MISSION

Our Mission is to inspire and engage our guests to learn more about Montenegro as Ecological state (according to Declaration from 1991), its natural and cultural treasures, as well as organic food and customs, through sustainable authentic experiences.

Gorbis Travel Sustainability policy

Purpose

Gorbis Travel Sustainability policy has been made in order to improve the company’s relationship with natural environment while maintaining our position as one of the leaders in the tourism sector.

We aim to reduce or eliminate negative social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts from the company’s activities in collaboration with our suppliers.

Scope

This policy will apply to all our activities, including office, front-desks and outside operations. Through communication with staff, suppliers and partners we ask all objectives to be supported, whenever is possible according to everyday business activities.

Gorbis Travel has active sustainability coordinator who has completed the basic Travelife Sustainability training and exam and is responsible for implementing the company’s sustainability policy.

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Sustainability commitment

Gorbis Travel leadership is wholly committed to the company's sustainability performance and endorses the company's sustainability mission statement and policy.

We will use the Travelife platform to report on our sustainability progress and to monitor and evaluate progress. We are committed to (publicly) communicating our sustainability performance (by means of the Travelife report) every two years.

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Gorbis Travel commits to continuous improvement of sustainability practices, including the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of our sustainability policy, with dedicated personnel and resources to achieve our sustainability goals.

Gorbis Travel follows all local, regional, national, and international regulations as they relate to human resources, human rights, children’s rights, land rights, environmental management, wildlife, and land use. We follow a strict Code of Ethics, including a zero-tolerance policy for corruption, bribery, forced labor and discrimination.

Internal management: social policy & human rights

Employees

We recognize that our employees are our biggest asset for delivering meaningful travel experiences to our customers. Therefore, we maintain a clear human resource policy to ensure:

• Legal compliance in all regards
• A safe, healthy, and welcoming workplace
• Fair contract conditions including fair compensation
• Training opportunities including trainings on topics of sustainability, sexual harassment and exploitation in the working place and in the industry
• Participation in the sustainability planning activities
• Inclusion and equal opportunity for all employees, particularly with regard to compensation, promotion, distribution of benefits, and professional development opportunities.
• Same standards we expect from all our suppliers and partners in their business environment

Internal management: environment

Environmental management of office operations

Gorbis Travel is committed to managing environmental impact as an integral part of our operations. It is our policy to assure the environmental integrity of our processes and products at all times by:

• Continuously seeking opportunities to improve our environmental performance by establishing objectives and targets, measuring progress and reporting our results, including but not limited to energy, water, paper and carbon.
• Practicing a waste hierarchical approach to always reduce, reuse, and recycle commodities and products instead of waste, particularly waste to landfill
• Promoting participation and communicating our commitment to responsible environmental management by promoting environmental responsibility amongst our employees and stakeholders and soliciting input from them to better achieve our environmental goals.
• Minimizing pollution including light, noise and any soil, water or air contaminants, and avoiding use of any toxic or hazardous substances.

Carbon management of office operations

Gorbis Travel is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and endeavors to reduce the amount we travel as much as possible by:

• Reduce the amount we travel
• Monitoring and measuring carbon footprint with the aim to reduce as much as possible and offset remaining amounts.
• Encouraging remote work whenever possible, and when it is not possible, making it easier for employees to limit their carbon footprint by use of eco modes of transportation.
• We commit to offsetting our remaining direct and indirect carbon from travel and fossil energy use via www.atmosfair.de/en
• Implementing procedures such as following proper maintenance for vehicle fleet and make an official decision about minimizing business trips etc.
• Installing energy efficient equipment and appliances [where appropriate/possible]

Land use

Gorbis Travel offices are located in an urban area and abide by all local land use laws, respecting local cultural and natural resources in our business operations, and favors sustainable architecture and design.

General suppliers policy

• Gorbis Travel is committed to sourcing its products and services responsibly, avoiding harmful impacts on society, culture and nature as much as possible. We expect the same level of engagement and commitment from our suppliers.
• Gorbis Travel prefers to work with partners that share the company’s commitment towards sustainability. This means that we prefer partners that have a written sustainability statement as an integral part of their business policy and/or a clear sustainability policy in place.
• Gorbis Travel prefers to work with suppliers in the destinations that are locally owned or managed, use local and seasonal products and services and benefit the local community by hiring locally and equitably and by providing fair working conditions.
• Whenever possible, Gorbis Travel prefers to select partner companies that comply with tourism-specific, internationally recognized (GSTC-accredited) certifications, or other sustainability certifications like B Corp or ISO.
• Gorbis Travel offers incentives for partners that are actively engaged in sustainable operations.
• Gorbis Travel expects its suppliers to adhere to a Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics that includes the following responsible business practices:
  • Complying with all local, regional, national and international regulations Respecting all human rights including labor, children’s and women’s rights
  • Committing to fair employment conditions
  • Following anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-extortion, and anti-discrimination policies
  • Protecting children from (sexual) exploitation through tourism
  • Protecting the environment and natural resources
  • Acting in the best interest of local communities Protecting the interests of Gorbis Travel
• Following a zero-tolerance policy, Gorbis Travel will immediately terminate any relationships with suppliers that violate our policies, specifically through acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights.
• Gorbis Travel raises awareness amongst its suppliers to adopt sound social and environmental practices, and to minimize their carbon footprint.
• Gorbis Travel actively collaborates with suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. We encourage our suppliers to continuously learn about sustainability and provide/support this learning whenever possible.
• Gorbis Travel maintains open lines of communication with our suppliers and partners and encourages feedback from our stakeholders at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Inbound partner agencies

• Gorbis Travel only works with partner agencies that adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics.
• In the entire process of developing and operating our travel packages, Gorbis Travel expects partner agencies to act in the best interests of the surrounding communities and environment as well as our guests.
• Gorbis Travel provides partner agencies opportunities for sustainability learning and management, including free access to the Travelife online learning and reporting platform.

Transport

• Gorbis Travel only works with transport providers that adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics.
• When selecting transport for guests and business related travel, Gorbis Travel commits to choosing the most environmentally friendly options available for travelling to, from, and within the destination – taking into consideration distance, price, route, and comfort.
• Gorbis Travel has implemented clear guidelines for reducing GHG emissions from transport and selecting the most environmentally friendly transport options, including the following measures:
  • Preferring ground transport over air transport for short-haul travel destinations
  • Avoidingin-destination flights as much as possible
  • Offering rail-and-fly transport to and from the airport
  • Using public transportation options in the destinations
  • Using appropriate vehicle sizes for group sizes and purchasing most efficient vehicles available
  • Training drivers on eco-driving techniques
• Gorbis Travel endeavors – and has a system in place – to measure and compensate for the unavoidable GHG emissions produced from transportation. Compensation costs are either included by default in the package price or compensation is actively promoted to the clients as a booking option.

Accommodations

• Gorbis Travel only works with accommodations that adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics.
• In the accommodation selection process, Gorbis Travel considers the sustainability practices of an accommodation by taking into account their sustainability management and social and environmental footprint.
• Gorbis Travel favors the selection of accommodations that respect and protect land use, as well as respectfully highlight elements of local architecture, customs and traditions

Activities & Excursions

• Gorbis Travel only works with excursion providers that adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics.
• All excursions and activities run by or on behalf of Gorbis Travel respect local customs, traditions, cultural integrity, and natural resources.
• Gorbis Travel commits to not offering any excursions that harm humans, wildlife, environment, or natural resources such as water and energy.
• Gorbis Travel gives preference to excursions and activities that benefit local communities, respect animal welfare and support environmental protection.
• Gorbis Travel has clear guidelines/Codes of Conduct in place for environmentally and culturally sensitive excursions offered by or on behalf of the company. These guidelines are actively communicated to guests as well as distributed and implemented by excursion providers and guides.
• Gorbis Travel provides excursion and attraction providers opportunities for sustainability learning and management, including free access to the Travelife online learning and reporting platform.

Tour leaders, local representatives, and guides

• Gorbis Travel commits to hiring qualified local guides, porters, drivers or other local staff, paying those living wages and providing safe and fair working conditions. We expect the same from our suppliers that are hiring local staff on behalf of Gorbis Travel.
• Gorbis Travel understands that guides are the intermediaries between the guests and the socio-cultural and environmental context of the destination, conveying the appropriate behavior to them. Therefore, we make sure that all guides hired by or leading tours on behalf of Gorbis Travel are trained regularly and knowledgeable in the sustainability topics of the destination.
• Our guides are specifically trained on the critical issue of sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
• Gorbis Travel provides guides with learning opportunities on sustainability topics including providing free access to the Travelife online learning platform.

Destinations

Sustainable destinations

• Gorbis Travel prefers to work in destinations that have committed to sustainability as an integral part of community and destination development.
• Gorbis Travel aims to send visitors to secondary or lesser-known tourist areas to avoi/uld over tourism.
• Gorbis Travel does not support destinations that have a questionable human rights track record.

Contribution to local communities / local economic network

Gorbis Travel commits to positive contribution to the destinations in which we operate, by:

• Sourcing locally and responsibly, and supporting local and traditional arts and culture
• Encouraging guests to shop responsibly and educating them about illegal/prohibited/forbidden souvenirs
• Collaborating with other local tourism stakeholders [including local government, other tourism businesses, and academia, community groups] to further the sustainable tourism development of the destination
• Respecting and advocating for all human rights (i.e. children's rights, women’s rights, labor rights, etc.) as well as land rights

Environmental stewardship in destinations

Gorbis Travel commits to environmental stewardship in the destinations in which we operate by:

• Ensuring natural resources remain intact
• Educating guests about the principles of responsible travel and responsible visitor behavior

Customer communication and protection

Privacy

Our customer protection is our priority. Therefore, we maintain a clear privacy policy https://www.gorbis.com/en/cg/izjava_o_privatnosti to ensure
• Legal compliance in all regards
• Customers and their data are protected
• Customers know how their information is being used

Marketing and communication

• Gorbis Travel strives to be truthful in all situations and at all times. We offer products and services that do what we claim in our communications.
• We honor our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.
• We are anti-green washing and stand behind our sustainability claims 100%.
• We endeavor to be inclusive and representative in our marketing, and to always take into account cultural, religious and ethnic sensitivities.

Sustainability communication

Customers are informed about the social and environmental impact of their journey, and are educated about the sustainable choices they can make, including transparent communication on:

• Certified accommodations
• Compensation of their trips CO2 emissions
• Activities and excursions that benefit the local communities and environmental protection
• Responsible shopping and illegal souvenirs

Customer experience

The company aims for all customer experiences to be positive, and follows strict health and safety, marketing, and excursion policies to ensure customer satisfaction. These policies cover specific topics of (but not limited to):

• Health and safety
• Emergency procedures
• Privacy
• Group numbers
• Greenhouse Gas emissions and offsetting
• Transport
• Shopping
• Sexual exploitation
• Children in tourism
• Satisfaction and complaints

Gorbis Travel maintains open lines of communication with our customers and encourages feedback at anytime and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Contact / Responsible person

All staff is responsible for the ownership and undertaking of this policy.

All staff is responsible for the promotion and implementation of this sustainability policy within their departments.

The implementation of this policy will be lead by the Sustainability Coordinator, Svetlana Sabovic, who can be reached at sales@gorbis.com .

Effective date

This policy is effective from 09.02.2023.