Our impact approach
How we decide what matters, measure progress and hold ourselves accountable.
Listen
At the end of 2024 and into early 2025, we asked employes, customers and suppliers where they believed we had the greatest impact, how well we were responding, and where we needed to do more. We combined their responses with evidence from our own operations, including carbon data, so climate and nature were not left out.
112 employes · 55 customers · 20 suppliers
The results largely backed up our direction. But they also showed where views differed. Employes were more critical of our performance on overtourism. Customers were less clear on how well we were supporting local communities – and more likely to say they didn't know enough to judge. That feedback fed directly into decisions.
1. Preserving culture and heritage
Protecting the cultural assets that make our destinations distinctive for travellers and local communities alike
2. Tackling overtourism
Spreading the benefits of tourism more evenly, away from overcrowded hotspots
3. Empowering communities
Ensuring tourism creates long-term value for the people who live and work in our destinations
4. Protecting nature
Preserving the natural environments our trips and destinations depend on
5. Addressing climate impacts
Reducing the carbon intensity of our trips and taking responsibility for our contribution to climate change
Focus
The issues our stakeholders care most about are also the ones most bound up with the choices we make every day: where we send customers, what we include in trips, who we work with and how we run the business. We cannot change everything at once. But we can be deliberate about the parts of the system our choices actually touch.
In 2025, that meant:
- Undervisited destination development – More focused product development in areas that are actively calling for more international visitors.
- Kyoto itinerary changes – New "Inside Swaps" away from hotspots seeing overcrowding, including the Arashiyama bamboo grove, with the entire Kyoto Small Group Tour day rebuilt as a result.
- Customer communications – Clearer information on overtourism and impact through dedicated webpages, sample itineraries, brochures, blog content and media coverage.
Raise the bar
We certified as B Corp in 2023. It continues to be key in holding us accountable and connects us to other businesses trying to do the same thing.
In April 2025, B Lab introduced a significant standards update. The previous system was points-based, where strong performance in some areas could offset weaker ones. The new model requires minimum standards across every impact topic. Under the new model, a strong area can no longer compensate for a weaker one.
We are scheduled to recertify in May 2027.
Destination stakeholder engagement
More structured ways to hear from local communities, particularly where we are growing tourism responsibly.
Human rights due diligence
Clearer processes for identifying and responding to human rights risks across our operations and supplier relationships.
Evidence and decision records
Getting better at showing how what we hear from stakeholders actually changes what we do.
