Our Philosophy of Sustainable Polar Traveling

A portion of your trip price goes toward Ventura’s Conservation Project, an initiative of the V Social Foundation launching in 2024. The conservation project will work with local people to give them ownership of their territory, protect the environment through reforestation and regeneration efforts, and prepare the community for taking over control of the project within five years. So, your trip contributes to environmental protection and truly shows how travel can be a force for good! Together, we’re developing something really special. Stay tuned for more details about how you are part of making a difference through tourism.

The VSocial foundation's first commitment already took place during the first Viventura trips in 2001. In 2005, vSocial was officially recognized. The vision of this foundation is to bring positive change in the communities we support by encouraging people to benefit from sustainable tourism. The goal is to strengthen communities, preserve their cultural richness and accompany them on the path to self-management. Ventura TRAVEL supports the VSocial foundation every year with more than €120,000. For this, a donation of 25 € is included in the price of each tour of our brands. Our travelers also have the opportunity to visit several projects during their trips to specific destinations.

Through sustainable travel planning, we try to avoid domestic flights as much as possible during our travels. In addition, the majority of our trips have a minimum duration of 14 days and the group size is limited to a maximum of 15 participants. Clients stay mainly in family-run, middle-class hotels. Travelers and the local population are informed about environmental protection measures. Local tour guides receive annual training on topics such as country knowledge, first aid training, environmental protection and social commitment. In addition, our local partners, with whom we encourage long-term contracts, are called upon to constantly develop their services in a sustainable, socially and environmentally friendly manner. And we monitor the emissions caused by flights and services at the destination, and we continually strive to minimize them.

Respect for human rights in tourism is a major concern. As an active member of the Round Table on Human Rights in Tourism for many years, we verify that for all our trips, our partners respect the legal provisions in terms of wages and employment, especially for young people. We also support the "Don't look away" campaign, which aims to protect children in their vacation destinations from sexual abuse and exploitation.

Viventura, the South American specialist of Ventura TRAVEL, is the proud winner of the sustainability award Fairwärts with its trip "viActive Ecuador Galapagos". The trip was awarded as an innovative and sustainable travel offer, focusing on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030. The award is organized by the non-profit organization kate Environment & Development in cooperation with Tourcert. The project is supported by Engagement Global on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

As a sustainable tour operator, we are certified by Tourcert and undergo a detailed review of all business areas every 2 years. TourCert GmbH is a non-profit organization for certifications in tourism and has set itself the task of promoting ecological, social and economic corporate responsibility in tourism.

The Forum Anders Reisen e.V. is an association of travel companies that are committed to sustainable tourism. The travel experiences offered by their members are oriented towards people and environment, use local resources carefully and purposefully and treat foreign cultures with respect. The forum Anders Reisen was founded in 1998 and has around 130 members.