People and society

Almost all of our local partners are locally-owned, meaning they are registered and pay taxes in your chosen destination, and employ mostly locals on the ground. There are a small number of exceptions to this, where for example, registering locally in a certain country might result in undue financial pressure or corruption from the local government. Registering outside of a specific destination is sometimes the difference between having a viable business and not – and in those situations, we choose to support that local travel partner. In other cases, the available choice of local travel partners isn’t quite right for us, whereas companies regularly operating in your chosen destination from neighboring countries may better align with our vision.

We try to work with local travel partners who strive for fair employment standards within their own workplace, including having policies surrounding fair payment and hours, health and safety, dismissal, child labor, and discrimination.

Some of our partners may have staff based partly abroad: this is becoming increasingly common with the advent of remote working. Rather than imposing blanket rules around this, we assess the specific circumstances of each partner we work with. Fundamentally, what’s most important to us is our partners’ local knowledge and expertise.

Indigenous interactions

A negative experience with indigenous peoples can feel exploitative, voyeuristic, or false. Our aim is to only offer local community excursions that benefit the people visited, and create a genuine intention to share and appreciate cultural differences, rather than a contrived or potentially damaging interaction. We strive to work with trusted local travel partners who have the same ethos as us with regards to the fair treatment of indigenous peoples.

Visiting orphanages

We don’t offer trips to orphanages, as there are numerous instances of false orphanages being used to draw in tourists. The children they claim to help are, in many cases, mistreated; some may have been trafficked or kidnapped in order to draw the sympathy and donations of well-meaning visitors. You can visit the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) for more details.

Dark tourism

Dark tourism refers to visiting sights primarily associated with death or tragedy. It is not unusual to visit these, as an opportunity to learn while respecting the site and the community. We would generally encourage any such visit to be with a local guide, who can explain local feelings about the place and provide essential context on why the specific tragedy happened.

Instances of political unrest

Political upheaval in a destination raises all kinds of questions over whether you should travel there, and whether we should offer that particular country to customers. Though we understand the purpose of boycotting, at TravelLocal we believe that such an absolute decision isn’t always the answer. The locals who depend on tourism for their livelihoods end up severely affected by economic devastation outside of their control, and the lack of outside influence that follows a boycott can lead to an isolationist environment – counterproductive to change.

It is never simple to decide where the line of boycott lies. That said, we take each scenario on a case-by-case basis. These issues are always complex and there is no ‘one rule fits all’.