G Adventures has joined a campaign designed to raise awareness of child protection and welfare within the tourism industry.
Along with its non-profit partner, Planeterra, it has joined forces with Friends-International’s ChildSafe Movement to launch a new set of guidelines.
Called Child Welfare and the Travel Industry: Global Good Practice Guidelines, they aim to educate the industry and consumers on how to responsibly interact with children when travelling.
They include guidelines about including taking pictures respectfully, not disrupting children’s education, and how to give gifts and donations in a way that doesn’t encourage begging.
Founder and executive director of Friends-International, Sebastien Marot, says the guidelines are long overdue, particularly in light of the growth of community-based and experiential tourism.
"These guidelines provide that framework, and it’s my hope they will become the benchmark for ensuring effective child protection in the tourism industry, with travel companies, agents, travellers and tour guides all contributing to creating safe environments for children," he said.
The guidelines have been put together with the help of various experts, including UNICEF, ABTA’s Clare Jenkinson and Harold Goodwin and Sallie Grayson from People and Places.
G Adventures has published a simplified, branded version of the guidelines, which are being launched to the travel industry today, with a global consumer-facing campaign following in November.
Jamie Sweeting, vice president of social enterprise and responsible travel at G Adventures, said: "We have swept all our digital assets and owned channels to ensure all our media complies, and we’ve removed all school classroom visits from our itineraries. We’re next about to embark on an internal training program with all staff, with the goal of becoming ChildSafe Certified by the end of the year."
Companies wishing to adopt the guidelines should contact [email protected].
