• Caribbean Tours AG supports both career-related and job-related professional development activities.
• Caribbean Tours AG is committed to the principle of fair and equal pay for like work and for work of equal value for all its employees, and contractors, regardless of gender/sex, race, national origin, marital status, age, religion.
• Caribbean Tours AG is committed to fostering a safe, healthy, and inclusive work place/work culture where all employees are able to perform their duties/to recognise their potential.
• Caribbean Tours AG is committed to a zero-tolerance policy for acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights, including forced labour, human trafficking, and all rights of children.
• Caribbean Tours AG further expects this commitment from all partners and suppliers.

Caribbean Tours AG is committed to managing environmental impact as an integral part of our operations.

It is our policy to assure the environmental integrity of our processes and products at all times by:

• Continuously seeking opportunities to improve our environmental performance by establishing objectives and targets, measuring progress, and reporting our results, including but not limited to energy, water, paper, and carbon.
• Practicing a waste hierarchical approach to always reduce, reuse, and recycle commodities and products instead of waste, particularly waste to landfill.
• Promoting participation and communicating our commitment to responsible environmental management by promoting environmental responsibility amongst our employees and stakeholders and soliciting input from them to better achieve our environmental goals.
• Minimizing pollution including light, noise, and any soil, water, or air contaminants, and avoiding use of any toxic or hazardous substances.

Carbon management of office operations

Caribbean Tours AG is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and endeavors to reduce the amount we travel as much as possible by:

• Reduce the amount we travel as much as possible.
• Monitoring and measuring carbon footprint with the aim to reduce as much as possible and offset remaining amounts.
• Encouraging remote work whenever possible, and when it is not possible, making it easier for employees to limit their carbon footprint by use of eco-modes of transportation.
• We commit to offsetting our remaining direct and indirect carbon from travel and fossil energy use via [carbon offset company].
• Implementing procedures such as [e.g. following proper maintenance for vehicle fleet, offering incentives such as bike rental stipend and showers].
• Installing energy efficient equipment and appliances [where appropriate/possible]

Land use

Caribbean Tours AG offices are located in a [urban/suburban/rural] area and abides by all local land use laws, respects local cultural and natural resources in our business operations, and favors sustainable architecture and design.

• Caribbean Tours AG is committed to sourcing its products and services responsibly, avoiding harmful impacts on society, culture and nature as much as possible. We expect the same level of engagement and commitment from our suppliers.
• Caribbean Tours AG prefers to work with partners that share the company’s commitment towards sustainability. This means that we prefer partners that have a written sustainability statement as an integral part of their business policy and/or a clear sustainability policy in place.
• Caribbean Tours AG prefers to work with suppliers in the destinations that are locally owned or managed,use local and seasonal products and services and benefit the local community by hiring locally and equitably and by providing fair working conditions.
• Whenever possible, Caribbean Tours AG prefers to select partner companies that comply with tourism-specific, internationally recognized (GSTC-accredited) certifications, or other sustainability certifications like B Corp or ISO.
• Caribbean Tours AG offers incentives for partners that are actively engaged in sustainable operations.
• Caribbean Tours AG expects its suppliers to adhere to a Code of Ethics, that includes the following responsible business practices:
  • Complying with all local, regional, national and international regulations.
  • Respecting all human rights including labour rights, children’s rights, and women’s rights.
  • Committing to fair employment conditions.
  • Following anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-extortion, and anti-discrimination policies.
  • Protecting children from (sexual) exploitation through tourism.
  • Protecting the environment and natural resources.
  • Acting in the best interest of local communities.
  • Protecting the interests of [company].

Our complete supplier Code of Ethics is available here:

• Following a zero-tolerance policy, Caribbean Tours AG will immediately terminate any relationships with suppliers that violate Code of Ethics, specifically through acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights.
• Caribbean Tours AG raises awareness amongst its suppliers to adopt sound social and environmental practices, and to minimize their carbon footprint.
• Caribbean Tours AG actively collaborates with suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. We encourage our suppliers to continuously learn about sustainability and provide/support this learning whenever possible.
• Caribbean Tours AG maintains open lines of communication with our suppliers and partners and encourage feedback from our stakeholders at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

• Caribbean Tours AG only works with partner agencies that adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.
• In the entire process of developing and operating our travel packages, Caribbean Tours AG expects partner agencies to act in the best interests of the surrounding communities and environment as well as our guests.
• Caribbean Tours AG provides partner agencies opportunities for sustainability learning and management, including free access to the Travelife online learning and reporting platform.

• Caribbean Tours AG only works with transport providers that adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.
• When selecting transport for guests and business related travel, Caribbean Tours AG commits to choosing the most environmentally friendly options available for travelling to, from, and within the destinations – taking into consideration distance, price, route, and comfort.
• Caribbean Tours AG has implemented clear guidelines for reducing GHG emissions from transport and selecting the most environmentally friendly transport options, according to the resources of our different destinations, including the following measures:
  • Preferring ground transport over air transport for short-haul travel destinations.
  • Avoiding in-destination flights as much as possible.
  • Using appropriate vehicle sizes for group sizes and purchasing most efficient vehicles available.
  • Grouping activities and accommodation in less distance at the same day, to reduce displacements.
• Caribbean Tours AG endeavours – and has a system in place – to measure and compensate for the unavoidable GHG emissions produced from transportation.

• Caribbean Tours AG only works with accommodations that adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.
• In the accommodation selection process, Caribbean Tours AG considers the sustainability practices of an accommodation by taking into account their sustainability management and social and environmental footprint.
• Caribbean Tours AG favours the selection of accommodations that respect and protect land use, as well as respectfully highlight elements of local architecture, customs and traditions.

• Caribbean Tours AG only works with excursion providers that adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.
• All excursions and activities run by or on behalf of Caribbean Tours AG respect local customs, traditions, cultural integrity, and natural resources.
• Caribbean Tours AG commits to not offering any excursions that harm humans, wildlife, environment, or natural resources such as water and energy.
• Caribbean Tours AG gives preference to excursions and activities that benefit local communities, respect animal welfare and support environmental protection.
• Caribbean Tours AG has clear guidelines in place for environmentally and culturally sensitive excursions offered by or on behalf of the company. These guidelines are actively communicated to guests as well as distributed and implemented by excursion providers and guides.

• Caribbean Tours AG commits to hiring qualified local guides, porters, drivers or other local staff, paying them living wages and providing safe and fair working conditions. We expect the same from our suppliers that are hiring local staff on behalf of Caribbean Tours AG.
• Caribbean Tours AG understands that guides are the intermediaries between the guests and the socio-cultural and environmental context of the destination, conveying the appropriate behavior to them. Therefore, we make sure that all guides hired by or leading tours on behalf of Caribbean Tours AG are trained regularly and knowledgeable in the sustainability topics of the destination.
• Our guides are specifically trained on the critical issue of sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
• Caribbean Tours AG provides guides with learning opportunities on sustainability topics.

Sustainable destinations

• Caribbean Tours takes care of improving the minimum working conditions by law for local staff hired at the destination.
• Caribbean Tours aims to send visitors to secondary or lesser-known tourist areas to avoid overtourism.
• Caribbean Tours takes care of implementing and training around us, sustainable tourism practices.

Contribution to local communities / local economic network

• Caribbean Tours AG commits to positive contribution to the destinations in which we operate, by:
  • Sourcing locally and responsibly, and supporting local and traditional arts and culture.
  • Encouraging guests to shop responsibly and educating them about illegal/prohibited/forbidden souvenirs.
  • Collaborating with other local tourism stakeholders [including local government, other tourism businesses, academia, community groups] to further the sustainable tourism development of the destination.
  • Respecting and advocating for all human rights (i.e. children’s rights, women’s rights, labour rights, etc.) as well as land right.

Environmental stewardship in destinations

• Caribbean Tours AG commits to environmental stewardship in the destinations in which we operate by:
  • Ensuring natural resources remain intact.
  • Educating guests about the principles of responsible travel and responsible visitor behaviour.

Privacy

• Our customer protection is our priority. Therefore, we maintain a clear privacy policy to ensure:
  • Legal compliance in all regards.
  • Customers and their data are protected.
  • Customers know how their information is being used.

Marketing and communication

• Caribbean Tours AG strives to be truthful in all situations and at all times.
• We offer products and services that do what we claim in our communications.
• We honour our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.
• We are anti-greenwashing and stand behind our sustainability claims 100%.
• We endeavour to be inclusive and representative in our marketing, and to always take into account cultural, religious, and ethnic sensitivities.

Sustainability communication

• Customers are informed about the social and environmental impact of their journey, and are educated about the sustainable choices they can make, including transparent communication on:
  • Certified accommodations.
  • Compensation of their trips CO2 emissions.
  • Activities and excursions that benefit the local communities and environmental protection.
  • Responsible shopping and illegal souvenirs.
  • Closed season to not consume fish and shellfish as well as prohibited animals.

Customer experience

• Caribbean Tours AG aims for all customer experiences to be positive, and follows strict health and safety, marketing, and excursion policies to ensure customer satisfaction. These policies cover specific topics of (but not limited to):
  • Health and safety.
  • Emergency procedures.
  • Privacy Group numbers.
  • Greenhouse Gas emissions and offsetting.
  • Transport.
  • Shopping.
  • Sexual exploitation.
  • Children in tourism.
  • Satisfaction and complaints.
• Caribbean Tours AG maintains open lines of communication with our customers and encourages feedback at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

All staff are responsible for the ownership and undertaking of this policy.

All staff are responsible for the promotion and implementation of this sustainability policy within their departments.

The implementation of this policy will be lead by the Sustainability Coordinator, who can be reached at sustainability.coordinator@caribbeantours.ch.

This policy is effective from August 1st 2023.

This policy was revised on August 1st, 2023.

This policy will be revised on June 30th, 2024.