Our Philosophy of Sustainable Polar Traveling

Did you know that the travel sector is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions? At Polartours we are proud to be the first Polar expedition cruise agency to offset all CO2 emissions (also known as the "carbon footprint") caused by our trips. We offer this service for free on all our cruises booked from February 2019. The amount of CO2 for each trip will vary, depending on the cruise length, the ship type and on whether flights were included in our offer or not. Typically, a cruise will emit around 0.3 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Your entire trip will be 100% offset by an international Gold Standard project (flight, hotel, excursions, etc.). Together with the help of our CO2 consulting agency Wecologic, we purchased CO2 certificates of ACT, a climate protection project in China. This project supplies 70,979 MWh of electricity from renewable sources to the southern Chinese power grid without emitting any greenhouse gases.

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.

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.