• About Symbiosis
• Responsible Outlook
• Background

Responsible Outlook

Symbiosis is committed to principles of ethical, fair trade and sensitive tourism that we follow in both policy and practise.

Our commitment is threefold:

1. To provide an alternative form of tourism that helps reduce the negative impacts of the industry on sensitive, developing countries and to enhance the positive impacts.
2. To support local initiatives in host countries in their running of tourism and conservation practices.
3. To cater to the growing market of consumers who care about the impact of their travel, and thus raise awareness of the issues of socially and environmentally sensitive tourism.

These our the principles by which our business is governed:

• Whenever possible Symbiosis Expedition Planning works with locally owned and operated businesses; this helps ensure that tourist spendings filter into the local community and discourages profits from being expatriated.
• The local businesses Symbiosis partners with -- hotels, resorts, tour companies, etc -- have been vetted for adherence to certain codes of conduct. These are:
  • Employ local staff
  • Comply with local labour laws and offer fair working conditions
  • Source equipment, food and drink locally, wherever possible
  • Employ responsible measures for waste disposal
  • Remain sensitive to the needs of local populations
  • Support local conservation and education programmes where possible