill, many visitors distribute gifts of sweets, cigarettes, money and other items to local children and adults. However the lack of money, modern conveniences or expensive playthings in developing countries does not necessarily indicate poverty. Most rural people have crops, animals and homes that provide sufficient food, clothing and shelter. They work hard on the land and it, in turn, takes care of them. When the visitor hands out sweets or cigarettes, they contribute to dental and health problems that cannot be remedied locally; when they give money, they impose a foreign system of values and upset a well-established balance.

If you wish to be accepted by local people, you can perhaps share a conversation, teach a game from home or share a photograph of your friends or family. If you wish to make a bigger difference, you can donate money and supplies to organizations working to improve livelihoods.

Photography

Please ask before taking someone’s photo, and respect his or her wishes. Usually just lifting your camera with a questioning look will suffice as a request, although asking in the person’s own language is even better. A smile goes a long way.

We suggest that you don’t pay for taking photos of people – it becomes another form of begging, with similar consequences. Usually, if you take a little time to communicate with your subject, they will agree to be photographed – you end up with a far more relaxed subject, and you each have a more enjoyable and memorable experience.

If you promise to send someone a photo, please follow though. We are more than happy to help out and can deliver prints next time we pass through.

Bargaining

Bargaining is a fundamental part of the shopping experience in many countries. What many visitors don’t realise is that it’s not about securing the lowest possible price. It’s about fair trade and reaching a tactical agreement that suits both parties. The social interaction is as much a part of the process as the financial outcome. Keep this in mind, and perhaps consider that low prices often mean low wages. Please don’t be mean spirited. Does haggling over that last dollar really make a difference to you, compared to the vendor?

Religious & Historic Sites

Ensure that you are appropriately dressed and aware of particular actions that may cause offence.

Food

The countries we visit have a distinctive and exciting cuisine – local delicacies and shared meals with the local people are invariably the stuff of rich memories. We encourage you to support local restaurants by trying their food.

Rubbish

Disposing of waste properly in the developing world is a little more complex than back home. Most of the countries we visit don’t have ‘organised’ waste disposal systems. In many places, almost all the waste generated was biodegradable or recyclable until the very recent introduction of plastics and other consumables. The local infrastructure cannot cope with the changed situation, and often the local people don’t have a clear understanding of the impact of littering.

Please dispose of your own trash thoughtfully. Consider carrying a reusable cloth bag with you for purchases and carrying a plastic bag with you for rubbish you generate during the day

Washing & Water Pollution

Protecting water resources is vital. In many places shower and hand basin water drains unfiltered into rivers. We urge you to use biodegradable soaps, shampoos, and conditioners etc. that don’t contain phosphates.

Environment

Ecosystems throughout the world are under enormous pressure from the unsustainable harvesting of resources. Please do not contribute to this by buying any souvenirs that have been made with wild animals or their parts, insects, shells and coral or tropical hardwoods.

Wild foods are popular in many countries. People there may not be educated about the complexity of eco-systems and how depredation of certain species can cause irreparable damage to entire environments. Please make sure that you do not contribute to this by eating wild food items in restaurants e.g. Wild deer or shark-fin soup.

Save precious natural resources and energy. Don’t waste water; switch off lights and AC if you go out.

What Else Can I Do?

Many of our clients return with a new perspective on life and a desire to be pro-active in ‘giving something back’. Please ask us about the grass roots social and environmental initiatives we support. It’s possible to make financial donations through our office and we are also able to carry goods such as clothing and equipment to overseas communities.

Adopt these guidelines for your future travels.

If you have any suggestions for existing causes you think worthy of our support, or if you have feedback on how we can improve our impacts, please let us know.