Towards a more sustainable tourism

Our Mission

Natondi Tours’ mission is to create travel experiences that highlight the natural and cultural values of South Africa.
We are committed to promoting tourism that respects both the environment and local communities, in order to preserve destinations for future generations while contributing to their socio-economic development today.
To support greater sustainability, we encourage our business partners and clients to adopt more responsible travel practices, with the goal of minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive outcomes.

Local context: South Africa and conservation

South Africa is home to one of the richest natural heritages in the world. Consequently, biodiversity conservation has played a central role in the country for many years.
National parks, nature reserves, and conservation initiatives all play a key role in protecting unique ecosystems and exceptional wildlife. When well-managed, tourism can also support these efforts by generating revenue for nature conservation and local communities.
As a player in the tourism sector, we believe it is essential to actively contribute to this broader preservation effort.

Our Vision

  • We all have the power to act

Even at our own scale (as a micro-enterprise), it is possible to make a positive contribution towards responsible tourism.

  • Shared responsibility

Tourism businesses, accommodation providers, excursion operators, guides, travellers, and local communities: we all have a role to play.

  • Every action matters

As a small business, we are convinced that every action, even small ones, makes a difference.

  • Awareness, training and support

We believe it is important to raise awareness among our staff, partners, and travellers.
We recognise that some people involved in the sector do not always have access to training or resources on these topics; we therefore aim, whenever possible, to help share knowledge, communicate available training opportunities, and encourage the adoption of more responsible tourism practices.

Our Values

Our approach is based on a few essential principles:

  • Shared responsibility

Sustainable tourism relies on the active participation of all those involved in the travel sector.

  • Respect

We are committed to respecting the environment, local cultures, communities, and all of our partners.

  • Transparency

We aim to communicate in an honest and realistic way about our practices, our commitments, and the experiences we offer.

  • Commitment to responsible practices – zero-tolerance policy

Some practices are incompatible with our vision of responsible tourism, particularly activities that harm biodiversity, cultural heritage, or local communities, as well as any actions that violate human rights, children’s rights, or animal welfare.

Our Commitment

We are currently committed to a continuous improvement process based on the principles of the Travelife Program, an internationally recognised initiative that supports tourism businesses in integrating more sustainable practices.

This approach allows us to structure our efforts around several key areas:

  • Promoting tourism that respects communities, the environment, and local heritage
  • Assessing and questioning our practices to take meaningful action
  • Gradually improving our practices, both internally and externally
  • Integrating sustainability criteria into the selection of our partners
  • Supporting and promoting positive local initiatives
  • Informing and raising awareness among travellers

We recognise that sustainable tourism is a long-term process and that our approach is still evolving. We are moving forward step by step, with the ambition of continuously improving our practices.

Our Sustainability Policy

All of our commitments are detailed in our overall sustainability policy.

Download File

Please click this button to download our PDF document.

Our Achievements

Our journey towards a more sustainable tourism includes:

  • The completion of a “baseline assessment” as part of our Travelife Partner certification process, covering 150 criteria in our case.
    This baseline assessment provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of our practices in terms of sustainable tourism, enabling us to establish a tailored action plan.
  • The development and implementation of our overall sustainability policy.
    This policy outlines all of our objectives and commitments, both internally and externally, with the aim of reducing the negative impacts that are – or could be – generated by our activities on social, cultural, economic, and environmental levels, while strengthening positive impacts.
  • To enhance sustainability within our supply chain: the development of a questionnaire for our main accommodation providers, its distribution, and the collection of responses to assess their sustainable practices and prioritise certain suppliers based on their sustainability performance.
  • The promotion of destinations and sites recognised for their natural or cultural value.
  • Providing information on prohibited souvenirs derived from protected species (including a non-exhaustive list of concrete examples in South Africa to help travellers identify at-risk items, as well as a list of responsible alternatives), as part of our efforts to raise awareness among travellers about responsible behaviour.
  • The progressive improvement of our internal practices, such as:
    • Staff training on sustainable tourism
    • Staff involvement in sustainability-related decisions and actions
    • Responsible paper use (printing limited to what is strictly necessary, double-sided, on recycled and FSC-certified paper)
    • Waste sorting in the office

These actions will continue to evolve as our sustainability approach progresses.

Our Priorities

As part of our sustainable tourism approach, we have identified several priority areas for action, which are included in our improvement plan.

  • Strengthening communication and awareness
  • Communicating our sustainability policy and codes of conduct to our partners, guides, and travellers
  • Sharing our sustainability objectives and expectations with our accommodation partners
  • Enhancing local partnerships
  • Strengthening our relationships with local partners and community initiatives
  • Participating in knowledge-sharing and professional networks related to sustainable tourism
  • Supporting local initiatives whenever possible
  • Strengthening skills and knowledge
  • Undertaking specific training on sustainable tourism (environmental, social, and economic aspects)
  • Sharing resources, best practices, and training opportunities with our staff, guides, and partners
  • Improving the sustainability of our supply chain
  • Gradually integrating sustainability criteria into the selection process of our partners
  • Further developing responsible travel experiences and itineraries
  • Reducing our environmental impact
  • Measuring and progressively reducing our energy and water consumption
  • Assessing our carbon emissions (both internal and travel-related)
  • Exploring options for estimating and compensating travel-related CO₂ emissions
  • Promoting more responsible internal practices (for example, using environmentally friendly paper when printing is necessary)
TOP