The raw materials of any holiday trip are environment and culture. Tourism brings to travel destinations income, employs vast numbers of people, helps preserve historical attractions, cultural sites and local fauna, and promotes interaction between different cultures. Unconsidered and uncontrolled tourism, however, can spoil a holiday destination's environment, exhaust natural resources, disturb the natural wildlife and offend the local population.

Since 1999 Aurinkomatkat-Suntours has been implementing a programme whose goal is to make leisure travel sustainable. For a tour operator this is sensible from a business perspective, because no-one wants to travel to a spoiled environment or witness a myriad of social problems. The future of our tourism is dependent on the state of the environment, culture and society at holiday destinations.

Aurinkomatkat-Suntours' staff are trained to take the challenges of sustainable tourism into account. Contractual partners in destination countries are also offered training and information. Before their journey, all customers receive a destination booklet giving practical advice on how, as tourists, they can protect the nature and local culture of their holiday destination.

Cooperation among competitors
Aurinkomatkat-Suntours is actively involved in establishing the Tour Operator Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI), a joint project of UNESCO, the UN's environment project UNEP, the WTO (World Tourism Organisation) and tour operators. Competing tour operators have thus combined their energies with UN organisations to safeguard the future of their business.

In collaboration with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the joint project has prepared for the tour operator sector its own sustainable development reporting indicators. In addition, pilot projects to develop sustainable tourism have been initiated at Side in Turkey, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Agadir in Morocco and the Itacare area in Brazil. Tools for the sustainable management of tour operators' production chains have also been prepared.

The TOI has produced a guidebook on sustainable hotel management for the accommodation sector in collaboration with the Centre for Environmental Leadership in Business. The book has been distributed to 30,000 hotels worldwide. In addition, the TOI has published an instruction booklet on sustainable tourism for marine and coastal area as well as a handbook on the integration of sustainable tourism into tour operators' activities.

Aurinkomatkat-Suntours knows its responsibilities
Aurinkomatkat-Suntours has signed a commitment to fight against the sexual abuse of children. The company has a clause in all of its hotel agreements stating that the agreement can be terminated if the hotel permits child sex trade in its area.

Aurinkomatkat-Suntours also employs a 35-point sustainable tourism check-list when making agreements with hotels. The check-list is used to gather information, among other things, about ownership structure, environmental programmes, management of water, waste, wastewater and energy, procurement policy and community relationships.