Sustainability

Our commitment
- Conduct our business fairly and ethically
- Help to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of local communities
- Create working conditions that are beneficial for everyone
- Using the Earth’s natural resources responsibly and protect the environment
- Protect our clients‘ image and safety

Fair Travel with South American Tours
With the support of our local guides we offer an authentic insight into the culture of the destination and at the same time try to give a better understanding of local traditions and manners. Therefore we encourage the collaboration with regional communities and visit local families, markets and social projects to gain a better understanding of South American cultures. By offering train journeys, trekking tours and active programs we would like to create a stronger awareness for the environment. National parks and protected areas are only visited with local expert guides. Our licensed guides are trained on a regular basis, both officially and internally. In addition to that, it is important for us to raise our guests' awareness for acting sustainably and to provide them with the necessary knowledge to enjoy a genuine and unique journey.
However, our quality standards are not only based on an authentic travel experience for our guests but also focus on the interests of residents. To increase the added value in our destinations, we prefer small, locally managed hotels and accommodations, we support facilities in rural and economically underdeveloped areas and work with regional providers. Moreover, fairness and good working conditions take up a significant position within South American Tours. Thus, we set great value on fair wages and social benefits even beyond obligatory payments. These aspects are also an important criterion when choosing our service partners.'
With regard to this benchmark, we framed our vision, mission and values. 

Vision
We work towards establishing ourselves as the best regional incoming tour operator in South America. For this we rely on the active participation of all collaborators of South American Tours, to always follow the strict criteria of profitability, transparency, technology, environmental protection and social commitment.

Mission
We aim to create unique experiences, which seek to enrich the life of the travelers, the local communities and the staff of South American Tours, by providing excellent service and fulfilling the dreams of our passengers with the necessary creativity. We develop our activities with commitment to the responsibility for our society and collaborators as well as respect for the environment and the laws of each country.

Values
Honesty: Honesty is the key to fulfilling our commitments and granting them the necessary importance. Working for legitimacy, preventing every type of corruption and being transparent are only a few of the taken measures to become a sustainable company over time.
Respect: One of the most important premises about respect is, that in order to be respected, it is necessary to know and to learn to respect others, to understand them and to value their interests and needs. In this sense, respect has to be mutual and result from
eciprocal sympathy.
Commitment: Commitment provokes the reason and the human being to endeavor and to overcome every obstacle that is put in their
way, in order to achieve their plans.
Client-Orientation: A client-oriented service is a service of quality, which aims to know and understand the clients’ needs and offers a personalized arrangement. This involves collaboration, productivity and professionalism in each of our facets, in order to generate value for the client. We always aspire to surprise our passengers with our expertise, to exceed their expectations and to cultivate their loyalty.
Social and environmental responsibility: Part of the success of our company has to be the integration of social and environmental aspects. We all have to obtain habits that are sustainability-oriented and support the common good. In addition to that we have to be conscious of the consequences of our activities and their effects on our interest groups.

We are member of WTTC Declaration on Illegal Trade in Wildlife

 

Andrea Alfaro, Sustainability Officer
As our sustainability officer, Andrea Alfaro is responsible for developing and implementing sustainability initiatives across all aspects of our operations.
Andrea began her career in 2001 as a tour guide, witnessing firsthand the effects of unsustainable tourism practices. During her further studies in the field of business administration and her professional development in the back office area of SAT, this topic remained important to her, always looking for innovative solutions to these important issues.
Andrea works closely with our regional SAT teams across South America to identify areas of improvement and strategies for reducing our environmental footprint while enhancing the guest experience.

Contact Andrea for any sustainability issues.