Our Green Tourism update
When we embarked on the Green Tourism Scheme, we really had no idea what a commitment this would be. We are having to work very hard to keep our standards as high as possible. What we also didn’t understand was what a huge benefit the Scheme is in guiding us on our sustainable journey. The Green Tourism team gives us such a lot of positive support and encouragement, while at the same time identifying the further challenges that we need to face to continue to improve. If any business is thinking if this would be a useful step for them, we would definitely recommend the Scheme. We have just submitted our annual report and are very pleased that we have retained our Gold Award status and have received very positive feedback. This makes us feel really proud that we are doing our best to be an environmentally friendly business and have a clear understanding of how to achieve this The report has also identified actions for improvement so we can't rest on our laurels and will be setting goals for our next review!.
Our latest report from Green Tourism
Hebrides Cruises have done an excellent job in not only retaining the Green Tourism Gold award but increasing their score thanks to some new initiatives. The team has displayed an excellent understanding of sustainability and awareness of opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business. They continue to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of their cruises, whilst maintaining extraordinary levels of customer service and biodiversity knowledge on each trip.
HIGHLIGHTS
Health & Wellbeing – An excellent performance in all areas of protecting and supporting staff and customer health and wellbeing.
Destination – Excellent promotion of the heritage, events, and local places of interest in the destination that visitors may not come across normally and how to enjoy them in a sustainable manner
Communication- Excellent example of how to put across your green story, initiatives, and projects that you have undertaken to your customers, suppliers, and the wider world.
Travel – Strong Commitment to promoting and facilitating sustainable travel options for visitors and for the business.
Biodiversity – Excellent commitment to promoting, protecting, recording, and preserving biodiversity on and off-site.
Emma was very helpful with the additional questions I had and the crew very helpful when boarding, made us feel very welcome. The itinerary was outstanding. We had Rob as skipper and his local knowledge of the area, wildlife and weather forecasts was invaluable as the itinerary was adjusted to fit in with the forecast conditions giving us best chance of landing on St Kilda. The two nights on St Kilda were the culmination of a 40 year ambition for me. All the crew were exemplary. I particularly enjoyed being able to visit the bridge from time to time and chat to Rob. Mark was a great bosun, nothing was too much trouble and he was particularly adept at pouring malt whisky, which was a skill was very much appreciated. It was also great to have Chris Gomersall along to show us where to look to see all the wonderful wildlife. It was extra special!
John MacMillian: 10 June 2017St Kilda and the isles of the Outer Hebrides