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Green Tourism

We love Scotland. Please help us in keeping Scotland's natural heritage.

We Are Green

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Our Commitment to the Enviroment

We greatly value these assets and are absolutely committed to operating in a manner that conserves and enhances our natural environment and local culture.

As part of our commitment to environmental responsibility, we continue an approach which champions the reduction in resource consumption. This is combined with methods of reuse and recycling, involving our office procedures, fleet, staff, partners and customers.

  • We work with Changeworks to manage our recycling and to help us reduce waste. We recycle as much as possible in our offices as well as recycle any waste left behind on our buses.
  • In our Edinburgh office, we regularly monitor our water and electricity usage. We are establishing a pattern which in turn allows us to monitor where we should be cutting down on our usage.
  • We always try and ensure we are reusing our materials, whether it’s brochures, uniform or office paper. For example, if an old uniform is beyond repair, we reuse these as rags to clean the external areas of our vehicles – who would have thought?!
  • Purchasing local, organic and environmentally friendly products wherever available. In our office, we use environmentally friendly cleaning products such as Ecover. By doing this, we are avoiding the use of harsh chemicals and promoting good practice amongst our staff.
  • We regularly support Cancer Research, Restart and Trees for Life.
  • We use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper for our printing material. This ensures that the paper mix was sourced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible manner.
  • We have the most fuel-efficient fleet, which we renew periodically to keep updated with the most modern vehicles and environmentally friendly technologies within them. We operate a fleet of 16, 29 and 32 seater Mercedes vehicles, with Optac technology to monitor driving. Staff are trained and regularly monitored on eco-friendly driving skills.
  • We allocate the most appropriate size of vehicle to each tour to avoid the waste of resources. If we have 15 customers on one of our tours, we allocate the most appropriate vehicles to our tours, so in this case a 16 seater would be allocated.
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Responsible Visitor Charter

As we’ve noted previously, we love Scotland. Please help us keeping Scotland’s natural heritage with these simple steps:

  • Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Keep your maps and brochures from your trip and pass them on to friends and family. You can even give them back to your hotel reception and they can use them for their next guests.
  • Buy local food and gifts at local establishments, festivals and markets to show your support to small and rural communities. For the latest events, markets and festivals in Scotland check out: Visit Scotland Events. We are continuously working with accommodations that provide the best local food options. If you have a particular dietary requirement, let us know and we will provide you with further information/advice.
  • Travel by public transport: By travelling with Highland Experience Tours you are cutting your carbon footprint by leaving the car at home.

If you are travelling by bicycle to join one of our tours, the nearest bike rack is located just outside of Burnet’s Close, just a few doors down from our meeting point!

a bicycle parked on a city street

If you are travelling to us by bus, George IV Bridge and North Bridge are the nearest bus stops to us which numerous local buses serve. If you require any additional information please see our Accessibility page and the following

Local Transport: Transport For Edinburgh
All transport: Travel Lines Scotland

Learn about Scotland’s nature, wildlife, local culture and history from our guides on tour. Let us know the areas you spotted particular wildlife on your tour so we can identify and develop best practice.

Keep up to date with our social media pages and website for more about our local projects and green tourism campaigns!

Green Tourism Business Scheme

Highland Experience Tours has obtained a Gold award from GTBS for our ongoing commitment towards the environment.

We are regularly monitoring our impact on the environment within and out of our offices in order to reduce our carbon footprint of our staff and customers. Additionally, we operate a fleet of engine standard Euro V and Euro VI Mercedes vehicles, including six with the Blue Efficiency package which is further recognized for low fuel consumption.

To find out more about GTBS, take a look at their website to see how you can reduce your impact on the environment: Green Tourism

ECOSTARS

Highland Experience Tours have obtained a four star grading from ECOSTARS, who have reviewed the environmental impact of our current fleet of vehicles. ECOSTARS is a fleet recognition scheme, supported by The City of Edinburgh Council and our governments, who provide recommendations throughout Europe on reducing fuel consumption, emissions and varying factors that contribute to vehicle impact on the environment. ECOSTARS voluntarily assess all companies operating a fleet of vehicles in the following areas:

  • Fleet Composition
  • Fuel Management
  • Driver Skills Development
  • Vehicle Specification/Maintenance
  • IT Support Systems
  • Performance Monitoring

Local Projects

We are committed to being a green company and actively encourage our staff and customers to get involved in the best green practices! Keep up with this page for information on our green campaign and involvement in local activities.

Newsletter

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