Karibu Kenya Mission Statement:
Karibu Kenya is committed to preserving the environment, protecting local communities and conserving wildlife. Our goal is to offer sustainable travel by minimising the carbon footprint of those who travel with us. To this end, we offer community based activities and work with providers who are as dedicated as we are to the safeguarding the future of the planet.
Karibu Kenya Procedures and Policies Statement:
Karibu Kenya is committed to promoting sustainability. We are a travel company that works with stakeholders in tourism, including consumers, tour guides, travel agencies, hotels, transport companies, restaurants and attractions, and we understand our key role and influence in the sustainability development of tourism. We aim to follow, implement and promote good sustainability practices to maximise positive impacts and minimise any negative impacts on tourism of our operations and to influence our clients and partners to do the same.
We commit to complying with all national legislation, regulations and codes of practice.
Our sustainability policy is divided into 12 themes. Each theme consists of a set of principles and practical actions.
• Sustainability management and legal compliance: We have an appointed employee who is responsible for sustainability coordinator tasks, and a sustainability mission statement on the Karibu Kenya website that aims for a reduction of the negative social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of the company’s activities. We have an action plan with clear targets, actions, measures, responsibilities and time planning. Karibu Kenya is transparent in all our sustainability policies, and they can be read on our website. All our staff are aware of our sustainability policy.
• Internal management, social policy and human rights: We commit to sustainable internal management. We grant employees the freedom of employment and contract termination with notice, our labour conditions comply with Kenyan labour laws, and we pay over the national legal wage. We provide medical and liability insurance according to the national law, and grant employees fixed paid yearly holiday and sick leave. Our health and safety policy for employees complies to national legal standards: we don’t hinder trade union membership, we don’t discriminate in our employment policies and we practise human rights.
• Internal management, environment and community relations: We commit to practising environmental protection and enhancing community relations. We actively reduce the use of disposable goods by giving all our clients reusable water flasks and reusable bags made by single mothers from Nairobi’s Mathare slum, and we use environmentally-friendly sources including buying all our staff shirts and yoga tops from Wildlife Works' eco-factory. We use energy efficient electricity, reduce water consumption, recycle and compose, work from home, use internet meetings, and contribute to the protection and preservation of local historical, archaeological, culturally and spiritually important properties and sites.
• Partner agencies: We have developed and implemented a policy to improve sustainability of our partner agencies. Our aim is to make sustainable development matter to all our partners. We show the sustainability practices of our partner accommodations and agents in the Karibu Kenya Accommodation Guide and on the Karibu Kenya website. We only work with organisations who are implementing sustainability in their tourism policy.
• Employment: Karibu Kenya doesn’t employ anyone under 18. If we hear of any organisation in Kenya employing under 18s we would stop working with them immediately. Likewise, we would cease to work with any organisation that encourages or overlooks the sexual exploitation of children.
• Transport: We know that transport is an important aspect of sustainable tourism, and we offset the carbon of all our clients’ domestic flights, local transfers and game drives through Stand for Trees. We offer camel safaris and horse safaris as an alternative to game drives, we offer walking tours of Nairobi's Central Business District, and we offer yacht trips and dhow cruises at the coast. We try to ensure that vehicles used on our safaris do not cause more than average pollution.
• Accommodation: We use accommodation that is certified by Ecotourism Kenya, and we show the Ecotourism Kenya rating of each property on our website. We choose accommodation facilities that use local architecture and art, and promote and preserve our cultural heritage. We use accommodation facilities that do not jeopardise the provision or integrity of basic services such as food, water, energy, healthcare or soil to the neighbouring communities. We prefer to take our clients to accommodation facilities and restaurants that grow their own produce, with a farm to fork policy. We choose accommodation facilities that limit their negative impact on local and global biodiversity wherever feasible.
• Excursions and activities: Karibu Kenya values animal and community welfare highly. Kenya’s wildlife code is on our website. We safeguard the authenticity of Kenya’s communities and natural environment, we are strongly against harming wildlife and polluting the environment, and we encourage biodiversity. We encourage clients to stay at authentic local villages, and locally owned and managed camps and resorts. We use guides who are certified by the Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association. We encourage the purchase of local crafts and goods, and take clients to local villages and markets where they can buy these. We offer walking tours of Nairobi led by former street children.
• Tour leaders, local representatives and guides: Karibu Kenya complies with all Kenyan laws. The company involves as many locals as possible by employing them in the tourism industry, and we stand for a fair and safe working environment that supports and respects local communities. We work with locals, we pay over the national wage, and our KPSGA-certified guides are trained in sustainability issues, and talk to our clients about them.
• Donations: Karibu Kenya financially supports initiatives that are helping Kenya’s communities, wildlife and ecosystems. The organisations that we currently support can be found on our website, with details of what they offer.
• Destinations: Karibu Kenya maximises the positive impact of our chosen destinations to ensure sustainable development, we consider sustainability aspects in the selection process of new destinations, and we don’t offer destinations where tourism leads to negative local effects. We support biodiversity conservation, including protected areas and areas of high biodiversity through financial contribution, and we promote Kenya’s highly respected national parks, reserves and conservancies. We abide by Kenya’s laws against the use of products from wildlife.
• Customer communication and protection: Our customers’ welfare is very important to us. We ensure that customer privacy is not compromised, and comply with relevant standards and voluntary codes of conduct in marketing and advertising messages. We make product and price information clear, and give destination information, including sustainability aspects, which is factually correct. We promote Ecotourism Kenya certified accommodation, excursions, packages and transport options. We provide information to consumers about the natural surroundings, local culture and cultural heritage, and inform customers about risks and precautions related to health and safety matters. We have a contact person whose telephone number is permanently available for emergency situations. We inform clients about applicable legislation concerning the purchasing, sales, import and export of historic or religious artefacts and articles containing materials of threatened flora and fauna. We encourage clients to use local restaurants and shops, and to donate to local charities and sustainable initiatives. We measure client satisfaction and take into account the results, for service and product improvements, and we have clear procedures in case of complaints from clients.
