Policy and procedures handbook

As a travel company who engage with various stakeholders in tourism, namely consumers, tour guides, travel agencies, hotels, transport companies, restaurants, and attractions, Tilila Travel understands our key role and influence in the sustainability development of tourism. Therefore, we are committed to promoting sustainability. We aim to follow, implement and promote good sustainability practices to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on tourism of our operations and to influence our clients and partners to do the same.

Many of our partner accommodations have Solar power for hot water and many of them have plants and small trees and you can check them if you want: for example Riad Dar Nadwa Marrakech, Sanmao luxury desert camp, Riad Fez Mahal.

We choose accommodation with good environmental standards for example they are in quiet areas and they have wide walls in order to be solid and not let the noise to enter and they have the big hall at the middle to be well aired. Check Riad Dar Nadwa as an example.

Our sustainability policy is divided into 10 themes. Each theme consists of a set of principles and practical actions accordingly.

Our sustainability mission statement:

Tilila Travel’s mission is to support a sustainable society and sustainable trade by supporting all stakeholders towards greater sustainability awareness. We aim to do this by minimizing and mitigating negative impacts on the natural environment and by being an active contributor to our local community and society at large.

Reducing carbon emissions

We try to ensure that vehicles used on tours do not cause more than average pollution. We believe that transport is an important aspect of sustainable tourism, and we do our best to decrease the average pollution level.

For transport this is our project of 5 years, we already have 1 new car, Skoda which has AdBlue in order to prevent the pollution.

We commit to this by;

• Selecting the most sustainable options considering price and comfort when selecting transport options to the destination;
• Including sustainable (public) transport to the point of departure for the international/long distance journey;
• Considering and giving preference to more sustainable alternatives when selecting transport options for transfers and excursions in the destination, taking into account price, comfort, and practical considerations;
• Integrating and/or promoting one or more sustainable holiday products/packages based on a recognised methodology, including sustainable transport, sustainable accommodations, and sustainable activities.

Protecting and restoring nature and biodiversity

We commit to practice environmental protection and enhance community relations by ensuring the enforcement of following practices:

• Actively reduce the use of disposable and consumer goods;
• Favor the purchase of sustainable goods and services, office and catering supply, giveaways and merchandise;
• Purchase products in bulk, to reduce the amount of packaging materials;
• Set copy and printing machines by default to double-sided printing or other forms of paper saving modes;
• Use cleaning materials which are non-hazardous, non-eutrophic and biodegradable and are certified with an eco-label, if locally available;
• Print brochures on environmentally friendly paper, with a printing company that works with a certified environmental management system, if locally available at reasonable costs;
• Implement measurements to reduce brochure wastage or an ‘internet only’ policy;
• Have an active commitment to measure, monitor and reduce energy consumption;
• Calculate and compensate CO2 emissions and compare different periods;
• Purchase green energy and energy efficient lighting for all areas, when available;
• Switch off Lights and equipment when not in use, use automatic switch on/off system with timers or movement sensors and set equipment by default in the energy saving mode, where this is feasible;
• Prefer low energy equipment when buying new items, including considerations of cost and quality;
• Have an active policy to reduce water consumption, implemented and monitored on a monthly or yearly basis for benchmark purposes;
• Use sustainable water sourcing, which does not adversely affect environmental flows;
• Install water saving equipment in toilets, re-use waste water and/or collected rainwater;
• Comply with the national legislation concerning waste disposal;
• Develop and implement a solid waste reduction and recycling policy, with quantitative goals;
• Take measures to reduce the amount of packaging materials and not provide non-recyclable or non-biodegradable package materials;
• Take action to reduce the amount of (non-refillable) plastic bottles of drinking water for office use;
• Separate all materials which can be recycled and organize collection and proper disposal;
• Implement waste reducing methods when using ink and toner cartridges for printing and copying, whenever feasible;
• Recycle or properly dispose of batteries;
• Comply with national legislation of wastewater treatment, which should be reused or released safely;
• Minimize and substitute the use of harmful substances and manage properly the storage, handling and disposal of chemicals;
• Use lead-free and water-based paints, both inside and outside, when locally available;
• Implement practices to minimize pollution from its buildings (as far as being able to be controlled by the company);
• Measure and reduce staff related travel and use more sustainable modes of transport. Calculate its emissions, with the aim to reduce and compensate, through a reliable locally available program;
• Financially encourage employees to use public transport or sustainable means of transport;

Providing local benefits from tourism, especially to the marginalized

We believe that tourism is a driver for peace. It helps promote tolerance between people as they learn and better understand each other’s cultures. Preserving heritage. Tourism can help protect and finance the preservation of historic and cultural sites, and even prompt the creation of new community initiatives.

• Contribute to the protection and preservation of local historical, archaeological, culturally, and spiritually important properties and sites, and not impede access to them by local residents;
• Paying attention to the local benefits of communities when selecting local accommodations and their social policy for employees;
• Having a cooperation contract including an annex of the national code of conduct for local partners to encourage their practices towards sustainability;
• Preferring and selecting accommodations that are locally owned and managed;
• Selecting accommodations that employ local communities;
• Working with accommodations and restaurants that incorporate elements of local art, architecture, or cultural heritage; while respecting the intellectual property rights of local communities;
• Advising guests on behaviour standards during excursions and activities with a focus on respecting the local culture, nature, and environment;
• Promoting and advise our guests on excursions and activities which directly involve and support local communities by purchasing services or goods, traditional crafts and local (food) production methods, or visiting social projects;
• Promoting and advising our guests on excursions and activities which support local environment and biodiversity such as visiting protected areas or environmental protection projects;

We aim at involving as many locals as possible by employing them in the tourism business. We stand for a fair and safe working environment that supports and respects local communities.

• Ensuring that all employees have a written employment contract, including labour conditions and a job description, and fully understand the terms and conditions;
• Preferring to work with local tour leaders, local representatives, local tour guides, porters, drivers, cooks, and other local staff in case of equal ability, and provide training as required;

As you know this is a long-term project. We are hoping to achieve all our objectives in the future 5 years.