Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy Of Hike’n Sail TÜRKİYE

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Our Mission

Our mission is to support a sustainable society and sustainable trade by supporting all stakeholders toward greater sustainability awareness. We aim to do this by minimizing and mitigating negative impacts on the natural environment and by being an active contributor to our local community and society at large.

Hike’n Sail is dedicated to the role of creating awareness of sustainable living and practicing the fundamentals of sustainability tourism by reducing carbon footprint, the use of plastics, promoting local industries and local products, providing a democratic environment for staff, rejecting gender stereotypes, respecting other’s faith, protecting wildlife and stray animals.

 Sustainability Commitment

Hike’n Sail Turkey leadership is wholly committed to the company’s sustainability performance and endorses the company’s sustainability mission statement and policy.

We will use the Travelife platform to report on our sustainability progress and to monitor and evaluate progress. We are committed to (publicly) communicating our sustainability performance (by means of the Travelife report) every two years.

Sustainability Management & Legal Compliance

Hike’n Sail Turkey commits to continuous improvement of sustainability practices, including the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of our sustainability policy, with dedicated personnel and resources to achieve our sustainability goals.

Hike’n Sail Turkey follows all local, regional, national, and international regulations as they relate to human resources, human rights, children’s rights, land rights, environmental management, wildlife, and land use. We follow a strict Code of Ethics, including a zero-tolerance policy for corruption, bribery, forced labor, and discrimination.

Internal Management: Social policy & Human rights

Employees

  • We recognize that our employees are our biggest asset for delivering meaningful travel experiences to our customers. Therefore, we maintain a clear human resource policy to ensure:
  • Legal compliance in all regards
  • A safe, healthy, and welcoming workplace
  • Fair contract conditions including fair compensation
  • Training opportunities including training on topics of sustainability, sexual harassment, and exploitation in the workplace and the industry
  • Participation in the sustainability planning activities
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey supports both career-related and job-related professional development activities.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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, or religion.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey is committed to fostering a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace/work culture where all employees can perform their duties/recognize their potential.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey is committed to a zero-tolerance policy for acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights, including forced labor, human trafficking, and all rights of children.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey further expects this commitment from all partners and suppliers.

Internal Management: Environment

  • Environmental management of office operations
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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. Favor sustainable suppliers and products, whenever these are available and of sufficient quality.
  • Practicing a waste hierarchical approach to always refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, 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 the use of any toxic or hazardous substances.

Carbon management of office operations

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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, makes it easier for employees to limit their carbon footprint by the use of eco modes of transportation.
  • Committing to offsetting our remaining direct and indirect carbon from travel and fossil energy use via Tomorrow’s Air.
  • Installing energy-efficient equipment and appliances.

Land use

Hike’n Sail Turkey offices are located in an urban area and abide by all local land use laws, respect local cultural and natural resources in our business operations, and favor sustainable architecture and design.

General Suppliers Policy

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey is committed to sourcing its 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.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey prefers to work with partners that share the company’s commitment to 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.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey prefers to work with suppliers in 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, Hike’n Sail Turkey prefers to select partner companies that comply with tourism-specific, internationally recognized (GSTC-accredited) certifications, or other sustainability certifications like B Corp or ISO.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey expects its suppliers to adhere to Our Code Of Conduct, which includes the following responsible business practices:
  • Complying with all local, regional, national, and international regulations
  • Respecting all human rights including labor 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 Hike’n Sail Turkey

Our complete Code Of Conduct is available here: [link to document/website].

  • Following a zero-tolerance policy, Hike’n Sail Turkey will immediately terminate any relationships with suppliers that violate Our Code Of Conduct, specifically through acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey raises awareness amongst its suppliers to adopt sound social and environmental practices, and to minimize their carbon footprint.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey maintains open lines of communication with our suppliers and partners and encourages feedback at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Transport

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey only works with transport providers that adhere to Hike’n Sail Turkey’s Code of Conduct.
  • When selecting transport for guests and business-related travel, Hike’n Sail Turkey commits to choosing the most environmentally friendly options available for traveling to, from, and within the destination – taking into consideration distance, price, route, and comfort.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey has implemented clear guidelines for reducing GHG emissions from transport and selecting the most environmentally friendly transport options, including the following measures:
  • Preferring ground transport over air transport for short-haul travel destinations
  • Avoiding in-destination flights as much as possible
  • Offering rail-and-fly transport to and from the airport
  • Using public transportation options at the destinations
  • Using appropriate vehicle sizes for group sizes and purchasing the most efficient vehicles available.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey endeavors – and has a system in place – to measure and compensate for the unavoidable GHG emissions produced by transportation. Compensation costs are either included by default in the package price or compensation is actively promoted to the clients as a booking option.

Accommodations

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey only works with accommodations that adhere to Hike’n Sail Turkey’s Code of Conduct.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey considers the sustainability practices of an accommodation by taking into account their sustainability management and social and environmental footprint.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey favors the selection of accommodations that respect and protect land use, as well as respectfully highlight elements of local architecture, customs, and traditions.
  • Our preferences towards accommodation decisions are as follows:1 -Local2 – Authentic architecture, local flavor, special location.3 – Certified as sustainable property.
  • Hike’n Sail is supporting the attempts, and initiatives to encourage the accommodations in the destination to get engaged with sustainability practises.

Activities & Excursions

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey only works with excursion providers that adhere to Hike’n Sail Turkey’s Code of Conduct.
  • All excursions and activities run by or on behalf of Hike’n Sail Turkey respect local customs, traditions, cultural integrity, and natural resources.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey commits to not offering any excursions that harm humans, wildlife, the environment, or natural resources such as water and energy.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey gives preference to excursions and activities that benefit local communities, respect animal welfare and support environmental protection.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey has clear guidelines/Codes of Conduct in place for environmentally and culturally sensitive excursions offered by or on behalf of Hike’n Sail Turkey. These guidelines are actively communicated to guests as well as distributed and implemented by excursion providers and guides.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey provides excursion and attraction providers opportunities for sustainability learning and management, including free access to the Travelife online learning and reporting platform.
  • Hike’n Sail is committed to the following criteria:

1 – Seek destination dispersal. Do not limit the experience with hotspots. Explore the less visited paths.

2 – Offer authentic experiences. Eat and cook with the locals. Be open to cultural diversity. Engage with the local culture, and folk arts.

3 – Train the guides and let the guides train the client to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the areas we visit. Be real.

4 – Avoid tourist traps and over-gentrified, over-commercialized tourist attractions.

5 – Avoid chain hotels and all-inclusive resorts.

Tour leaders, local representatives, and guides

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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 Hike’n Sail Turkey.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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 Hike’n Sail Turkey are trained regularly and knowledgeable in the sustainability topics of the destination.
  • Our guides are specifically trained on the critical issue of the sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey provides guides with learning opportunities on sustainability topics including providing free access to the Travelife online learning platform.

Destinations

Sustainable destinations

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey prefers to work in destinations that have committed to sustainability as an integral part of community and destination development.
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey aims to send visitors to secondary or lesser-known tourist areas to avoid over-tourism.

Contribution to local communities / local economic network

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey commits to a 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, and 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, labor rights, etc.) as well as land rights

Environmental stewardship in destinations

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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 behavior.

Customer communication and protection

Privacy

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

Marketing and communication

  • Hike’n Sail Turkey 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 honor our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.
  • We are anti-greenwashing and stand behind our sustainability claims 100%.
  • We endeavor 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 for their trip’s CO2 emissions
  • Activities and excursions that benefit the local communities and environmental protection
  • Responsible shopping and illegal souvenirs.

Customer experience

  • The company 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 are 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
  • Hike’n Sail Turkey maintains open lines of communication with our customers and encourages feedback at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Contact / Responsible person

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

All staff is responsible for the promotion and implementation of this sustainability policy within their departments. The implementation of this policy will be led by the Sustainability Coordinator, Liliana Rios Santana, who can be reached at sustainability@hikeandsail.com.

Effective date

 This policy is effective from April 1st, 2023.

Revision history

This policy was revised on March 12th, 2023 This policy will be revised by March 12th, 2023

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