Policy aims:
At Denhum holidays, Sustainable tourism is our top priority. We realize that we have a responsibility, together with our visitors and our partners, to ensure that we minimize the negative impacts on the environment for both us and our future generations. We are also alive to the fact that sustainable tourism has to respect and indeed avail benefits to the local communities. This is mainly because of our Tourism, which is mainly Wildlife based depends to a large extent on the goodwill of these host communities. The communities bear the brunt of human/wildlife interactions through the loss of crops, livestock, and even lives to wild animals.
As such, we have an elaborate policy on environmental, economic, and social responsibility that is a shared vision for all of us at the company and that we also try to impart on our partners, guests, and colleagues.
Economic responsibility:
We have an elaborate policy on how to economically empower local communities being visited by our guests. Our Guiding department has and is still involved in the training of local community guides/service providers in basic customer care, environmental protection (park rules and regulations), and guiding techniques. This is on a voluntary basis as well as in some cases in conjunction with local county governments.
Since most of these community guides have no formal training, we give them basic skills to better handle guests in a professional and more rewarding manner. We thereafter continue supporting these initiatives by encouraging the local guides/communities to come up with packages such as cultural visits, nature walks, treks which we encourage our guests to sample.
Our aim then is to empower the local communities to get into tourism initiatives that are sustainable.
Environmental responsibility:
Responsible Travel policy; Our elaborate cost-cutting measures that also work out as very environmentally friendly measures in the office. Minimal use of printed material as well as recycling of paper. Switching off of all unnecessary lights. Turning off water taps.
With regards to our guests, we have a travelers’ code that is well explained by our guides with regards to environmental protection. For our visitors doing the marine parks, we strongly emphasize the protection of the Coral Reef by our snorkeling guests as well as care for the entire marine ecosystem. In the parks, our guides exhibit utmost respect for wildlife and nature by ensuring that they strictly adhere to park rules and regulations as well as our internal Travel Code. For example, we keep a respectful distance from wildlife, we do not stampede game, minimize noise as well as respect other visitors.
Our overall goal is to ensure the long term sustainability of the environment which is also the sure way to ensure our own business and conservation protected areas survival.
Social responsibility – e.g. details of preserving local culture, visits to local projects, and partnering and taking guest to camps that are environmentally friendly like Base camp
We always ensure that we properly brief our guests with regards to the social and political situation in the destinations to be visited. For example, the Coastal region in Kenya is predominantly Muslim and so, especially for cultural/village visits where the guests will interact with the local people, we encourage our guests to dress up more in respect of local culture. For our pastoralist communities such as Samburu and Masai, who incidentally occupy major wildlife areas, we encourage our guests to visit the villages. This offers a direct benefit to the communities as they charge some entrance fee.
We also discourage our guests from giving sweets/pens/books to children on the roadside. This has been proven to contribute to absenteeism from school as well as creating a begging culture. We prefer our guests to give these items as a donation to local schools directly.
During the visits to schools and the villages, our guests have the opportunity to buy locally made souvenirs as well as directly support the community through contributing to social amenities such as schools, dispensaries, and water projects.
Responsible Travel policy will not only aimed at sustainable tourism but will help protect the environment for future generations.
