Our sustainability practices

While every long-haul trip has an ecological impact, we take steps to minimise this footprint. Our goal is to make each trip with TravelEssence both environmentally conscious and culturally meaningful.
 

Here's how we do it:

• Working with local businesses: We partner with nearly 2,000 small accommodation and activity providers across Australia and New Zealand. Many of these businesses use locally grown food and products and are committed to preserving their natural surroundings.
• Choosing sustainable transport: We opt for rental cars instead of campervans, as they are more fuel-efficient and have lower emissions, making them a more eco-friendly choice for our clients.
• Carbon offsetting: We buy three tonnes of CO2 compensation from United Nations Gold Standard offset programmes, such as the clean cooking stove project in Asia. These programmes help reduce CO2 emissions and improve local communities' quality of life.
• Tree planting: Many of our customers have already contributed to planting trees in the Urewera Rainforest in New Zealand. We're also developing a new initiative to support the reforestation of Māori tribal lands in Rotorua.
• Supporting education initiatives: We collaborate with local and regional tourism boards to provide training and support for suppliers.
• Promoting slow travel: We encourage longer stays and more time spent in fewer locations, directly contributing to reduced CO2 emissions.
• Certification: We hold the highest level of Travelife Certification, a mark of our commitment to sustainability in tourism. This certification ensures we meet rigorous environmental and social standards.