INTI Tours mission statement: sustainable and value-oriented
INTI Tours is a member of the Forum Anders Reisen...
Sustainability in the company
The corporate mission statement of INTI Tours is subject to several guidelines according to which sustainable visions and values are communicated and tours are designed.
As a member of forum anders reisen e. V., an association of small and medium-sized tour operators, INTI Tours aims to promote and support sustainability in tourism. In doing so, compliance with the catalogue of criteria, which focuses on the environmental and social compatibility of travel offers, is observed.
The following five guidelines form the orientation for INTI Tours
- Long-term ecological sustainability of all activities
- Economic feasibility of all interactions
- Ethical and socially just tourism
- Conveyance of values and preservation of cultural heritage
- Tourism as a field of action for development cooperation
Long-term environmental sustainability of all activities
The clients of INTI Tours travel in an environmentally conscious way and use the locally already existing public, partly also private structures and means of transport typical for the country. The journey or the long-distance flight must also be in proportion to the trip. INTI Tours therefore recommends a stay of at least 2-3 weeks in host countries with a long flight journey. Business trips are almost exclusively undertaken by train.
INTI Tours stands for atmosfair and informs customers about the climate impact of the flight before departure. Customers can then donate a voluntary atmosfair contribution according to the CO2 emissions generated, which in turn is used for climate protection projects overseas. This is where climate gases can be saved most effectively.
As a member of the association Freunde Lateinamerikanischer Bahnen FLB/AIFFLA, INTI Tours is actively involved in the preservation and reconstruction of almost forgotten railway lines in order to make them attractive for rail tourism and its own customers. By booking a rail tour, customers actively contribute to the preservation of the still existing routes and thus secure jobs for entire families.
INTI Tours uses almost exclusively recycled paper for office materials, catalogues and paper. Customers can also find out about travel offers on the homepage. The booking of individual tours is possible via the internet. In general, environmentally friendly and fair-trade products and services are preferred.
Economic feasibility of all interactions
Special attention is paid to the pricing of individual tours.
The pricing of individual offers is not influenced due to competitive services. Our responsibility and competence in joint pricing with our partner agencies and project partners on site is in the foreground here. Fair payment and remuneration for professional performance on site and local value creation are our top priority. Our margin, which includes the offers of group and individual tours, allows us to remain competitive and to achieve a relatively high local added value. We consciously strive for slow, solid but steady growth in this regard. Despite the slump in the tourism industry in recent years and the still limited market share of sustainable travel compared to other regions, INTI Tours has been able to steadily develop and clearly position itself in the market as a specialist provider in this segment. INTI Tours was able to counteract the trend reversal, the decreasing interest of customers in group and package tours and the increasing market share of individual and tailor-made tours by specialising in this area and offering niche products.
Ethical and socially just tourism
INTI Tours organises all tours exclusively in cooperation with reliable and competent local partners. The tourism of each country is supported in a sustainable way.
The hotels are carefully selected, correspond to the architectural and cultural conditions of the country and it is important that the money earned remains in the respective country.
By signing the criteria of forum anders reisen e. V., INTI Tours commits to respect human rights, social standards, the core labour standards of the ILO standards and national environmental laws. INTI Tours stands for non-discrimination, Art. 169 (indigenous peoples), against exploitative child labour and for ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), the international organisation against child prostitution, child pornography and child trafficking.
INTI Tours stands for impeccable and ethically professional dealings with competitors. Instead of poaching clients or appropriating existing travel components, our approach is to exploit new ideas, market gaps and niche products. We avoid competition and instead strive for fairness and synergy effects with cooperating tourism companies. Developing and using synergies, mediating travel and promoting tourism in the individual regions with each other is our priority.
Conveying values and preserving cultural heritage
In the tours offered, the staff of INTI Tours are particularly concerned with stimulating intercultural communication and explaining and conveying culture-specific values and their significance, eliminating prejudices and contributing to international understanding. Cultural assets of the host countries have a current and important value within the small communities beyond their attractiveness for the tourism industry. Traditions are held on to and festivities and ceremonies are still celebrated there. The importance and respect of these important and still current values of the hosts are in the foreground. These should continue to exist regardless of the growing stream of tourism and not be destroyed. However, INTI Tours points out that every traveller has a special responsibility for the environment and the people in the destination country. Tourism inevitably influences the country, the culture and the life of the people. We ask our travellers to show respect and consideration for foreign cultures in order to protect the environment and the socio-cultural structures of the host countries. Togetherness is our priority. Each participant contributes to the success of the trip.
We travel in small groups of between 6 and 16 people or individually.
For us, travelling means - apart from the big metropolises - also and especially journeys through very remote areas with poor infrastructure. In return, we offer our clients an incredible variety of fascinating impressions of grandiose landscapes, very original peoples and a fascinating culture. The guided tours to cultural assets and cultural-historical sites are undertaken exclusively in cooperation with highly professional local tour guides. The local guides are local licensed and state-certified guides. Thus, on the one hand, the historical and historic facts and circumstances are explained and, at the same time, the present is authentically conveyed.
Authenticity is also emphasised in the selection of hotels and restaurants. Food and dishes are adapted to the respective region.
INTI Tours organises cultural events at which traditional features such as dance, music, exhibitions, slide shows and culinary specialities are presented. The aim is to stimulate cultural exchange, curiosity and the desire to travel to distant countries.
Tourism as a field of action in developme
In cooperation with development cooperation organisations, INTI Tours regularly carries out development policy public relations work at schools, in companies, at associations or interest groups and in communities. By imparting information, these events aim at raising awareness for the special situation in other regions of the world and promote the sensitisation for people from other cultural backgrounds.
The development and sustainable building of the local tourism economy means a lucrative source of income and a strong economic sector for the host countries. Tourism geared towards sustainability helps to strengthen structures, especially in remote areas, and to offer local communities an economic alternative, thus counteracting the disintegration of socio-cultural heritage and preventing the population from migrating to urban areas. With extreme caution and under the premise of sustainability, INTI Tours is involved in the development and implementation of sustainable new tourism approaches and concepts in the various regions and countries. Often, development cooperation projects are linked with tourism here.
During the project and study trips, projects are directly promoted on site and support is initiated to help people help themselves.