Exploring Iceland Regenerative Tourism Approach  

Exploring Iceland is a tourism company that takes pride in fair trading with its local partners and with concern for the environment and animal welfare. We aim to maintain long term relationships with our customers, suppliers and local stakeholders, based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect. 
In 2024 we were chosen to be a part of CE4RT (Circular Economy for Regenerative Tourism), a fully funded European project to assist tourism SMEs in their sustainability journey. 

What is regenerative tourism? 
Regenerative tourism is an emerging approach to travel that goes beyond sustainability, aiming not only to minimize harm but to actively improve the environment, communities, and ecosystems visited. While sustainable tourism focuses on reducing negative impacts, regenerative tourism seeks to leave a destination better than it was before.

Key Principles of Regenerative Tourism:

1. Positive Environmental Impact: Travelers and tourism operations engage in activities that restore and regenerate natural ecosystems, such as reforestation, wildlife conservation, and habitat restoration.
2. Community Empowerment: Local communities are deeply involved in tourism development, benefiting economically and culturally. This can involve promoting local businesses, preserving traditions, and ensuring that tourism supports the well-being of residents.
3. Cultural Preservation: Regenerative tourism respects and promotes local cultures and traditions, ensuring they are not exploited or commodified for tourism but celebrated in authentic and enriching ways.
4. Circular Economy: The tourism industry adopts sustainable practices that minimize waste and utilize resources efficiently, creating a closed-loop system where resources are reused, recycled, or regenerated.
5. Education and Awareness: Tourists are educated about their impact and encouraged to adopt responsible behaviors. This could include minimizing carbon footprints, avoiding damage to ecosystems, and respecting local customs.
6. Holistic Approach: The aim is to create thriving ecosystems, cultures, and economies that mutually benefit from tourism, focusing on long-term resilience rather than short-term profits.

Exploring Iceland has established a set of ethical guidelines and practices to ensure that our tourism activities are conducted in a manner that is fair, sustainable, and beneficial to local communities, economies, and the environment. Our Regenerative Tourism Approach aims to promote equitable treatment, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship while providing meaningful and enriching experiences for travelers.

Principles
Fair Wages and Working Conditions

• Local Employment: We ensure  that our staff is paid fair wages that meet or exceed local standards. We respect the right of all employees to form and join trade unions of their choice and to bargain collectively. The company ensures that representatives of employees are not subject to discrimination in the workplace.
• Decent Working Conditions: Exploring Iceland Employees must be provided with safe, healthy, and equitable working conditions, including adequate working hours, fair compensation for overtime, and opportunities for professional development. Exploring Iceland does not discriminate in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation or age. Exploring Iceland has a clear policy and plan to promote gender equality, women and men receive equal pay for equal work.  The company recognizes women’s and men´s full employment rights and is committed to ensuring that both receive their full statutory employment benefits. The company takes into account the special health and safety needs of pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers.
• No Exploitation: There must be no tolerance for child labor, forced labor, or exploitation of any kind within the tourism industry or its supply chains. Exploring Iceland adheres to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children. The company ensures that there is no forced labour in its workforce and / or members or homeworkers.

Local Community Empowerment

• Support for Local Economies: Exploring Iceland promotes local businesses, artisans, and service providers by sourcing goods and services locally whenever possible.
• Respect for Local Culture: All of our activities must respect and promote local customs, traditions, and cultural heritage, ensuring that interactions are mutually respectful and non-exploitative.
• Giving back to society - helping University Students
  We are always trying to give back to society, for example by supporting University students from all over the world in their studies about Iceland, its economy, tourism industry and wildlife. 
• Giving back to communities - helping children to learn about horses and nature 
  On a regular basis we have invited young people from local communities who may not have the financial needs to join our teams to learn about horses and take part in the wonderful companionship with animals.  
• Giving back to communities - Annual visits to the local Home for the Elderly with our retired horses to brighten their day, to bring joy and good memories to them. 

Environmental Sustainability 

• Sustainable Resource Use: We strongly believe in adopting environmentally friendly practices, such as minimizing water usage, reducing energy consumption, and collecting and managing waste responsibly.
• Conservation and Biodiversity: Exploring Iceland contributes to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems by supporting conservation projects and avoiding activities that damage the natural environment. We regularly include activities such as litter picking or  tree planting in our tourism tours to make sure we leave the place behind us in a better shape than we found it! 
  
• Carbon Footprint Reduction: By joining a qualified sustainable tourism certification program, we try to establish a to audit and reduce our carbon emissions through responsible transportation, renewable energy use, and carbon offset initiatives.
• For further details, please see our Sustainability Statement. 

Ethical Marketing and Transparency

• Truthful Advertising: All marketing and advertising must be honest, transparent, and free from false claims. Travelers must be accurately informed about the nature of their travel experience and the impact it will have on local communities and the environment.
• Fair Pricing: Our services are priced fairly, ensuring that local providers are adequately compensated without exploiting travelers or compromising service quality.

Cultural Sensitivity and Respect

• Respect for local communities: We respect the rights of local communities and stakeholders, such as the farming or fishing communities. 
• Cultural Awareness Training: Exploring Iceland provides cultural sensitivity training for employees and travelers, encouraging respectful and meaningful engagement with local communities.

Social Equity

• Inclusivity: Our tours and tourism activities are inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of race, gender, religion, or socioeconomic status. 
• Non-Discrimination: Discrimination in any form is prohibited in hiring practices, customer service, or community relations.

Exploring Iceland´s Commitment to Continuous Improvement
We believe that the approach to Regenerative Tourism is a lifelong project, we are committed to continuously improving our  practices to ensure they align with evolving fair trade, sustainability, and ethical tourism standards.

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