1. Sustainability Management and Legal Compliance

Amazing Asia Tours commits to corporate social responsibility by:

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to upholding human rights by: 

• Not hindering union membership, collective labor negotiations, or union representation;
• Complying with sector-wide collective labor bargaining structures;
• Not discriminating in recruitment, employment terms, access to training, advancement, or promotion based on gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation;
• Providing equal opportunities and access for all employees to resources and opportunities for personal development through regular training and education.

3. Internal Management: Environment and Community Relations

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to environmental and community relations by:

• Actively reducing single-use items;
• Giving preference to sustainable goods and services, office and catering supplies, gifts, and merchandise;
• Buying products in bulk to reduce packaging;
• Defaulting copier and printer settings to duplex printing, but aiming to avoid printing where possible;
• Offering brochures online to save on paper and shipping costs;
• Actively measuring and reducing energy consumption;
• Turning off all lights and equipment when not in use;
• Preferring energy-efficient appliances for new purchases;
• Implementing active policies to reduce water usage in offices;
• Complying with national waste disposal laws;
• Setting goals and implementing measures for waste reduction and recycling;
• Taking steps to reduce packaging and avoid non-recyclable or non-biodegradable materials;
• Using reusable cups, cutlery, and plates in the office;
• Avoiding plastic bottles in the office;
• Separating recyclable materials and organizing their collection;
• Refilling ink cartridges and toners for reuse and/or returning empty cartridges to suppliers;
• Recycling or correctly disposing of batteries;
• Complying with national wastewater treatment laws;
• Minimizing harmful substance use and replacing them where possible;
• Contributing to the protection and preservation of local historical, archaeological, cultural, and spiritually significant features of destinations, without restricting access for local residents.

4. Partners

Based on a review of key partners, Amazing Asia Tours has developed and implemented a policy to improve the sustainability practices of partners, aiming to make sustainable development tangible for each partner within our business.

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to:

• Prioritizing partnerships with organizations that genuinely implement sustainability;
• Raising awareness of sustainable tourism and its impacts;
• Informing partners about Travelife sustainability standards and national tourism standards and laws;
• Signing a memorandum of understanding with partners to encourage sustainable practices;
• Evaluating main partners’ sustainability practices to ensure they operate sustainably;
• Informing partners about Amazing Asia Tours’ sustainability policy and expectations for compliance;
• Motivating partners to attend sustainability training;
• Including clauses in partner contracts that allow premature termination if the partner fails to prevent child sexual exploitation;
• Ensuring partners comply with all relevant national laws that protect employee rights.

5. Transport

Amazing Asia Tours strives to lower the average pollution level as transportation is a significant aspect of sustainable tourism.

• Where possible, we do not fly domestically. This depends not only on us, but also on customer preferences. And sometimes also on the possible alternatives.
• Over longer distances, we often opt for the (night) train. Fortunately, this is a choice that also pleases many travellers.
• For tours, transport from one location to another, or from an airport to the hotel, we try to combine as many traveller groups as possible.
• In urban areas, we encourage clients to travel by public transport, such as in Bangkok by boat, skytrain or metro.
• In some cities, a start has been made on electric taxis. This is obviously our preference, but is still limited in availability. We count on this becoming a regular choice in the near future. 

6. Accommodations

Amazing Asia Tours aims for a fully sustainable supply chain, with partner accommodations playing a crucial role and being encouraged to implement sustainable practices.

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to:

• Preferring locally-owned and managed accommodations;
• Selecting accommodations that provide local employment opportunities;
• Encouraging accommodations to attend sustainability training;
• Clearly and actively communicating sustainability objectives to accommodations;
• Providing benefits to accommodations that already operate sustainably;
• Ensuring children’s rights are respected and guaranteed through the supply chain;
• Including a zero-tolerance clause on child sexual exploitation in contracts;
• Including a clause that allows contract termination if accommodations do not take adequate measures to prevent child sexual exploitation.

7. Excursions and Activities

Amazing Asia Tours values animal welfare and community welfare and strives for low-impact travel, protecting the authenticity of communities and natural environments and opposing wildlife exploitation and environmental pollution.

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to:

• Advising clients on codes of conduct during excursions and activities to respect culture, nature, and environment;
• Communicating sustainability goals and requirements to contracted excursion providers;
• Offering no excursions that harm people, animals, plants, natural resources like water and energy, or that are socially and culturally unacceptable;
• Not working with companies involved in hunting, consuming, displaying, selling, or trading wild species;
• Employing qualified and/or certified guides to lead clients on sensitive cultural and/or ecological destinations;
• Promoting excursions and activities that directly involve local communities;
• Promoting excursions and activities that support the local environment and biodiversity (such as visiting protected areas) to our clients.

8. Tour Guides

Amazing Asia Tours strives to involve local residents in the tourism sector as much as possible, advocating for a fair and safe work environment that supports and respects local communities.

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to:

• Ensuring all employees have written employment contracts, including terms and a job description;
• Preferring to work with tour guides, representatives, porters, drivers, cooks, and other staff when skills are equal;
• Ensuring partners comply with applicable international, national, and local laws and minimum standards in the tourism sector;
• Paying tour guides, representatives, porters, and other staff at least a livable wage that meets or exceeds the legal minimum;
• Ensuring employees are qualified and receive regular training;
• Informing employees about relevant aspects of the sustainability policy and ensuring compliance through training sessions and informal communication;
• Having employees inform customers about relevant sustainability issues, social norms and values, and human rights at the destination;
• Training employees on avoiding child sexual exploitation and communicating this to customers.

9. Destinations

Amazing Asia Tours is committed to sustainable destination management by:

• Considering sustainable transportation options in the selection of new destinations;
• Avoiding destinations where tourism leads to structural negative effects (unless our involvement results in clear counter-effects);
• Complying with legal requirements for land use planning, protected areas, and heritage management;
• Supporting initiatives that improve relations between accommodations and suppliers;
• Carefully considering sustainability and vulnerability when selecting new destinations.

10. Customer Communication and Protection

Amazing Asia Tours commits to:

• Ensuring customer privacy and using their data only for purposes they agreed to;
• Complying with relevant standards and voluntary codes of conduct in marketing and advertising messages, ensuring they do not promise more than what is delivered;
• Ensuring product information is factually accurate, with prices and conditions fully and clearly displayed;
• Complying with relevant standards and codes of conduct regarding product quality, reliability, and safety;
• Informing customers about sustainability aspects of the travel packages and the destination;
• Informing customers about environmentally friendly transport options to the destination;
• Informing customers about destinations’ natural surroundings, culture, and cultural heritage, while respectfully encouraging behavior;
• Informing customers about key sustainability aspects and issues at the destination, such as the protection of flora, fauna, and cultural heritage, and limiting energy, water, and waste;
• Informing customers on how they can respect culture, nature, and environment;
• Informing customers about environmental initiatives of accommodations (reduction of energy and water consumption, reduction of waste production, and the protection of biodiversity);
• Motivating customers to use local restaurants and shops and minimize the negative socio-cultural impact on communities.

Amazing Asia Tours ensures that no marketing and advertisement document, statement, or other publication, shall contain misleading information, over advertise and under deliver. We guarantee that all our staff are aware of and ensure that what is offered can be delivered to our clients with ease.

11. Forbidden Souvenirs

Amazing Asia Tours does not allow the purchase of souvenirs containing threatened flora and fauna species, any illegally obtained historic/archaeological artefacts, drugs or illegal substances, and abide by local and international laws in place to prevent this.