Catavino’s Responsible Travel Policy

Our Responsible Travel Policy outlines our ongoing and evolving commitment to support local communities, preserve the environment, protect those at risk, and giving back to the places we travel throughout Portugal and Spain. Our staff, suppliers and guides are frequently educated on our core principles as they continuously evolve and develop alongside our own growth as individuals and as a company. 

Respecting Local Cultures

Catavino tries our best to protect and look after people – in particular, our most vulnerable – by observing basic human rights, and ensuring we are promoting among our staff, travelers, local communities and suppliers/business partners, their right to be treated with dignity, equality, freedom and respect.

In our Offices (theLab)

• Celebrating diversity by actively hiring individuals of all age, gender, sexuality and interests. Today, we are proud to say that other than the CEO, our entire office is run by women.
• Offering remote working, flexible vacation days, and observance of religious holidays to support family and community needs
• Bi-annual celebrations for our staff and suppliers to be recognized for their hard work and loyalty

On our Tours

• Observing and respecting local customs and etiquette by encouraging social interactions, rituals and celebrations with our clients

In the Destinations we Visit

• Portraying destinations fairly and respectfully in our communications and marketing material.
• Providing comprehensive and unbiased information on the local history, culture, environment, and gastronomy
• Actively researching organizations for which Catavino can contribute our time and/or financial assistance. Our policy will be updated accordingly in the future. 

Respecting Local Economies

Catavino takes great pride in our effort to support local Spanish and Portuguese communities with every Euro we spend. We are fully conscious that small family run businesses are vanishing in lieu of corporate chains and that it is our responsibility to rally against the tide to keep the authenticity and community feel alive.

In our Office (theLAB)

• Purchasing sustainable and locally produced goods and services whenever possible rather than imported products.
• Ensuring that fair employment practices are in place (and uses suppliers who have similar employment practices), while paying relevant taxes.
• Supporting the community with locally sourced wine for tastings, artists for gallery events, and products for sale.

On our Tours

• Using local agents, suppliers and guides who contribute full time to the local economies throughout Portugal and Spain.
• Visiting places ‘off the beaten tourist trails’, thus spreading economic benefits across the country.
• Providing each of our suppliers with our Supplier Code of Conduct to influence our supply chain to operate in a more sustainable way.

In the Destinations we Visit

• Encouraging our travellers to purchase from local suppliers and use local service providers, as well as supporting social enterprises, local trade, arts and crafts.
• Contributing financial assistance to local operators and to local charities.

Protecting the Environment

We aim to contribute to the preservation of natural and built environments in the destinations we visit, and to reduce the negative impacts our operations may have on the environment. We do this by minimizing the use of resources (energy, water, waste) and reducing our carbon emissions in our offices, on our trips and in the destinations we visit whenever possible.

In our Offices

• Using public transportation to and from work.
• Implementing energy conservation initiatives (such as more efficient lighting/equipment).
• Ensuring better waste management by using ‘avoid, reuse, reduce, recycle’ principles.
• Adopting better purchasing practices (eg. sourcing products with post-consumer recycled content).
• Implementing water-saving initiatives to reduce consumption
• Selling locally produced organic, biodynamic and natural wines

On our Tours

• Using private, locally owned transport.
• Offering incentives for tours using hybrid or electric transport
• Limiting group sizes (average of 2-10 ppl)
• Encouraging travelers to minimize their waste by bringing their own water thermos, while reducing their overall consumption
• Inspiring our suppliers to adopt more sustainable practices or choosing suppliers who already have greener practices in place.
• Prioritizing Green Key sustainable hotels for our clients
• Eating at local establishments (limiting food miles); while encouraging clients to avoid ordering any endangered or threatened species (especially fish).
• Shopping at local markets offering local produce, items, souvenirs etc.
• Ensuring that comprehensive details of each tour is available in a paper-free format.

In the Destinations we Visit

• Understanding the environmental issues in destinations and minimizing our direct impact.
• Using a ‘take in, take back out’ system of waste management.
• Minimizing the use of intrusive devices (such as lights) and keeping noise to a minimum at culturally significant sites and other sensitive places.
• Discouraging travelers from touching, contaminating or impacting fragile environments.