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 thought the itinerary was well chosen for a varied experience. While sailing near the coastline, the scenery was fabulous of course. When out of sight of land, we were all more intent on spotting birds & cetaceans & Rob was always keen to slow down & manoeuvre to give us the best possible view Some of the landings were a little tricky but all well worth it & we all eventually mastered the art of donning life jackets & boarding the tender. Rob always managed to find us sheltered anchorages, often with views of white-tailed eagles & seals. His local knowledge meant that he could amend the itinerary to suit weather conditions. Although we were unable to land on the Flannan Isles as planned, Rob added in a visit to the Shiants, which more than made up for it. Lynsey has a huge knowledge of wildlife & geology & an amazing ability for spotting cetaceans at a distance. Craig always got us ashore safely & used his experience of the area so suggest suitable walks. For anyone who loves Scotland, has an interest in wildlife, enjoys good food & has even an average amount of fitness & mobility, I’d say “Go for it but make sure you pack clothing for all weathers!"
Jeff Bamforth: 15 June 2021Far-flung islands: Harris, Taransay & the Flannan Isles