SUSTAINABILITY POLICY

Vedas Tours and Travel Private Limited

Embark on a journey with Vedas Tours, where we blend sustainability with tourism to offer you unique and enriching experiences. Our commitment to responsible travel practices ensures that your adventures not only create unforgettable memories but also contribute positively to the environment and local communities. Explore breathtaking destinations, immerse yourself in diverse cultures, and support meaningful initiatives along the way. Join us in shaping a more sustainable future for travel. Let's travel responsibly with Vedas Tours.

Purpose

The company is committed to sustainable tourism. The purpose of this policy is to to promote tourism responsibly and sustainably by Vedas Tours India

Scope

This policy will apply to all operations, from management to the executive level of our company. Staff, suppliers, and partners are expected to fully uphold objectives under this policy whenever possible within prevailing budgets.

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Sustainability commitment

Vedas Tours India leadership is wholly committed to the company's sustainability performance and endorses the company's sustainability mission statement and policy. We will use the Travelife platform to report on our sustainability progress and to monitor and evaluate progress. We are committed to (publicly) communicating our sustainability performance (by means of the Travelife report) every two years.

Sustainability management & legal compliance

Vedas Tours India commits to continuous improvement of sustainability practices, including the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of our sustainability policy, with dedicated personnel and resources to achieve our sustainability goals.

Vedas Tours India follows all local, regional, national, and international regulations as they relate to human resources, human rights, children’s rights, land rights, environmental management, wildlife, and land use. We follow a strict Code of Ethics, including a zero-tolerance policy for corruption, bribery, forced labor, and discrimination.

Internal management: social policy & human rights

Employees

We recognize that our employees are our biggest asset for delivering meaningful travel experiences to our customers. Therefore, we maintain a clear human resource policy to ensure:

• Legal compliance in all regards

• A safe, healthy, and welcoming workplace

• Fair contract conditions including fair compensation

• Training opportunities including trainings on topics of sustainability, sexual harassment and exploitation in the workplace and in the industry

• Participation in the sustainability planning activities

• Inclusion and equal opportunity for all employees, particularly with regard to compensation, promotion, distribution of benefits, and professional development opportunities.

• Vedas Tours India supports both career-related and job-related professional development activities. Vedas Tours India is committed to the principle of fair and equal pay for like work and for work of equal value for all its employees, and contractors, regardless of gender/sex, race, national origin, marital status, age, religion.

• Vedas Tours India is committed to fostering a safe, healthy, and inclusive work place/work culture where all employees are able to perform their duties/to recognise their potential.

• Vedas Tours India is committed to a zero-tolerance policy for acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights, including forced labour, human trafficking, and all rights of children.

• Vedas Tours India further expects this commitment from all partners and suppliers.

Internal management: environment

Environmental management of office operations

We are committed to keeping the direct footprint of our business operations as minimal as possible and actively follow [circularity/the 5Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle)/sustainability/environmentallysound principles. We have the following measures in place:

• Follow all local and national regulations concerning environmental law

• Measure, monitor, and evaluate use of all commodities and products purchased, especially in terms of water, waste, energy, and carbon

• Procure office supply. locally, seasonally, fair trade, in bulk, with limited packaging, sustainability certified whenever possible

• Print only when absolutely necessary, and when printing, always print double-sided on grayscale. Paper must always be FSC or equivalent certified, with preference for the highest percentage postconsumer materials

• Energy saving measures are in place in all common areas

• All equipment and lighting is energy-efficient and turned off/unplugged/on sleep mode when not in use Water saving measures are in place in all common areas and restrooms, including water capture in external areas

• Waste is separated into the following categories: [plastic, organic, paper products, metal, hazardous, glass, e-waste, waste to landfill] and is disposed of properly by [a private company / municipality]

• Noise, light, and air pollution is minimised

• Vedas Tours India is committed to managing environmental impact as an integral part of our operations. It is our policy to assure the environmental integrity of our processes and products at all times by: Continuously seeking opportunities to improve our environmental performance by establishing objectives and targets, measuring progress, and reporting our results, including but not limited to energy, water, paper, and carbon.

• Practising a waste hierarchical approach to always reduce, reuse, and recycle commodities and products instead of waste, particularly waste to landfill.

• Promoting participation and communicating our commitment to responsible environmental management by promoting environmental responsibility amongst our employees and stakeholders and soliciting input from them to better achieve our environmental goals.

• Minimising pollution including light, noise, and any soil, water, or air contaminants, and avoiding use of any toxic or hazardous substances.

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Carbon management of office operations

Vedas Tours India is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and endeavours to reduce the amount we travel as much as possible by:

• Reduce the amount we travel as much as possible .

• Monitoring and measuremeasuring carbon footprint with the aim to reduce as much as possible and offset remaining amounts.

• Encourageing remote work whenever possible, and when it is not possible, making it easier for employees to limit their carbon footprint by use of eco modes of transportation.

• We commit to offsetting our remaining direct and indirect carbon from travel and fossil energy use via [carbon offset company].

• Implementing procedures such as [e.g. following proper maintenance for vehicle fleet, offering incentives such as bike rental stipend and showers].

• Installing energy efficient equipment and appliances [where appropriate/possible]

Land use

Vedas Tours India offices are located in a [urban/suburban/rural] area and abides by all local land use laws, respects local cultural and natural resources in our business operations, and favours sustainable architecture and design.

General suppliers policy

• Vedas Tours India is committed to sourcing its products and services responsibly, avoiding harmful impacts on society, culture and nature as much as possible. We expect the same level of engagement and commitment from our suppliers. .

• Vedas Tours India prefers to work with partners that share the company’s commitment towards sustainability. This means that we prefer partners that have a written sustainability statement as an integral part of their business policy and/or a clear sustainability policy in place.

• Vedas Tours India prefers to work with suppliers in the destinations that are locally owned or managed, use local and seasonal products and services and benefit the local community by hiring locally and equitably and by providing fair working conditions.

• Whenever possible, Vedas Tours India prefers to select partner companies that comply with tourismspecific, internationally recognized (GSTC-accredited) certifications, or other sustainability certifications like B Corp or ISO.

• Vedas Tours India offers incentives for partners that are actively engaged in sustainable operations.

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Vedas Tours India expects its suppliers to adhere to a Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics, that includes the following responsible business practices:

• Complying with all local, regional, national and international regulations

• Respecting all human rights including labour rights, children’s rights, and women’s rights

• Committing to fair employment conditions

• Following anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-extortion, and anti-discrimination policies

• Protecting children from (sexual) exploitation through tourism

• Protecting the environment and natural resources Acting in the best interest of local communities Protecting the interests of Vedas Tours India

• Acting in the best interest of local communities Protecting the interests of Vedas Tours India

Our complete supplier Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics is available here: 

• Following a zero-tolerance policy, Vedas Tours India will immediately terminate any relationships with suppliers that violate our policies/the [Code of Conduct/Code of Ethics], specifically through acts of bribery, corruption, discrimination, and violation of human rights.

• Vedas Tours India raises awareness amongst its suppliers to adopt sound social and environmental practices, and to minimise their carbon footprint.

• Vedas Tours India actively collaborates with suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. We encourage our suppliers to continuously learn about sustainability and provide/support this learning whenever possible.

• Vedas Tours India maintains open lines of communication with our suppliers and partners and encourage feedback from our stakeholders at any time and on any topic, particularly sustainability​​

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