Responsible Travel
At ICNOS Adventures, we take the idea of responsible tourism to heart. We live and work here. Our friends and family work and live here. We love Italy and its people. We have a deep vested interest in supporting and promoting tourism that is sustainable and non damaging to the local environment and culture.
So what is responsible tourism? This is the philosophy by which we design our tours and choose our operators and accommodations.Keep a higher percentage of the income from tourism in the local area.
In conventional package tourism up to 90% of the cost of your holiday leaves the destination. We choose local, usually family owned, hotels and restaurants. Our guides are hand picked and usually from the villages that you pass through. This starts and fosters a local industry of people who work and live in the areas and for the local area and people by creating jobs.
By using and supporting local businesses we Respect and Encourage the local cultures. Basically, when small groups of conscientios guests visit a locality to learn and enjoy the food and culture, jobs are created locally.
Visitors get the authentic exposure (not to mention food!) and people can earn a living in the towns and villages that they would otherwise have to leave to find gainful employment.
All of our vendors have been selected for their commitment to minimizing the impact on the environment.
In addition to using public transportation whenever possible, we choose albergos that recycle and restaurants that use local foods. Local businesses have always been thrifty, and have readily adapted to waste recycling and water conservation.
By using locally grown foods, restaurants reduce needless waste and support local farmers.
Sustainable Rural Development Project
We believe that our journeys should respect and benefit local people and the environment in the villages in which we operate. That is why we have chosen to support a sustainable rural development project in Tramonti, one of the villages included in some of our travel proposals.
Tramonti is renowned for its baskets woven with large flat-shaved strips of chestnut bark. Thanks to the strong and passionate work of local weavers, these robust baskets of Tramonti have been produced for centuries. Basket weaving is sadly a diminishing craft in Tramonti: there are only three weavers left in Tramonti.
We want to promote the revival of this ancient craft by assisting the local people of the Association “Figlino - Borgo da favola”. We believe that the revival of ancient crafts is a connecting link between the culture of the past and modern society, and that folk arts helps preserve the centuries-old customs and traditions of the Tramonti people.
By allocating a portion of the revenues from our trips directly to the support of a meaningful, sustainable rural development project in the country we visit, we aim to maximize respectful interaction with the local people and culture, minimizing our impact on the environment.
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