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Statement on Responsible Tourism

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As one of New Zealand's quality assured operators, we understand that what we do has an impact on the environment. Hinterland Tours has a Responsible Tourism program based on our core operating philosophies of Kaitiakitanga and Manaakitanga.

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Manaakitanga: The concept of warmth and hospitality which, when put together creates a shared experience in both directions, shared by many parties

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Kaitiakitanga: Guardianship of the people, the land and the spirit which binds the two. ​In line with these philosophies we have an active program of mitigating the impacts from resource usage. 

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New Zealand is known as being clean and green. This is mainly attributable to our low population density resulting in relatively benign environmental pressures.  There is a risk that if we are not vigilant in looking after our environment then this could threaten New Zealand's clean, green image.

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  • Waste: Unless requested, we no longer supply free plastic water bottles. Instead we encourage our clients to bring their own re-usable bottle which can be filled with clean, free and safe to drink New Zealand water from the tap.  Refills can be made at almost all our destinations we visit on the tours.  This initiative will see our group of companies remove over 30,000 plastic single use water bottles from our environment. In our business we endeavor to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills by recycling paper, glass, cans, plastics and organic waste. We employ selective waste disposal to ensure that all material is graded and disposed of through the appropriate channels. We have a plastics, paper, general waste, and glass bin to facilitate this.

  • Water:  Unless requested, we no longer supply free plastic water bottles. Instead we encourage our clients to bring their own re-usable bottle which can be filled with clean, free and safe to drink New Zealand water from the tap. Our tap water is very safe to drink.  We use hose controls when washing the vans to prevent too much run off when water is not required. We use dual flush toilets, spring loaded taps, check and repair for any leaking taps, and are on metered water usage. We advocate the use of a ‘full load’ machine washing for dishes & clothes.

  • Vehicles: Our vehicles are mainly late model efficient models, kept in top condition and are serviced in line with the manufacturers recommendations. 

  • Energy: Our new refurbished office and depot has 100% LED lighting throughout. All windows are double glazed. Heating – our building is insulated, as are the hot water pipes and cylinder.  We use heat pumps for the most efficient form of heating and cooling. 

  • Paper: We save paper by not printing emails that don't need to be printed and we request our guests use E-tickets for check in to our tours. Waste paper is re-used where possible as scrap note paper in the office.

  • Buy New Zealand: We try to buy New Zealand made products where we can

  • The NZ Living wage:  All staff are paid at least the New Zealand living wage.

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​​Quality Assurance

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We're proud to have a Qualmark Silver rating. Qualmark is New Zealand Tourism’s official quality assurance organisation, providing a trusted guide to quality travel experiences. Qualmark makes it easy for travelers to select high quality places to stay, things to do, and ways to get around. Travelling with us you can be assured that we have met stringent quality standards and environmental criteria - earning New Zealand Tourism’s official quality mark.

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