Purpose

Kamaroutes Travel Designers is committed to conserving the natural environment for future generations and to promoting eco-friendly traveling. The purpose of this policy is to help our business align our operations with sustainable principles by enhancing our reputation, meeting the growing demand for responsible tourism, and contributing to the long-term well-being of destinations and communities.

Scope

This policy will apply to all operations, from management to the executive level of our company. Staff, suppliers, partners, and people we do business with, and wherever possible, they will be asked to meet this policy as a minimum or show where they will exceed standards in their relationship with Kamaroutes. The sustainability officer is responsible for implementing the company’s sustainability policy.

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Sustainability commitment
Kamaroutes’ 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
Kamaroutes 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. Kamaroutes 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

– Kamaroutes supports both career-related and job-related professional development activities.
– Kamaroutes is committed to the principle of fair and equal pay for like work and for work of equal value for all its employees and contractors, regardless of gender/sex, race, national origin, marital status, age, or religion.
– Kamaroutes is committed to fostering a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace/work culture where all employees are able to perform their duties/to recognize their potential.
– Kamaroutes is committed to a zero-tolerance policy for acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights, including forced labor, human trafficking, and all rights of children.
– Kamaroutes further expects this commitment from all partners and suppliers.

Internal management: environment

Environmental management of office operations
Kamaroutes 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.
– Practising 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.
– Minimising 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
Kamaroutes is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and endeavours to reduce the amount we travel as much as possible by:
– Reducing the amount we travel as much as possible
– 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
– Offsetting our remaining direct and indirect carbon from travel and fossil energy use via our carbon calculator on the website.
– Implementing procedures such as, e.g., following proper maintenance for the vehicle fleet and offering incentives to staff that use public transport
– Installing energy-efficient equipment and appliances where appropriate/possible

Land use
Kamaroutes offices are located in an urban/suburban area and abide by all local land use laws, respect local cultural and natural resources in our business operations, and favor sustainable architecture and design.

General suppliers policy

– Kamaroutes 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.
– Kamaroutes 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.
– Kamaroutes 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, Kamaroutes prefers to select partner companies that comply with tourism-specific certification with providers like Fair Trade, FEDHASA, and The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA).
– Kamaroutes offers incentives (first booking priority) for partners that are actively engaged in sustainable operations.

Kamaroutes expects its suppliers to adhere to a Code of Conduct, that includes the following responsible business practices:
– Complying with all local, regional, national and international regulations
– Respecting all human rights including labour rights, children’s rights, 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 Kamaroutes

Our complete supplier Code of Conduct is available here. Following a zero-tolerance policy, Kamaroutes will immediately terminate any relationships with suppliers that violate our policies/the Code of Conduct, specifically through acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights.

– Kamaroutes raises awareness amongst its suppliers to adopt sound social and environmental practices, and to minimise their carbon footprint.
– Kamaroutes 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.
– Kamaroutes maintains open lines of communication with our suppliers and partners and encourage feedback from our stakeholders at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Inbound partner agencies

In the entire process of developing and operating our travel packages, Kamaroutes expects partner agencies to act in the best interests of the surrounding communities and environment as well as our guests. Kamaroutes provides partner agencies opportunities for sustainability learning and management, including free access to the Travelife online learning and reporting platform.

Transport

When selecting transport for guests and business related travel, Kamaroutes 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.

Kamaroutes 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
– Avoiding in-destination flights as much as possible (we provide 1 internal flight per booking and 1 regional flight for clients)
– 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

Kamaroutes 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.

Accommodations

– Kamaroutes works with accommodations that adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics and that are certified by other grading systems such as Fair Trade, FEDHASA & TGCSA.
– In the accommodation selection process, Kamaroutes considers the sustainability practices of an accommodation by taking into account their sustainability management and social and environmental footprint.
– Kamaroutes favours the selection of accommodations that respect and protect land use, as well as respectfully highlight elements of local architecture, customs and traditions
– Kamaroutes conducts regular self-assessment through site inspections of accommodations to ensure that they adhere to being sustainable.

Activities & Excursions

– Kamaroutes works with excursion providers that adhere to the company’s Code of Ethics.
– All excursions and activities run by or on behalf of Kamaroutes respect local customs, traditions, cultural integrity, and natural resources.
– Kamaroutes commits to not offering any excursions that harm humans, wildlife, the environment, or natural resources such as water and energy.
– Kamaroutes gives preference to excursions and activities that benefit local communities, respect animal welfare, and support environmental protection.
– Kamaroutes 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.
– Kamaroutes 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

– Kamaroutes commits to hiring qualified local guides, drivers or other local staff, paying them living wages and providing safe and fair working conditions. We expect the same from our suppliers that are hiring local staff on behalf of Kamaroutes.
– Kamaroutes understands that guides are the intermediaries between the guests and the socio-cultural and environmental context of the destination, conveying the appropriate behaviour to them. Therefore, we make sure that all guides hired by or leading tours on behalf of Kamaroutes 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.
– Kamaroutes provides guides with learning opportunities on sustainability topics including providing free access to the Travelife online learning platform.

Destinations

Sustainable destinations
– Kamaroutes also works in destinations that have committed to sustainability as an integral part of community and destination development.
– Kamaroutes aims to send visitors to secondary or lesser-known tourist areas to avoid overtourism.
– Kamaroutes does not support destinations that have a questionable human rights track record.

Contribution to local communities / local economic network
Kamaroutes 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, 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, labour rights, etc.) as well as land rights

Environmental stewardship in destinations
Kamaroutes 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 behaviour

Customer communication and protection

Privacy
Our customer protection is our priority. Therefore, we maintain a clear privacy policy to ensure
– Legal compliance in all regards
– Customers and their data are protected
– Customers know how their information is being used

Marketing and communication
– Kamaroutes 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 honour our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.
– We are anti-greenwashing and stand behind our sustainability claims 100%.
– We endeavour 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
– Activities and excursions that benefit the local communities and environmental protection
– Responsible shopping and illegal souvenirs
– Kamaroutes will regularly review and update its communication practices to reflect evolving sustainability priorities, stakeholder expectations, and best practices in sustainability reporting and disclosure.

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

Kamaroutes maintains open lines of communication with our customers and encourages feedback at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability.

Contact / Responsible person

All staff are responsible for the ownership and undertaking of this policy. All staff are responsible for the promotion and implementation of this sustainability policy within their departments. The implementation of this policy will be led by the Sustainability Coordinator, Esther, who can be reached at esther@kamaroutes.com.

Definitions

“Social Policy” is defined as “Social policy refers to a company’s commitment to uphold fair and ethical treatment of all people affected by its operations, including employees, local communities, suppliers, and customers. In the context of Travelife, social policy includes practices that promote human rights, fair labor conditions, nondiscrimination, gender equality, and community well-being, in alignment with international standards such as the UN Global Compact and the South African labor laws.

Effective date
This policy is effective from 18 September 2025.
Revision history
This policy was revised on 18 Sept 2025 This policy will be revised by 31 Aug 2026