International Tour Operator Responsibilities

International Tour Operators or Travel agents, as part of your membership of Travel Operators for Tigers, have agreed to:

•    Support, endorse, help, publicise and advocate the relevant Guidelines for all those involved in the delivery of your service to your clients. This includes sending the guidelines to:
i)     Your DMC’s or agents and partners in different regions of the Indian subcontinent
ii)     Your tour leaders and wildlife guides in each area
iii)    Your accommodation and service providers using protected areas as part of their tour itinerary

•    Use (wherever possible) PUG certified lodges, as their first option accommodation provider for their client’s accommodation needs in their tour itinerary. If they are using lodges or resorts not TOFT members to encourage them to join TOFT and to undergo the PUG audit before you will consider using them.

•    Add the Travellers leaflet to
i)    Your clients hotel voucher and ticket wallet
ii)    Use in your client briefings, wherever/if appropriate

•    Inform your clients of your involvement in the campaign through your tour itinerary, website links and in your brochures, and encourage your DMC or Ground agent to join as a TOFT member too.

•    Add a £15 (or equivalent) contribution per person to all client tour quotes, where their itineraries go to Tiger parks in India. This is used to support the campaign’s project objectives. This can be mentioned as part of your clients ‘Responsible tourism credentials’. Each season you will be asked to submit the funds collected, on an honesty basis, to the appropriate charity account in the UK or India.

•    Inform your leaders and tour guides of the ability to record infringements or bad practice through the TOFT comments email. comments@toftigers.org, or the website www.toftigers.org for appropriate recording and action