Sustainability Policy

Tesfa Tours Mission Statement:-

It is our mission to deliver inspirational holidays to our clients that minimise environmental impact and maximise the benefit to local communities and businesses. We aim to give clients an experience of the “Real Ethiopia” – that is off the beaten track and into the villages. All holidays should reflect the interests of our clients and be fun, enjoyable experiences recognising that this is our clients holiday.

Tesfa Tours Sustainability Statement:-

Tesfa Tours will not sell any trip that it believes to be significantly detrimental to the environment or communities. Instead we will seek ways to make trips more sustainable. We recognise that not all customers are seeking the same level of sustainability in their trip, but we will always look for ways to reduce environmental impact, improve conservation activities, and to improve impacts with local communities and the local economy. At the same time we commit to strive to be a cleaner, fairer, and more sustainable company with our own internal actions, and by influencing those around us. This is born out of a realisation that unless globally there is a renewed commitment and success in massively reducing consumption, waste and emissions the climate emergency will over take us all increasing global poverty and causing untold hardship, suffering and loss of biodiversity.

Sustainability coordination:-

Tesfa Tours has a sustainability Coordinator who is be responsible for:

• Implementation of the sustainability policy and action plan;
• Travelife reporting on Sustainability;
• Contact for Travelife regarding trainings and collective actions;
• Dissemination of sustainability information within the organisation.

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However sustainability is the business of every member of staff, and each staff member is expected to contribute with ideas and effort. Sustainability has the full support and commitment of the management of Tesfa Tours. The sustainability policy of the company will undergo continual evolution as we strive to be better and better affect the world around us. We recognise that this is a learning process in which we will learn from others and modify and adapt our policy and our actions. We embrace the ideas and efforts of all who will help us towards our goal of delivering the most sustainable tourism products that we can realistically do.

Staff:

The management of Tesfa Tours is committed to make the work environment healthy for all employees in the organisation.
Freedom of association is respected and staff will not be hindered from joining trade unions or similar bodies.
The company intends to contribute to medical insurance for all employees [once income becomes available after the 2020/2021 loss of business].
Employees have the right to a fixed yearly paid holiday as per the labour law of Ethiopia.
The company ensures that people are not discriminated against in regards to recruitment, conditions of employment, access to training and senior positions, advancement in terms of residentship, gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion/beliefs, sexual orientation or in any other way.

Social Sustainability:

Social responsibility is at the core of a Tesfa Tours holiday with the community treks designed to give the communities a pride in their own culture. Tesfa Tours puts the host communities in decision making positions, they are empowered to conserve their own culture and Tesfa Tours is dedicated in promoting indigenous communities and their culture.

Economic  Sustainability:

Tesfa Tours will always promote locally owned or guided tourism products over that owned by foreign investors or big businesses from Addis Ababa. It is however noted that there are some investors who have improved the quality of service provision and are exemplary employers, working closely with the local community. Such investors are considered an asset to the country and Tesfa Tours actively works in partnership with them. This apart, Tesfa Tours seeks where possible, to work with local guides, locally owned hotels who employ local people or those who work closely with the community, and local transport providers.
Tesfa Tours has a big focus on marketing and promoting the unique community-owned and run treks (Tesfa Treks) in four locations in Ethiopia, whereby income and employment is put directly in local hands. This product is presented to all clients who could be interested in it. We continue to explore the options for extending the sites we offer to other locations of Ethiopia where we again will use local people as guides.

Environmental Sustainability:

Tesfa Tours is committed to finding ways to tackle the climate emergency and believes that every action counts, and that through a steady increase in individuals actions the world can tackle climate change.

Each individual has to take an increasing level or responsibility and on a weekly basis ‘up their game’. As a business Tesfa Tours also has to do this, and it must take a lead with its staff and in showing its clients more sustainable options. It is not a process that we believe will stop as we continually need to struggle to get closer to zero emissions.

Planting Trees and Carbon Offsetting:

Tesfa Tours believes that planting trees is one important component of working to reduce carbon emissions and fighting the climate emergency. However we do not believe that the off-set programs, meant to compensate for the carbon burned on flights can be paid off by merely paying someone else to plant trees. As a result Tesfa Tours does not promote a carbon offset programme. Nevertheless as a company we will pledge to plant trees each year in the rainy season. Initially we will plant further trees at the 25 guesthouses & 5 lunch stop locations that Tesfa Tours supports [Some guesthouses are inaccessible this year due to civil strife so it will be 19 guesthouses]. More than 200 trees will be planted in June/July with the onset of the rainy season. We will explore other ways to increase sustainable tree planting where we can ensure that the trees are looked after and survive. Trees should be mostly indigenous species, and researched for efficient carbon sequestration, without negative environmental effects. We also will plant trees in Wof Washa forest to compensate for those burned in a fire in March/ April 2021. Tree planting in ways in which we can be sure that they are looked after and allowed to grow into mature trees, in places where they would not otherwise be planted will be an annual commitment. (We have done this before but not as an annual work).

Other ways to improve environmental sustainability

1/ Improving the sustainability of the basic package:-

We will offer clients options to make their package more sustainable including :-

• Reduced local flights, instead substituting with vehicle transfer.
• Reducing use of more polluting vehicles, so using a minibus instead of a land-cruiser when practical. Or in town using local public transport instead of large tour vehicles. Additionally increasing trekking component and reducing vehicle supported component.
• Using locally owned hotels instead of big chain hotels, and using hotels that are working with us and with the local community to improve their sustainability. Also using locally owned vehicles where appropriate.
• Using community-owned accommodation or product wherever it is possible.
• Increasing the trekking component (treks not supported by vehicles)
• Elements of the package that are more sustainable will be highlighted – for example catching a train to Dire Dawa rather than a local flight; or sustainable accommodation and this will be highlighted as a high level sustainable option. Some carbon information will be provided detailing the carbon cost of a particular item. This will be made clearer on our website to help and encourage clients to pick more sustainable options.

2/ Offering specific Low Carbon packages to clients using a mix of walking, reduced road transfers,  or a maximum of one local flight, vegan meal options available.

3/ Working with the industry and particular suppliers to be more aware and of sustainability issues and to make improvements to their product.

4/ Looking at zero plastic water bottle use:

• We ask clients to bring alternative technologies to provide plastic free drinking water – by bringing their own reusable water bottles and water filtration systems. Currently we lend people a water filter (we have two available at this time);
• Urging suppliers not to provide plastic bottled water, or at least to use large 2 litre bottles instead of the bottles with less than 1 litre. We also look at using reusable 20 litre flagons of water for trips which have a vehicle ;
• With partner companies and the Tour Operators association, working to improve best practice across the country : for example pushing authorities to ban bottled water in parks and conservation areas.
• Seeking alternative solutions to provide safe drinking water for tourists

 

Mainstreaming sustainability in our internal practices:-

Zero plastic in the office
We will provide water in the office having glasses and encouraging staff to fill their own bottles. We recognise that it is not just plastic bottles and will also work to stop using plastic bags. In provision of sandwiches to clients we are committed to use lunch boxes and not plastic cling film or foil.In all of these measures it is vital that staff understand and are committed to the logic, and participate in spreading the concept beyond the company.

Reduce printing, increase sustainable measures to reduce carbon footprint and reduce paper waste.
We will use economic printing mode, reduce what we print, use two sides of the paper where practical, stop printing photos and unnecessary black areas, recycle and refill cartridges. We will share documents and files on google drive as much as is possible, however with the risk of internet interruption hard files need to be created for tourist trips once confirmed and paid.

We will endeavour to source sustainably produced paper for the printer, at the same time educating our suppliers.

Promotional printed material
Tesfa Tours will use recycled paper for printing of promotional material from 2021 onwards unless there is a very compelling reason that this can not be done. In which case a memo will need to be put on file explaining this reason.

Recycling paper
We use a paper recycler who picks up paper from the office once we have enough to be worth the journey.

Reduced driving for admin/office purposes.
Coordinating journeys so that a driver performs many tasks along the way. We are also trying to implement payment directly into suppliers’ bank accounts rather than having to physically go to make payment to their office, and receipts can be collected in a slower time.

Sustainable purchasing.
A sustainable purchasing policy will be followed to make sure that considerations of sustainability are properly added to the price and quality type of considerations.

• Value for money considerations such as, price, quality, availability, functionality.
• The entire life cycle of products: are they sustainably produced or made from recycled materials/products.
• Environmental aspects; the effects on the environment that the assets, supplies and/or services have over the whole lifecycle (“green procurement”).
• Social aspects: effects on issues such as poverty eradication, inequality in the distribution of resources, labour conditions, human rights, fair-trade.

Transport policy
Staff are encouraged to use public transport (which is normal in Addis Ababa) or car pool. Currently two of our full time office staff come in with a driver who lives near to them. Tesfa Tours changed its regulation to allow the driver to park an office car at home to pick staff on his way in to work.

Tesfa Tours policy is to encourage staff to use either public transport or share transport where possible. It is also the policy to use the vehicle with the lowest fuel consumption that is appropriate for the journey. As a company we will consider incentives and measures to ensure that staff use the most sustainable options that are practical and safe taking into account COVID and security concerns.