Partner Agency Sustainability Policy

1. Introduction

At Where It All Began, sustainability and ethical practices are integral to our operations and values. Our commitment extends to our partnerships with travel agencies, as we aim to work with partners who align with our sustainability goals and share our dedication to responsible tourism. This policy outlines our approach to selecting new partner agencies, supporting them in implementing sustainability principles, and evaluating their progress.

2. Partner Agency Selection Criteria

1. Alignment with Our Target Audience: Our target audience comprises travelers aged 40 and above who are physically active and seek adventurous experiences in Southern Africa. New partner agencies must demonstrate that their product offerings and client profiles align with this demographic. This ensures that our partnerships are mutually beneficial and enhance the travel experiences of our shared clientele. 
2. Sustainability and Ethical Practices: We assess potential partner agencies based on their commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. Key factors include: 
   • Environmental impact reduction strategies.
   • Support for local communities and cultures. 
   • Ethical wildlife and nature conservation practices.
   • Efforts to minimize carbon footprints and waste.
3. Proven Track Record: We seek partner agencies with a proven track record of reliability, quality service, and positive client feedback. This includes evaluating their historical performance and reputation within the travel industry.

3. Creating Awareness and Supporting Implementation

1. Awareness and Training: We actively engage with our partner agencies to raise awareness about sustainability and ethical issues. This involves: 
   • Organizing workshops and training sessions on sustainable tourism practices. 
   • Providing resources and guidelines to help agencies understand and implement sustainability principles. 
   • Highlighting the environmental impact of each trip to the client through an emissions calculator on each invoice.
2. Sustainability Support: Where It All Began supports our partner agencies in integrating sustainability into their operations through: 
   • Offering guidance on best practices for reducing environmental impact, in particular choice of accommodation, transport, touring and dining suppliers.
   • Assisting with the development of sustainable product offerings and marketing materials.
   • Encouraging collaboration on initiatives that promote responsible tourism.
3. Monitoring and Evaluation: We regularly ask our partner agencies to update us on how they are adopting and enhancing their sustainability practices. 

4. Key Partner Agencies

Identification of Key Partners: Key partner agencies are those that significantly contribute to our total business turnover. Currently, our key partners include:

• African Eyes Travel
• Overton Travel
• Camissa Tours 

 These agencies collectively provide more than 80% of our business, making them critical to our operations and sustainability efforts.

5. Challenges in Bringing About More Sustainable Practices in Our Key Partners

Two of our key partners, being African Eyes Travel and Overton Travel, have explicitly asked us to remove carbon costing from our invoices, saying that they are not prepared to either pay the costs themselves as a company nor pass them on to their customers.  The climate at both partner agencies is very hostile to sustainability initiatives, even just the recording of climate impact on the journeys that we design for them.

Our third partner, Camissa Tours, is a small black-owned company which is in principle interested in being more sustainable but lacks the budget to do so.

We’d be interested in hearing about some examples from other Travelife partners about how we can best approach our key partners in improving their sustainability.