Green Tour Operators

Specialist Reports Special Interest Holidays Green Tourism Green Tour Operators Imaginative Traveller 

	Imaginative Traveller
19 Gloucester Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP5 3RB			MAP
tel: (01473) 635 737

Specialists in original and adventurous journeys for small groups and individuals to the Middle East, India, China, South East Asia and Latin America. Participates in REST (Responsible Ecological and Social Tourism) which for example trains hilltribe villagers on how best to manage tourism for their community so villagers operate a home-stay programme and a family houses receive tourists in rotation. Clients are also given cultural guidance about their destination. The idea is to put something back into the destination, specifically choosing smaller projects so they can see exactly where the money is going.

Recommendations

Has put together a dedicated family programme, minimum age 5, to Jordan, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam and Egypt. Itineraries are between 10 and 12 days with at least two and sometimes three nights at each stop. All accommodation (largely three-star hotels) offers a swimming pool for the end of the day or even at lunch time. Travel is by donkey, camel, boat, on foot to tire them off. Extra activities might be puppet shows in Vietnam, plus a trip to Halong Bay, in Jordan and Egypt snorkelling in the Red Sea, jeep safaris, donkey rides and Bedouin camping for one night. The programme starts from February 2003 and maximum group size is 20.

Sample Price

No firm prices as yet but from around £395 per person, excluding flights. There will be some concessions for under 12s.