Sustainability Policy

Our team is aware of the environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts generated by tourism, and is one hundred percent committed to sustainability. All activities are carried out legally and we have competent collaborators who generate awareness to preserve the environment. The objective of our agency is to improve our behavior towards the environment by selecting responsible suppliers for each provision of services.

We, at Tika Travel, we hire local guides, design routes that integrate and promotes local crafts and gastronomy that is typical of the region. We are committed to protecting the environment, social and economic aspects.

We are committed to motivate and train our staff with training and awareness actions on the principles of sustainable tourism, to promote good environmental practices, and to report on the progress and environmental actions of the company.

This sustainable tourism policy will be updated whenever circumstances require, adopting and publishing in both cases new sustainability objectives.

Our sustainability commitments

Our travel agency Tika Travel is committed to the following points:

• Develop recommendations to travelers for a sustainable engagement.
• Set up a green office, respectful of the environment.
• Protecting flora, fauna and cultural heritage.
• Establish links with sustainable and responsible partners.
• Fight against discrimination and have a 100% legal employment policy
• Fight against all forms of child pornography

Recommendations and sustainable commitment for the traveler

Tika Travel’s clients are responsible tourists who commit themselves when booking their tour to the following:

1. Be informed about the place visited, the history, nature, nd culture so that their behavior and attitude does not cause any harm.
2. If visiting a sensitive ecosystem (such as deserts, corals, forests or jungles), find out how to do so to minimize impact.
3. Respect the silence of nature. Listening to nature is the best way to get to know it a little more.
4. Do not throw waste and keep it with you until finding a container made for that purpose.
5. 6. Use in moderation natural resources such as water and energy.
6. Support the local economy by consuming local products and encouraging the tasting of regional cuisine.
7. Be extremely careful with fire and cigarettes. Both can cause crucial damages to the environment and communities who live nearby.
8. Do not extract species of flora or fauna from their natural habitat.
9. Do not introduce exotic/alien species to avoid causing serious disturbance in the natural habitat of flora and fauna species and their food chains.
10. Do not feed wild animals directly. Feeding should be. controlled and advised by experts in wildlife management
11. Try not to leave any trace except the one from your own footsteps.

 Tika Travel: A green office

Our office is a friendly, green and eco-friendly place where:

1. Paper costs are limited by new technologies that enable efficient archiving and advertising on virtual media. Documents and e-mails are processed by computer and are not printed. When printing is required we use ecological and/or recycled paper
2. Our office equipment (computers, printers, and photocopiers) are energy efficient. Each equipment is turned off during non-active hours for energy savings.
3. We encourage the use of natural lights and low-consumption lamps. We always make sure that the lights are switched off when they are no longer needed.
4. We take public transport and encourage their use in order to limit carbon dioxide emissions and pollution. We work from home and working remotely is an efficient way to save energy.
5. 90% of our advertising is done on the Internet, thus limiting deforestation.
6. We have a recycling and waste management policy. Thus, we have bins for ordinary, hazardous and recyclable waste. Some organic waste is treated with a vermicomposting
7. We use local and fair trade products. Our coffee and tea are organic. We drink tap water and limit the use of plastic bottles. We do not use disposable tableware.
8. We have a healthy working environment in which plants absorb indoor pollution and bring warmth to the office.

Protection of Flora and Fauna

Tika Travel fights against all forms of illicit trafficking. To this end, our employees are committed to:

1. 1. To denounce all types of illicit traffic of which they are aware.
2. Do not consume food from animals in danger of extinction (iguana, Icotea tortoise, armadillo
3. Fight against forest destruction and deforestation.
4. Not to contribute to the captivity of wild animals which is punishable by up to 2 to 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to ten thousand minimum monthly legal wages.
5. Promote and respect the preservation of our culture to prevent the illicit trafficking of goods and cultural property.

Protection of Cultural Property

Tika Travel promotes, respects and helps preserve the following natural and cultural heritages declared by UNESCO:

• Traditional marimba songs and songs from the South Pacific of Colombia-Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca
• Cultural area of Palenque de San Basilio-Bolívar
• The Barranquilla-Atlántico Carnival
• The Holy Week processions of Popayán-Cauca
• Carnival of Whites and Blacks-Nariño
• Normative System of the Wayuus applied by the pütchipü’ü (“babble”) – Guajira
• Traditional knowledge of the Jaguar shamans of Yuruparí-Vaupés
• Feast of St. Francis of Assisi-Quibdó
• Historic center of Santa Cruz de Mompox-Bolívar
• Culture landscape
• Cultural landscape of the coffee of Colombia-Risaralda, Caldas, Quindío and Valle del Cauca
• Archaeological Park of San Agustín-Huila
• Tierraadentro National Park
• Katios-Choco National Park, Antioquia
• Port, fortresses and monumental complex of Cartagena-Bolivar

Establish links with sustainable and responsible partners.

At Tika Travel we have employees, customers and suppliers who understand the importance of sustainable tourism. Among the criteria for selecting suppliers, we specify that the supplier must certify that it has sustainable development practices. In addition, our partners must:

• Clearly describe their activity and share their ethical charter.
• Give priority to local when recruiting.
• Train and educate local staff and guides on sustainable development matters.
• Comply with local regulations and working conditions.
• Establish a waste and natural resources management policy.
• Support grassroots actions in favor of local populations.

Tika Travel is 0% Discrimination for 100% legal employment.

Tika Travel travel is committed to:

• Hire natural or legal persons from the destinations we operate, in fair and equitable conditions according to the availability of the market.
• Supporting the generation of employment, under fair and equitable conditions, linking local communities directly.
• Promote the purchase and consumption of goods and services produced and marketed by the local community, according to the availability of the market.
• Promote the purchase and consumption of goods and services produced and marketed by the vulnerable population as long as these offer tourist services.
• Fight against child labor exploitation in the tours we create, operates promote and/or market.
• Fight against discrimination of race, gender or any other type of discrimination in the tours we create, operate, promote and/or market

Preventing child pornography

In accordance with Colombian law number 679/2001 issued by the Congress of the Republic, which, enacting provisions relating to the prevention and countering of child exploitation, pornography and sex tourism. In accordance with this law everyone should prevent, block, combat and denounced the exploitation, hosting, usage, publication, distribution of images, text documents and visual files, misuse of the global information network or establishment of links of any kind to pornographic materials or materials related to sexual activities with minors. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors is punishable by imprisonment in accordance with the provisions of law number 679/2001. Tika Travel is committed to fighting against sexual tourism in all its forms.

Tika Travel, Travel Agency, is committed to Law 679 of 2001 (ESCNNA Prevention), Law 63 of 1986 (Protection of Cultural Property), Law 1185 of 2008 (Protection of Cultural Heritage), Law 17 of 1981 (Protection of Fauna and Flora), Law 1333 of 2009 (Environmental Sanctions) and Law 376 of 2009 (Prevention of consumption of tobacco, alcohol and other psychoactive substances in minors). Additionally, a code of ethics to prevent the commercial and sexual exploitation of children in accordance with Resolution 3840 of December 24, 2009 and according to Article 1 of Law 1336 of July 21, 2009 is distributed internally.