Responsible travel
Since the first steps of founding the company our key aspiration is to create a socially and environmentally responsible business and promote sustainable tourism in the Baltic States. We offer high quality services and create authentic travel experiences that contribute to the promotion of a sustainable lifestyle including the 3 pillars of sustainability: Socio-Cultural, Economic and Environmental.
To achieve these goals we constantly scrutinise each aspect of our business: how we operate our core business; how we design and run trips. Not only do we follow the guidelines and maintain standards, we are actively seeking ways to improve ourselves and make a positive impact.
Our Socio-Cultural commitment:
Local communities are a part of our club! We stay in the best homesteads, meet local crafters, support traditions and work closely with local communities.
We spent a lot of time finding local crafters, getting to know them, their stories, traditions and work specifics. Now we are glad to say we know a lot of wonderful people who can share their own experiences in the Baltic states. Local sauna-men, fishermen, local chefs and guides. Wherever possible we try to include local services – from family owned guesthouses, homemade traditional meals to various experiences. We believe that no one could tell the stories better than locals and working with them is the best way to show the traveller an authentic insight of our everyday life.
Our Economic commitment:
Local community support. We have no doubt that local insight is the best perspective to see the culture. If you really want to see a new country, it’s not enough to go there and see all the must-sees. That’s why our tours aren’t about visiting all popular shiny places and churches you can see in every flyer about Lithuania. It’s about getting to know local people, craftsmen who can show You the real face of our beautiful country. Of course, we always give suggestions for our travellers to visit as many as possible small boutiques where they can find souvenirs handmade by locals.
Local guides, accommodation, food venues and experiences – which not only helps the local economy but makes our trips more compelling
Reducing over-tourism. We always keep in touch with local neighbourhoods and try to combine local projects to our tours with the goal taking some pressure off over-crowded cities, reducing the damage deriving from mass tourism, and of spreading the wealth to other beautiful but less known sites.
Our Environmental commitment:
Small Groups. By creating small group tours and using local guides, we proceed carefully to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
Wildlife and Biodiversity. We believe that wild animals should live in their natural surroundings, not in the zoos, so we never go there, nor recommend it to our guests. However, we love nature and enjoy every possibility to know it. One of our ways is to visit local farms and find another, friendly way to delve into nature (for example try to milk a cow). Or join a birdwatching and nature conservation tours where you will not only have a chance to see the native wildlife species in a non-intrusive way and learn about local fauna and flora.
Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. We start tackling waste problems with our personal everyday lives – by reducing consumption, reusing what we can reuse and recycling what’s left.
In our office operations we are almost paperless – technology now allows us to sign most contracts online with a certified e-signature which we happily use. Most of our tour documentation and traveller information pack is provided in pdf and sent to our customers by email. If we still have to print something, we print on both sides or use a clean side for notes later on. The printer cartridge is always refilled instead of buying a new one.
For our office lighting we use LED energy saving bulbs.
We always bring our lunch boxes to work with homemade food or sometimes even cook a hearty meal in our fully equipped kitchen and share the joy together, so we never use single use plastics.
We have our own branded canvas bags, so we never use plastic bags.
We promote active lifestyle and try to use less transport, so we walk to the office or use public transport instead of arriving by car.
Water. Our tap water is actually good and tasty, so we always drink tap water and of course each of us has reusable bottles. We always promote this habit for our travellers.
Launched by the UN in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outline a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, strengthen universal peace, and limit climate change. Travel Addicts identified and focuses on working towards four key UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Goal 05. Gender equality
Tourism can empower women in many ways, but particularly through the creation of jobs and income generating opportunities in small and larger-scale tourism and hospitality-related enterprises.
Actions Travel Addicts is taking to reach the goal:
Travel Addicts has committed to gender equality in its business and operations. 50% of company owners and decision makers are women and the office is run by female employees.
Our tours are run equally by female and male tour leaders and guides.
We are planning to offer women-only tours and experiences.
We are setting ambitious targets and examining our supply chain to identify opportunities to support more female-owned businesses.
Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth
Tourism is one of the driving forces of global economic growth and before the pandemic, accounted for one in every 10 jobs worldwide. With decent work opportunities in the tourism sector, society – particularly youth and women – can benefit from increased skills and professional development. Tourism is a job creator and can reduce poverty and help economies to grow.
Actions Travel Addicts is taking to reach the goal:
Travel Addicts is committed to creating inclusive and safe workplaces for all employees, contractors and other stakeholders. Employees are provided with training and learning possibilities to improve competencies.
In 2020 two staff members finished the Tourism business management study program and one received a certificate in Responsible travel management.
Our supply chain is made up mostly of locally-owned businesses that reflect our values.
Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities
A city that is not good for its citizens is not good for tourists. Sustainable tourism has the potential to advance urban infrastructure and universal accessibility, promote regeneration of areas in decay and preserve cultural and natural heritage – all assets upon which tourism depends.
Actions Travel Addicts is taking to reach the goal:
In line with one of the aims of this goal to strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage, Travel Addicts actively develops product in less
heavily visited cities and destinations. This aims to reduce pollution and overcrowding and preserve culturally and ecologically significant sites and bring economical value to remote locations and communities.
We do not use single-use plastic on our tours.
On our self drive tours we offer the option to use electrical or hybrid rental cars.
Part of our tours include sustainable transport options – such as travelling by train or intercity coaches.
Goal 13. Climate action
Tourism stakeholders should play a leading role in the global response to climate change. By reducing its carbon footprint, in the transport and accommodation sector, tourism can benefit from low carbon growth and help tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Actions Travel Addicts is taking to reach the goal:
Travel Addicts has accepted the science that we have one decade to act on climate change.
We have already taken actions to reduce our environmental impact in business operations by going paperless, using energy saving lights bulbs in the office, refusing single use plastic and drinking tap water, reducing personal car usage and offering sustainable transport options for our tours.
We prepared two sustainable tours in 2020.
We understand that this is only a small step towards big goal so we committed to further reduce our carbon footprint by these actions:
Obtain Travelife Partner certificate for tour operators by mid 2023.
Increase the number of sustainable trips offered to our clients.
Create Travel Addicts Foundation supporting local community projects and environmental initiatives in the Baltic states.
Become carbon neutral business by the end of 2024.
Become climate positive by 2028.