What do we mean by 'Slow' & Regenerative Travel?

Slow Travel – Goals & Objectives

Travel is all about people, places and experiences. As a business we want to do the right thing to protect our environment, wildlife and social structures. What should be done to achieve a more sustainable & meaningful tourism?

• People: limit numbers and match facilities available at local communities.
• Places: reduce excessive travelling by staying longer at each location.
• Experiences: reduce, measure and offset carbon-emissions, incl. int.flights.

Your local host Ali at Te Koi Lodge in the Nelson-Tasman region.

What we do to support ‘Slow Travel’?

A – Reducing Travel Impact:

• Reduce travel impact in tons by 7.5% every year through Hybrid Travel.
• Limit locations that visitors actually travel to and therefore less milage.
• Stay longer (at least 3 nights) at each location for less environmental impact.
• Use of electric or hybrid or public transport wherever possible while travelling.
• Recommending accommodation & tours with the highest sustainability standards.
• Free research access to the Virtual Journeys VR/360 tour & experience library.
• Less tourism hot spots. Enable visitors to better experience local culture & sites.
• Maximum number of travel files per annum. Limits over peak months (Jan-Mar). 
• Embrace technology to avoid use of packaging (e.g. using travel app).

Travelling the West Coast Coastal road in the South Island

B – Measure Travel Impact:

• Itinerary: we calculated each itinerary on its carbon impact (stays, transport, tours).
• By using an average for all service & taking into account operators own measures.
• Accommodation: on an average of 14 kg per night per room.
• Domestic & int. Flights: use SustainableTravel.org calculator per person.
• Rental cars and Transportation: 150 grams per kilometre travelled per vehicle.
• Tours: on average depending on type of activity, fuel used, milage, per person.
• Excluded are emissions already offset by hotel, transport and tour operations.

Using alternative ways of carbon emission friendly transport in New Zealand.

C – Offset Travel Impact:

• Travellers carbon emissions will be offset through Guest NZ.
• Showcase our travellers total carbon impact annually (starts June 2023)
• We finance through not accepting credit card payments and saving high fees.
• Supporting nature projects – sample TreesThatCount.co.nz.
• Supporting local conservation projects – sample Kea Conservation Trust.
• Investing in forward-thinking innovative technologies – sample CarbonFix.

Big Sky Mt. Cook 360 Degree Planetarium

Summary on our regenerative commitment:

1. Calculate each travel itinerary’s carbon impact, incl. flights √
2. Calculate a dollar amount with the carbon emission in tons √
3. Support NZ based conservation, wildlife and community projects √

View Amazing Travel Itineraries