We are absolutely delighted to announce we have been awarded the Green Tourism Gold award with flying colours! Our report accompanying the award stated:
“Overall you have done exceptionally well throughout the three columns People, Places and Planet. As to be expected you have done really well in the Health & wellbeing (100%), Destination (98%), Chemicals, Communication, and Travel (93%), Food & Drink (92%), and Experiences, (90%), criteria. This not only shows that you provide first class experiences but also care about your guests comfort and wellbeing whilst aboard. You also had high scores in Energy (84%), Water (83%) and Biodiversity (80%).”
Although we are reassured that we are doing well in terms of our green credentials, we are already planning more improvements, to be as sustainable as we possibly can be.
Coming soon:
- Our Plant a Tree initiative in connection with Trees for Life
- Our green initiative crew member, to monitor waste, energy and carbon on each vessel
- Influencing the installation of EV charging points with our parking partner,
Further work we are planning to undertake includes:
- Improving our carbon score. This requires collating our energy, water and fuel usage and Identifying emission sources
- Supporting a more socially-based charity or campaign
We would highly recommend any organisation to work with Green Tourism. Their technical experts offer excellent practical advice and lots of support. With their help, we were able to identify where we were doing well and what we still needed to do to be a truly sustainable tourism business.
We set off on 28 June from Oban for our ten days exploration of the Hebrides with the hope that we’d visit St Kilda. We did, and so much more. The crew (Chris (skipper), Alexa (wildlife guide), Pete (cook), Emma (bosun), were fantastic from the off. They effortlessly transported our mountain of luggage to our comfortable cabins which Emma kept spotless through the cruise, as well as looking after us on the rough crossing to St Kilda through to Caribbean strength G&Ts. Chris was a really good skipper. He sailed the boat well and did his best to find a route that best managed his passengers’ seafaring abilities, and he also had a ceremony to give homage to the Blue Men of the Minch! Pete’s amazing menus incorporated our requests – I’ll always remember his mussels on the first night, his haggis Scotch eggs, my mother’s clootie dumpling and much more – and we appreciated how he involved the kids (9 to 11) in the kitchen. Alexa (with Chris) magic’d up an amazing array of wildlife with huge enthusiasm and great knowledge. We became blasé about the number of dolphins we saw – I can best quote Chris “the weather and the wildlife sightings are some of the best I’ve known in almost 20 years”. The weather was fantastic which enabled us to land and explore Tobermory, Canna, Sanday, Taransay, Hirta (St. Kilda), Mingulay, Vatersay, Rum, Lunga (Treshnish Isles) and Loch Buie, as well as sailing past Neist Point (Skye), Boreray (St. Kilda), Monachs, Hellisay in the Sound of Barra, Eigg, Staffa, Ulva and Iona. The weather was so good we were able to swim off Sanday, Taransay, Mingulay and Vatersay, as well as enjoy the hot tub. This was a trip of a lifetime for us all. We were able to see so many places which have been specks on the horizon for so long. The cruise was magical and extra special. It’s given us memories to last a lifetime!
George Mitchell: 28 June 2018Private Charter 10 Nights