The People

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Recommendations

If you have not come to Absolut Travel through referrals you may wish for reassurance that we will meet your expectations of a service provider. All reputable companies should be members of the appropriate national and regional agencies of tourist operators.

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Ethics and Indigenous Peoples

We are aware that our customers are concerned with the ethical and environmental consequences of tourism and want to know what they can do to help. A general guide is to pay more for your trip. And don’t be fooled by plausible claims. There are now regulations in place that should guarantee a minimum wage for porters, cooks and guides. Absolut Travel has always paid a higher wage than this. We provide tents and sleeping equipment for our staff and the same food that you eat. Crucially, we do not deduct the cost of their permits from their wages. More than this, we promise to reinvest a minimum of 5% of our profits into the porters’ communities. If you want to be certain you are not exploiting local people, book with Absolut Travel. We are not the cheapest but we are the best.

Inca Explorers tackles the problem of tourist income flowing to urban centres by using rural people as much as possible on all of our treks, and by reinvesting our profits into their communities through various projects focused on the well being of the children.

This year, one of our clients donated money for us to distribute gifts and food at Christmas on his behalf to the rural communities of the Cusco region. Why not emulate this generous sentiment by contributing to our projects through sponsorship and appear in our projects page?

Absolut Travel are also encouraging the retention of artisan skills through the sale of products and the provision of participative vacations. This is not intended to turn people into a living exhibition, but instead to protect a living vital society from decay and destruction through recognising and encouraging their knowledge and creativity.

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Environment

Absolut Travel S.A.C. always operates a policy of not only removing our own waste materials, but we also run clean up walks on the most popular treks. These are charged at a reduced cost for customers who share our inclinations.

And we promote the care of the environment amongst the indigenous peoples too. To preserve the mountain ecosystems we use for our trips is of the highest importance to us. We hold meetings with local communities about conservation - for example, proper trash disposal, protection of native wildlife, and the importance of keeping agricultural fires under control.

"This is our home, and we want it to remain as fascinating and beautiful as it is for all the generations to come."

Fortunately, the issue of environmental impact by tourism on the classic Inca Trail to Machupicchu is now under stricter control (please see article in Daily Telegraph for further details). Once a year the trail is closed (in February) and a clean up undertaken. This is paid for, in part, by the permit charged for entry to the trail. Similar arrangements are also in place for the Santa Cruz trek in the Huascaran National Park (see our Inca Trail in Huaraz page). But the fact that these measures are still necessary, even though all treks on the Inca Trail to Machupicchu are now in guided groups, means that pollution is still occurring. Our guide and porters regularly report seeing events such as rubbish dumping and washing up in streams. So common sense suggests that the problem has not been solved completely. Therefore, it is important to choose a company whose environmental policy you can be sure of. If these issues are important to you then your choice of Inca Explorers will ensure that your concerns are taken care of. We operate to stringent standards that have always been ahead of the official regulations.

• Visit the Absolut Travel S.A.C. project page

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