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.
![chef ali at te koi lodge garden for Slow Eco Travel in New Zealand](https://guestnewzealand.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/host-Ali-at-te-koi-lodge-nelson-tasman.jpg)
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 road south island](https://guestnewzealand.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/travelling-the-west-coast-road-south-island.jpg)
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.
![travel new zealand with a tesla](https://guestnewzealand.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/travelling-with-an-electric-car-in-new-zealand-1024x768.jpg)
Using alternative ways of carbon emission friendly transport in New Zealand.
C – Offset Travel Impact:
- Calculated offsets will be invested in forward-thinking innovative technologies (Virtual Travel).
- We finance our offsets by only accepting bank payments (no credit cards). This saving fees for us and exchange rates for clients.
- Additional supporting nature projects – sample TreesThatCount.co.nz, Kea Conservation Trust and others.
![Big Sky Mt. Cook 360 Degree Planetarium](https://guestnewzealand.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/360-digital-dome-planetarium-800-x-630.jpg)
Credit: Big Sky Mt. Cook 360 Degree Planetarium
Summary on our regenerative commitment:
- Calculate each travel itinerary’s carbon impact, incl. flights √
- Calculate a dollar amount with the carbon emission in tons √
- Support NZ based conservation, wildlife and community projects √