BUDAPEST GO LOCAL: RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL

RESPONSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE & UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL

Responsible travel is a new way of travelling and a better way to see the world for those who've had enough of mass tourism. We all have a responsibility to make a difference by the way we act.

For our Corporate Social Responsability programs and references - please click here!

WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL?

(Based on the Capetown Declaration 2002 & the Kerala Declaration 2008)

Responsible Tourism is an approach which can be used by travellers and holidaymakers, accommodation and transport providers as well. Responsible tourism seeks to maximize positive economic, environmental, and social impacts and to minimize negative ones and with this, to make "better places for people to live in and for people to visit."

Principles of Responsible Travelling – a new approach in travelling and travel business:

The Idea: to minimize negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;
Economic Responsibility: generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities;
Environmental Responsibility: makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity; Uses resources sustainably, and reduce waste and over-consumption; Manages natural diversity sustainably, and where appropriate restores it; considers the volume and type of tourism that the environment can support, and respects the integrity of vulnerable ecosystems and protected areas
Building bridges between travellers and locals: provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;
Social Responsibility: provides access for physically challenged people; involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances; to keep on being culturally sensitive, to engender respect between travellers and hosts – overall the ethic of mutual respect and equity is fundamental to Responsible Tourism.

THE RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLER

Getting more out of your holiday

Responsible tourism can apply to any type of holiday, from a luxury city breaks to a volunteering project. If you travel to meeti people, to discover new cultures, to be part of adventure and to learn rather than simply lying on a beach or eating the same burger thousand of kilometres away – then responsible travel is for you.

A responsible traveller looks for real personal experiences, to be part of his / her destination, to be in it, to feel it, to smell it and to learn about it rather than just looking at it. The responsible traveller prefers smaller groups and meeting some local people to be surrounded by a mass of fellow tourists. The responsible travellers want to get a little bit more out of their travels, and to give a little bit back to the special places and people that they encounter. They want deeper and more real travel experiences. The responsible traveller values authenticity – experiences integral to local people's traditions, cultures and rituals - rather than those created for tourism.

It's all about travelling in a way that helps ensure that locals will give you an even warmer welcome.

TIPS FOR RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL

Look for authentic holiday experiences that enable you to get a little bit more out of your travels, and give a little bit more back to destinations and local people
Use public transportation, hire a bike or walk where possible
Travel with respect: Read up on local cultures and learn a few words of the local language
Buy local products in preference to imported goods
Hire a local guide - you'll discover more about local culture and lives
Do not buy products made from endangered species
Respect local cultures, traditions and holy places
Talk to locals, ask questions, tell them about your culture and do your best to understand their world
Consider locals as your hosts and not as servants
Enjoy the difference: diversity is a beauty - respect and enjoy differences between cultures and people, their way of thinking, being, eating, sleeping, drinking, dancing and more..
Give a feedback: keep in touch with those locals who you promised it to: send the pictures, write that letter, give a feedback!

UNDERGUIDE & RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLING

Underguide Travel Concept was born way before we heard about Responsible Travelling. We realized later on that the way of travelling we love & offer to our travellers is what the world calls Sustainable or Responsible Travelling. Today we are proud to say that with all Underguide programs and services we aim to make tourism more sustainable, accessible to everybody and to support responsible travellers to discover Hungary their way.

Responsible travelling is a way of being while you are ’on the road again’, a philosophy that we share with our travellers and an approach of tourism for professionals like we are that entails doing business differently. The attitude of living and really discovering the destination, the idea of bringing travellers as close as possible to local life, the goal of making travellers & local people meet each other for real, the fact that we aim to promote local producers and artists, as well as the tolerance and respect for the diversity are all the foundation and the consequence of responsible tourism and ideas we believe in.

We believe that our Underguides – all local people living & loving their town and willing to share this feeling with foreigners – are the best connections to Budapest and Hungary as they have all professional and personal skills to be the ones who will open your eyes to our culture and way of life far better than a simple professional.

What makes Underguide’s programs conform to the idea of Responsible Travelling?

We make you live your destination, we do everything for you to be an active part of it and to leave your imprint - that’s the idea how all our programs are built up.
You will meet plenty of local people who can not only tell you about our past but also can give you an insight into everyday reality – check out our GoLocal programs for details!

We have special tours on the topic like the popularResponsible Design and Fashion tour
where we take the guests to the best local manufacturers and deisgners

Responsible Design and Fashion tour Budapest

Another special tour is the Responsible Sightseeing tour
where we make the traveller realize the aspects of the topic

Our goal is to make you discover Hungary just as if you had come to visit a friend – this is why we call our people ’underguides’ as they are not just professionals but chosen - for their personality and attitude - and formed for being your local connections. All of us are well-travelled and we know exactly how better it is to have a local mate and not just a guide.
All our underguides are locals who live & love their home town and country.
We care for all environmental issues we touch: our office is as ’green’ as possible, we offer mostly walking programs with public transport or bike use, we preferred cleaning a monument of Budapest and offering this to everybody to spending on useless Christmas gadgets and we always look for new issues to minimize the negative environmental effect of our activity.
We support local producers and we will lead you to the best local souvenir-, design-, contemporary urban handcraft-, local cheese & wine shops and plenty of other studios and manufactures of your style.
We work against over consumption and useless over spending during holidays and we will take you to places where locals go and pay local rates.
We believe local life is accessible to everybody – there is a world to discover for every budget and a way to enjoy the town the same way for people with all kind of disability.

We design special CSR projects for local and international clients

Watch our other references and plan your CSR program with us.