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As B Corp Month draws to a close, we wanted to take the time to reflect on the incredible work that some of our B Corp partners are doing across the globe. As the message of one of the most powerful organisations in sustainability and corporate governance becomes ever more relevant, the travel community within B Corp continues to grow rapidly. From delightful privately owned African safari camps to our inbound travel partners, private islands in the Pacific Ocean and some of Europe’s most iconic natural tourist attractions, the spread of our partners becomes ever more diverse. This growth allows us to offer ever more impactful and meaningful trips within our global travel programme, delivering measurable benefits to both our guests and the areas that they are visiting.
Songa Saa Private Island off the southern coast of Cambodia is one of just a tiny handful of B Corp organisations in South East Asia, offering guests an idyllic island retreat which supports its own remarkable Songa Saa Foundation. For more than ten years now they have been supporting a wide range of projects in the local area including:
The Foundation is funded through a combination of grants and donations from guests, as well as donations from dedicated marine preservation funds. Guests are able to witness the successful impact of the programme through all aspects of the stay at Song Saa as well as make direct donations before or after their stay.
Moving across to Africa, we were delighted that our wonderful inbound partners in Namibia, ATI Holidays, received their B Corp certification in July 2024, becoming the first travel company in Namibia (and indeed in Africa) to be certified, a wonderful achievement. As one of the largest inbound safari operators in Namibia they welcome and look after guests from all over the world and have recently joined the Path Net Zero, a carbon offsetting programme for business that offers pre-purchased Verified Emission Reductions (VERS). Charlotte Bond, owner of ATI was effusive over their B Corp certification and the impact that it has had, not only on their contribution to Namibia’s incredible natural environment, but also how it has impacted the team in the Windhoek office:
“Being B Corp certified is hugely significant for us, especially as an African company employing 27 people on a living wage, of whom 90% are women and 75% are previously racially disadvantaged. We recertify with B Corp every 3 years so are constantly monitoring and improving our impact across all aspects of our business!”
Further north, one of newest partners, Emboo Camp in the heart of Kenya’s fabled Maasai Mara National Reserve pitches itself as a New Generation Safari Camp, one that was conceived and built with sustainability at its core. With electric vehicles to take guests through the Maasai Mara, natural soaps and shampoos provided and the ability to properly dispose of any single-use items guests need to bring (no single-use items are provided by the camp) they are one of Kenya’s leading eco-friendly camps. Add to this delicious farm to fork meals – most ingredients travel less than 100 steps from the gardens to guests’ plates – this is somewhere that is putting sustainability at the heart of everything that they do.
The Maasai word “Emboo” means pride (of lion) or community and is a pivotal pillar of how the camp works. Aside from their outstanding eco credentials, Emboo are spearheading a change in the Kenyan safari industry being heavily male orientated. Women are employed as guides, chefs, on the maintenance and security teams here – unusual now but something that will become increasingly common in years to come and huge credit must be given to the camp for being at the forefront of this movement.
Staying in the southern hemisphere we move across to Chile and Hotel AWA. Found in the stunning but fragile ecosystem of northern Patagonia, Hotel AWA holds the dual distinction of being a member of B Corp as well as Leading Hotels of the World. Being the first hotel in Chile to achieve the former is a great source of pride and one that shows how committed they are to bettering both the unique environment in which they operate and the remote local communities that they support. Our Latin America Programme Manager, Evie Oswald, stayed at the hotel on a recent trip and shared with us her thoughts on the experience:
“At AWA, they plan to reduce the use of fossil fuels by 80% by 2030, which from my experience staying at AWA is clear from their experiences on offer, as many involve bicycles, e-bikes and electric vehicles. AWA has had its very own organic garden based on regenerative and permanent agriculture since 2017, which supplies their kitchen with 70% of their fresh produce. In fact, more than 80% of AWA’s product suppliers at the hotel are local, demonstrating their focus on sustainable production and the importance of generating integral and strong alliances with these service providers.”
Based in Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, our local partners – Galavanta – are one of the pioneers of conscious travel in Latin America and have some truly inspiring programmes that our guests travelling to Colombia contribute to. As well as supporting programmes to encourage visitors to be mindful of both their waste and water footprints they measure the carbon footprint of each visitor they look after and offset these with donations to a local not-for-profit that backs a variety of environmental and conservation projects. In addition to this, they are champions of social change across northern Colombia:
Finally we reach Europe and perhaps one of the continent’s most iconic and popular natural spectacles, Iceland’s Blue Lagoon. This geothermal spa in the southwestern part of the country is on almost every visitor’s bucket list when visiting and as such deals with unprecedented demand, leading to a need to preserve both this unique area and the delicate environment through which guests arrive (and stay) to experience it. For The Blue Lagoon, B Corp membership has allowed them to have goals to strive towards in how they preserve their unique attraction and with a certification score of 98.6 when they became members in 2023 it is clear they are going above and beyond in their efforts to do so.
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