This is the mission that Travel to the Azores set itself at its founding: to offer only travel-programme itineraries with an eco-responsible ethic. This ethic rests on 3 main pillars: respect for the environment + respect for local life + contribution to the local economy.
As someone who cares about these matters, read our 15 tips for travelling as eco-responsibly as possible 🙂
1 – Favour direct flights
This option can be more expensive than taking connecting flights, but it not only lets you save time, but also drastically reduce your carbon footprint. So you need to show a certain flexibility on your travel dates, if possible and if it allows you to take direct flights.
2 – Offset your trip
Travel to the Azores tells you more about this in this article: offsetting your trip should become second nature. Most airlines now offer it. Because adding a few euros to the price paid for your flights may not necessarily change much for you, but for others does a great deal by helping to fund ecological initiatives led by environmental associations and accredited companies. If, however, your airline doesn’t offer it, you can choose your own partner.
3 – Limit the number of trips in a year
If you’re used to travelling far every year, it might be time to rethink the way you travel, and to space these trips a year apart. Start, for example, by taking these trips every two years and, in between, travelling close to home. It’s a notion we (re)discovered during the Covid period, when it wasn’t possible to travel far: there are wonders to explore right next door!
4 – Favour short distances
In the same vein as point 3, travelling close to home hugely reduces your energy consumption. To give you an idea: 1 km travelled by plane represents 285 grams of CO2 (by way of comparison: 14 grams for an equivalent distance by train). Reducing your travel distance therefore concretely reduces the pollution your journey generates.
5 – Extend the length of your stay
We don’t necessarily think of it right away, but staying longer where you travel helps to reduce the tourist pressure on the place visited, diversifies your stay, reduces the stress of having to do everything in as little time as possible, lets you build local connections more easily… That too is ecotourism 🙂
6 – Choose eco-conscious destinations
The Azores are a perfect destination for this: environmental awareness is championed not only by the local players of Azorean tourism, but also by local policy. The autonomous government of the Azores is aware of the richness of the archipelago’s nature and of the need to preserve it, and has for many years been taking particularly drastic measures to that end.
7 – Pack your suitcase smartly
Anticipating the needs you’ll have on site lets you reduce your consumption. For example: thinking about your outfits according to the number of days, not bringing too many pairs of shoes but only those you’ll need… And if you’re also a champion of eco-responsible habits, you might want to add to your suitcase products that are non-toxic to the environment (biodegradable shampoos and soaps, reef-safe sunscreen…). Over to you!
8 – Limit single-use plastic
In your suitcase, remember to bring reusable, practical items with you: water bottle, tote bags… Anything that helps you avoid buying single-use plastics on site that contribute to polluting the places visited.
9 – Eat local
It’s a general rule that applies particularly well to your stay in the Azores; even though it’s an archipelago lost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a great many foods are made or produced on site: meat, fish, seafood, dairy products, fruit, vegetables… Favouring local restaurants and buying foods from the Azores when you shop at local markets or supermarkets are little extras that can really make a difference.
10 – Contribute to the local economy
Eating in local restaurants, and more generally buying locally, also contributes to one of the important aspects of eco-responsible travel: the local economy. Making the inhabitants of the places visited the primary players in their economy and the primary beneficiaries of it is essential to maintaining their standard of living, to enabling them to benefit from tourism and to helping them preserve the places in which they live all year round.
11 – Buy local souvenirs, made by locals
Still along these same lines, if you want to treat yourself by buying souvenirs, for example from one of the islands you particularly loved, look into local crafts, a world of traditions often threatened with dying out due to a lack of sufficient production. Not only do you keep a unique and original memento of your stay, but you continue your fine mission of nourishing a local economy.
12 – Choose eco-responsible accommodation
Travel to the Azores surrounds itself only with providers making concrete efforts to limit the impact of their activity on the environment. Accommodation is foremost among these, as it’s one of the most polluting services. How can you be sure of these environmental practices? There are several possible sources of information, beyond visiting the recommended places in person: the Booking platform, for example, offers sustainability levels, on which establishments wishing to be part of this programme are rated; Travel to the Azores favours partnerships with the latter.
13 – Limit your consumption on site
No, you don’t need to have your bath towels changed every day at the hotel. No, you don’t need to choose an “all-inclusive” package. No, you don’t need to take your car if you can cover a 30-minute distance on foot to the desired point and you don’t suffer from a disability or a physical condition preventing you. Our slightly blunt tone is meant to point out behaviours that are completely out of proportion to the real needs of comfort while travelling. By rethinking our habits and our demands, we can make a difference 🙂
14 – Limit your negative impact in the places you visit
There are basic rules to follow during your trip, and particularly in the Azores: don’t make noise at late hours, don’t feed the animals you come across (even town or village pigeons), don’t take natural elements home in your suitcase (pebbles, shells…), don’t leave litter behind you… These behaviours are essential to respecting the lives of the inhabitants and the environment.
15 – Entrust your trip to local experts, creators of eco-responsible travel
Because local travel designers are best placed to know the subtleties of organising a stay that can make the difference, have worked to surround themselves with providers with an eco-responsible ethic and are committed to promoting their knowledge in the most ethical way possible, don’t hesitate to entrust them with organising your stay!
Travel to the Azores creates your personalised travel programme for you, negotiating and booking for you all the essential services of your trip (excluding flights), and crafting respectful and unforgettable discovery itineraries. To receive your free quote, send us your request at contact@voyage-aux-acores.com or by filling out the contact form.
