This year we launched our carbon measurement ratings, following the epic undertaking of measuring our carbon footprint with Ecollective - but being #ClearOnCarbon is just the beginning. Now - as per our commitment to the Glasgow Declaration - we’ve begun working towards reducing our carbon footprint by 50% by 2030. As always, we aim to be completely transparent with the actions we take – where we have successes and where we fall short – and to communicate our journey every step of the way.

Launching our four-step Climate Action Plan, and signing the Glasgow Declaration - along with the whole Hotelplan Group - we put our sustainability vision into stages. This involved teaming up with Ecollective to begin measuring Explore’s carbon footprint. We also hit a milestone of almost 12,000 trees planted for loyal customers in partnership with Ecologi, and began a new partnership with Rewilding Britain to keep our natural landscapes thriving.

Alongside others in the travel industry we became a founding signatory of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency. We also joined forces with Climate Care to expand our carbon offsetting to include all our tours as well as flights, appointed a new Head of Sustainability, and launched our Animal Protection Policy.

Our sustainability work at Explore HQ continued with the installation of solar panels and the ban of all non-reusable coffee cups. We also partnered up with Water-to-Go to supply over 500 tour leaders with reusable water bottles, and launched our Plastic is Not Fantastic campaign to reduce the use of SU plastic on tours.

Our support extended to our oceans with a £6,000 donation to the Seabin Project. Meanwhile, we launched The Explore Way for all staff and partners, laying out our commitments to ensure animals and local people are protected and respected on our tours.

Sustainability initiatives continued with the removal of all elephant riding from our tours. Meanwhile, at Explore HQ, all members of staff received reusable coffee cups, and the Explore Start Up Fund was launched with £3,000 donated to three small businesses.

In 2015 we hit a milestone of over 100,000 trees protected with Cool Earth, twinned all our toilets at Explore HQ, shared our knowledge with over 200 students at Surrey University, and donated over £50,000 to charity partners.

Explore began supporting Lone Buffalo, an organisation committed to improving the lives of young people in Laos. Inspired by Manophet ‘Lone Buffalo’ - who previously worked as a local guide for Explore - Lone Buffalo provides free English tuition, as well as other extracurricular projects and leadership workshops.

Explore began carbon offsetting all customer flights booked through us in partnership with Cool Earth.

Explore is founded as a small group specialist adventure tour operator, launching with just six tours in a four-page brochure.