POKHARA LODGERESPONSIBLE TOURISM VERIFICATION REPORT 2010

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SUMMARY

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS OVER FINANCIAL YEARS 2008/09 & 2009/10

• Reductioninoverallcarbonfootprintperbednightof66%

• Reductioninwaterleaksthroughinstallationofbreatherpipestoreducesystempressure

• Reductionofplasticbagsby49%

• Reductionofbatteriesby52%perbednightoverthreeyears

• Increaseinstaffphilanthropyintermsoftimeanddonationsofanaverageof31%and35%respectively

• Increasedcompanycharitabledonationsof38%

• IncreasedguestfundingofCommunitySupportPartnershipby29%

• DevelopmentoftheSustainableActionGroupasakeystaffforum

KEY WEAKNESSES / AREAS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT

• Failuretoinstallwaterandelectricitymetersontimeforthisverificationperiod

• Failuretoachievehopedforreductionsindieselusage(generatorrunningtime)

• Failuretoachieveaneffectivemeasurementsystemforwaste

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TigerMountainPokharaLodgehasbeenworkingwithissuesofresponsibleconser-vationtourismsinceitsinceptionin1998,developingamodus operandisuitedtothemiddlehillsofNepal.ThispolicybuildsonthecommonethosoftheTigerMountainNepalfamilyofcompanies,initiatedinthelowlandTeraibyTigerTopsandinthehighmountainregionsbyMountainTravelNepal.TigerMountainNepalhasbeenpractis-ingresponsible/sustainabletourismsincelongbeforetheconceptbecameamod-ernbuzzword.Aspartofourdevelopment insustainable tourism,weperceived theneedtodefineandquantifyourefforts.Weinvestigatedvariouscertificationandawardschemesbutnoneseemedtoaddressthespecificissuesweface.ThroughthehelpofJaniceLee,atSagaCharitableTrust,wewereintroducedtoagraduatestudentfromLeedsMetropolitanUniversity, InternationalCentre forResponsibleTourism faculty,whosubsequentlyvisitedandhelpedusupdateourprocessesanddocumentation,andintroducedustotheResponsibleTourismVerificationscheme–onethatseemedeminentlyappropriatetoourneeds.

This isour first report for verificationand thus it details somequantifiableachieve-mentsandmuch“workinprogress.”Wehavemadealong-termcommitmenttotheverification process and hope to showdefinitive results in increased achievementsandenhancedperformanceagainstourResponsibleTourismPolicyoverthecomingyears.Startingfromastrongbaselinesetsatoughstandard,butwearedeterminedtoimproveonourfirst-yearresults.

THE REPORT COVERS OUR KEY AREAS OF POLICY1. Environment

2. Social&CommunityEngagement

3. CorporateGovernance&EmployeeSupport

4. WiderStakeholderGroups

WithourinitialeffortstodefineourResponsibleTourismPolicyandquantifyourmeas-uresofverificationin2008/09,wefoundthatourrecordingsystemswereinsufficient.Thisprovokedanover-reactionleadingtounsustainableburdensomereportingproc-esses. Installingmeters toease the reportingburdenhas takena long timedue todelaysinsupply,wrongitemssupplied,etc.In2010/11,weaimtobalanceaccuracywithefficiencyinourreporting.ThiswillhelptoimprovefutureResponsibleTourismVerificationReports.

ThisreportdetailsTigerMountain’shistoricbackgroundandgivesrecordingsforourfinancial years (mid-July),whichalsocoincidewithourannual tourist season (fromSeptemberthroughtoJune).

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The lodgewasbuilt in1997/98andhas not been structurally modifiedsincethen.Akeyelementofthede-signbriefwastoensurethatthear-chitectureblendedwiththelocalver-nacular1, used local materials, andremainedearthquakesafe.

A swimming pool was added in1999/2000. Blending into naturalcontours, its dramatic hilltop posi-tioniseffectivelyinvisiblefromallbutaircraft overhead! Changing roomsmade of sustainable resources(bamboo and thatch grass) and a“jungletoilet”wereadded.Thetoiletis a soak-away system situated sothat there isnoriskofpollutingwa-tercourses2.

The land was used for seasonalagriculture by the previous owners,who grew grasses for roofing andfodder purposes. After construc-tion by teams of labourers usinghand tools to minimise land distur-bance, the traditional “khar bari” orthatchgrassmeadowwasreplantedand left to regenerate3. Woodlandwas encouraged and protection in-creased foliage and enhanced bio-diversity.Ourbird listhasincreasedwithanaverageofthreetofivenewspeciessightedannually4.Likewise,abutterflymonitoringproject ledbyColinSmith,Nepal’s leadingbutter-flyexpert,hasseenanaveragean-nual increase in species sighted of

18peryear5.Theseresultsendorseourpolicyofnaturallandscapingandvalidate our increase in local biodi-versity.

We only use natural products forbuilding maintenance except white

VERIFICATION NOTES

1. VisualinspectionofthelodgeandlocalareaconfirmsthatthelodgewasinkeepingwiththestyleofKaskidistrict.

2. Visualinspectionofthe“jungletoilet”confirmsthatthereisnovisiblecontaminationofwatersources.

3. Visual inspection of the lodge’s grounds confirms that they are inkeepingwiththelocallandscape.

4. WaterfowlCensusandBirdChecklistscanbedownloadedfromhttp://www.tigermountain.com/pokharaandclickon‘DownloadInformation’.

5. Butterfly data can be downloaded from http://www.tigermountain.com/pokharaandclickon‘DownloadInformation’.

ENVIRONMENT – LANDSCAPE & ARCHITECTURE

emulsion paint. Otherwise naturalred-earthmud-plasterisusedonfivebungalowsandthepowerhouse.Lo-calwomenareemployed to plasterthe houses in the traditional localmanner.

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Until 2008, the lodge relied on twodieselgenerators (1x100kVAand1x30kVA)forsignificantamountsofpower and received electricity fromtheNepalElectricityAuthority(NEA)for lighting and light load applica-tions. This generator reliance wasunacceptable in terms of fossil fuelconsumption,carbonfootprint,noise,and particulate pollution. On theotherhand,NEAelectricityislargelygenerated from run-of-river hydro-powerprojectsandisreasonablyen-vironmentallybenignbycomparison.

Inlate2008,weaddressedthegen-erator issue by obtaining a three-phase 60A line from NEA. Theo-retically, this should have enableda significant reduction in generatoruse. However, supply issues withNEA adversely offset the hoped-forreduction in generator run-time. In2009,powerdistributioncapacitydi-minishedduetotheKoshiFloodthatresultedin18hoursadayloadshed-ding.Tomitigatetheeffectsofthesecircumstanceswecarefullymanagegenerator use, minimising daytimeusage to essential needs only andpreventingnightuseafter10pm.

In 2007/08, we began purchasingCFL bulbs but found this initiativeineffectivedue topoorqualitybulbsthat frequently broke. We re-intro-duceditin2009/10whenbetterqual-itybulbsbecameavailable.

ENVIRONMENT – ENERGY & WATER MANAGEMENT

VERIFICATION NOTES

6. All CO2 calculations weremadeusingtheResurgenceCarbon Dioxide Calculator:http://www.resurgence.org/education/carbon-calculator.html.

7. AllCO2outputswerecross-checked by spot-checkingeither relevant utility bills,store logs or the companyaccounts.

8. The number of bed nightswascross-checkedusingthesalesanalysisdatabase.

WATER CONSUMPTIONPreviously we did not record watersupplies, so no understanding ofconsumption was available. Interimrecording measures were tried butproved cumbersome or ineffective.Wehavenowinstalledmeters,whichwillenableeffectivemonitoringinthefuture.

Electriciy Diesel Petrol Kerosene Firewood LPG0.38 0.99

55.28

27.88

40.01

32.60

6.33 5.296.79 6.23

10.93 11.22

2008/092009/10

FUEL TYPES - ANNUAL TOTAL CO26 EMISSIONS (TONNES)7

2008/09 2009/10

0.04

0.03

ANNUAL TOTAL CO2 EMISSIONSPER BED-NIGHT (TONNES)8

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FUTURE PLANS

Replacetheseven-year-oldcomputerwithanewmodeltoreducepow-erconsumption,particularlythroughtheselectionofaLEDmonitor.

Purchaseincreasedcapacityinvertertomitigaterunningthegeneratorforofficeadministrativework.

ContinueconversiontoCFLbulbs.

Investigateconversionofexternallightingtoelectricinordertoreducekeroseneusagetoabareminimum.

Improvethemonitoringofelectricityandwaterconsumptiontoprovideenhanceddata.

Exploreinstallationoffurthersolarwaterheatingpanelsforrooms1,2,9and11.

WATER CONSUMPTIONFrom mid-October 2010, we havebeenmonitoringwater consumptionthrough the installationofmetersatthemainwellsourceandthemid-sta-tion.Wehavealsoinstallednewflushunitswithshortandfullflushorpush-to-flush (hold for sustained flush)options to reduce water flow in thetoilets11.To reduce leaks in thewa-tersupplysystemweaddedbreatherpipesatthemaintankin2009,thusreducingsystempressure.

Afullwaterconsumptionloggingsys-tem isnow inplace.However, retrofittedaeratorscouldnotbefoundinNepal for those taps without. Like-

ELECTRICITY METERSInJuly2010,weinstalledasub-me-ter to monitor electricity generated.Theelectricityisloggedmonthlyandcross-referenced with the runninghourlogsoneachgeneratortomoni-toroverallusage.

CFL BULB CONVERSIONIncandescent bulbs are replacedwithCFLsoncetheyblow.

AREA % CONVERTED SAVING % SAVING

Bedrooms 86% 5586W 60%Main Lodge 53% 1428W 41%

KEROSENE REDUCTIONIn 2009, we installed a Euro-guardthree-stage purification process.Thisreducedtheuseofkeroseneforboilingwaterby410litresannually9.

TRANSPORT MANAGEMENTWe minimise fuel usage by vehiclepoolingandefficientoperationsman-agement; staff use public transportwherepossible.Ourvehicles,mainlyelderly petrol powered landrovers,arenotparticularlyfuel-efficient.How-ever, until the government properlymaintainstheroads,wehavetode-ploy thesevehicles,asvehicles thatare moremodern cannot cope withthe roadaccess.Thefinancial posi-

ENVIRONMENT – ENERGY & WATER MANAGEMENTwise, low-flow showerheads werenotfound.

Weemphasisewaterconservationtoguests12.Intheoff-seasonrainwaterisharvestedfromthemainlodgeroofforthedurationofthemonsoon.

SEWERAGE & GREY WATERSewagedrainsintosoak-awaypitslo-catedawayfromwatersources.Greywatergoesintoseparatesoak-awaysystems(alsoawayfromwaterbod-ies),orintothesewagecesspits13.

VERIFICATION NOTES

9. Theannualreductionofker-osene was measured andverifiedusingthestorelogs.

10.The annual consumption ofpetrol was measured andverified using the companyaccounts.

11. Flow rates for a randomselection of toilets werecheckedandmettherecom-mendedflowofsixlitres.

12.Water conservation signswerenotedinallroomsspot-checked and guests ques-tionedwereawareofthewa-tersavingproceduresatthelodge.

13.The handling of the blackand greywater was difficultto verify, because the pitsareunderground.The lodgeissituatedontopofahillandisnot locatednearany run-ningwater.

tion of the company, resulting fromtheyearsofMaoist Insurgency,alsoprecludes capital purchases of newvehicles.Moreemphasiswillbegiv-entofueleconomyandefficiencyin2010/11.Thenumberoflitresoffuelperbednighthasremainedsteadyatanaverageoffivelitres10.Thisfigureincludes guest transport, adminis-trative transport, shopping for lodgesupplies, a community ambulanceservice and all servicing and repaircosts.Itmustbenotedthatthesefig-uresareonlyanapproximateguide.

ACTIONS

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ENVIRONMENT – WASTE MANAGEMENT

clable plastics. From autumn 2010,allnon-recyclableplasticisstoredonsitependingasolution.

Some plastic is taken by Kawarrisand sold to re-cycling plants in, forexample, Chitwan where the wasteplastic is converted intoHDPwaterpipe.

PLASTIC REDUCTIONWe achieved a reduction in plasticwaste by converting to plastic veg-etablecratesandclothbags–plas-ticbagsarenowonlyusedforfreshmeat.Likewise,wedonotgiveplas-tic bags with picnic lunch boxes –thoseguestsdepartingthelodgearegivenpaperlunchboxesboundwithtraditionalstring–sutari–madefromsustainablevegetablefibres.Return-ingguests takingapicnic luncharegiven reusableplastic “Tupperware”boxes.Thishasreducedourplasticbag purchases by 55%15. Recently,lightweight picnic boxes were or-dered inerror,causingashort-termincrease inplasticbaguse.Hereaf-terwewillreverttotheheavierboxesthatdonotrequireaplasticbag.

PAPERPaper is re-used in the office andthen buried. We emphasise soft-copyandscanningtominimizepaperdocuments.Useofwoodpulppaperhasbeenreducedbyourconversionto sustainably sourced, hand-madeNepalipaper.Wenowonlyusewoodpulppaperforessentialprintingthatcannot be done on Nepali paper– the largest office consumption,printingguestbills,wasentirelycon-vertedtoNepalipaperin2009(withoccasional exceptions when Nepalipapersupplieswerenotavailable–nowmitigatedbyourincreasedstockofNepalipaper).In2009/10,theto-talnewpaperusedwas4100sheetsofwhich63%wasBiratNepaliloktapaper16.

Weconvertedour room informationto printed booklets (of sustainableNepaliloktapaper)anduploadedthedatatoourwebsitein2009/10,sav-inganestimated250sheetsofqual-ityA4paperannually.

VERIFICATIONNOTES

14. Inspectionoftheoildrumsshowedthatthewasteisbeingseparatedintothecorrectbarrels.Thereisnoweighingorestimationprocessinplacethereforethereisnowayofverifyinganywastereduction.

15.Plastic bags, mineral water bottle consumption and paper usageweremeasuredandverifiedusingthestorelogs.Plasticwasteisnotweighedsonofurtherverificationwasnotpossible.

16.Paperconsumptionwasverifiedusingthecompanyaccounts.

All our waste is handled under theThreeRsystem:reduce,reuse,andrecycle. Biodegradable waste is ei-ther composted or taken by neigh-bours as livestock feed. Gardenwasteiscompostedorburntandthepotashaddedback to thecompost.GlassandscrapmetalarestoredandperiodicallytakenbyKawarris(localrecycling agents).The income fromtheirsaleisdistributedamongststaffalongwith guest tips. Broken glassis currently stored on site pendinga sound disposal solution. Plasticspose a complex problem becauseKawarris only take certain plastics,mainly polythene and PET bottles,forrecycling.

The major waste management is-sueat the lodgehasbeeneffectivewasteseparation–thekitchensaremost organised at using separatebinsforplastics,glass,metal,paper,food swill, and compost. However,alldepartmentstaffseemalittlelessenthusiasticwhen separatingwasteinto themainbins–despite thepro-visionofclearlylabelledoildrums14.

EARNINGS FROM RECYCLINGStaff earned 5,900 NPR from re-cycling payment in financial year

2009/10 (2.05 NPR per bed night)and 4,980 NPR in financial year2008/09 (1.68 NPR per bed night).Theriseinearningswasreflectedinanincreaseinscrapmetalsaleslastfinancialyear.

PLASTIC DISPOSALWehavehadmeetingswiththelocalmunicipalauthoritiesseekingassist-anceforsounddisposalofnon-recy-

2008/09 2009/10

42

19

ANNUAL PLASTIC BAG USAGE15

2008/09 2009/10

744564

ANNUAL MINERAL WATER BOTTLE

CONSUMPTION15

2008/09 2009/10

0.190.25

ANNUAL MINERAL WATER BOTTLE CONSUMPTION

(PER BED-NIGHT)15

ACTIONS

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SWIMMING POOL CHEMICALSWe keep swimming pool chemicalusage to the minimum consistentwith hygiene and guest safety. Weminimisedfreechlorineusebymain-tainingthewater’scorrectpHlevels.A solar electrolysis unit, which cre-ates copper ions, was installed inSeptember 2010, further reducingchlorineusageoverthecourseofthecurrentfinancialyear.

HOUSEKEEPING CHEMICALSWe are constantly looking for waysinwhich toreduceourchemicalde-pendence but this process is mademoredifficultby the lackofenviron-mentally friendly alternatives avail-ableinNepal.

Asinglenewchemicalwasaddedforhygiene purposes. Lizol (Lysol) is adisinfectantbasedonBenzalconiumchloride,whichreducestheusageofhypochloritebleachesinthekitchensandtoilets.Thestaffusedettolsoapinthekitchenforhandwashing.

ENVIRONMENT – WASTE MANAGEMENT

FUTURE PLANS

Continueinvestigatingrecyclingfactoriesforfinalwastepaperwiththegoalofcreatingrecycledbagsforshoppurchases,picniclunchboxes,etc.

RubbishseparationwillbeaddressedbytheSustainableActionGroup.

Initiateconversiontosimplersodiumbasedcleaningagents–sodiumcarbonate, bicarbonate, andpercarbonate to offset essential useofharsheragents.Thedelayhasbeencausedbydifficulty insourcingsuppliesinNepal.

Replacethenightguards’ torcheswithwindup/re-chargeableLEDalternatives.

ImprovecommunicationwithKawarristofacilitatetherecyclingproc-esses.

VERIFICATION NOTES

17.Chemical consumption wasverified using a random se-lection of chemicals andcross-checked against thestorelogs.

18.Battery consumption hasbeen reduced by 50% intotal between 2006/07 and2009/10. This was verifiedusingthestorelogs.

LED WIND-UP TORCHESOurreplacementofbattery-operatedtorches with LED wind-up torcheswascompletedin2009/10inalmostall guest rooms; two rooms tempo-rarily retain battery torches due toloss / breakageofwind-up torches.Thishas reducedbattery consump-tionbyalmost100%inroomsandbysome52%overallperbednight18.

Remainingbatteryconsumptionisbysomestaff forpersonal torchesand

by the night guards. Manystaff have voluntarily con-vertedtorechargeableLEDtorches–thusreducingtheoveralluseofbatteriesevenfurther.

ANNUAL CHEMICAL USAGE (PER BED-NIGHT)17

LiquidChemicals[litres]

SolidChemicals[kgs]

0.460.38

0.230.17

2008/09

2009/10

ANNUAL BATTERY USAGE18

207 211

2008/09 2009/10

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SOCIAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTThis section considers how we en-gagelocallyasaresponsiblepartnerin community development. Kan-dani Danda, where Tiger MountainPokhara Lodge is situated, formspartofLekhnathMunicipalitybutre-tainsitsrural,villageatmosphere.

The village is relatively wealthy; ithasstronglinkstolocalgovernmentservice, and themilitary and policeservices, while retaining its agricul-turalunderpinning.However,thisap-parentaffluencehidesdisparities.

Thefinancialdifficultiesof thecom-pany, because of the decade longMaoist insurgency, have preventedmore significant donations beingmade and rendered any policy oncorporategivinglargelyirrelevant.

Staffvolunteerhoursandcashdona-tionsarerecordedand logged.Thissystemmonetisestimecontributionsofstaffbyassigningpro-ratedsalaryvaluestovolunteerhoursaspartofthecompany’sandemployees’over-all contributions. For both financialyears2008/09and2009/10,recordswereonlypartiallymaintainedsotheactual level of donation is slightlyhigherthanshown.

TigerMountainGrouphasanaffiliateUKRegisteredCharity,TheInterna-tionalTrust forNatureConservation(ITNC), which supports the localcommunityforestuser’sgroup.TigerMountainPokharaLodgeaidsITNCinprojectselection,supervision,ad-ministrative overhead, and logisticsso that100%of ITNCdonationsgodirectlytotheproject19.

The company’s inability to providethe community with desired levelsof financial support has beenoffsetbyourroleasafacilitator inmatch-ing donor interest with local projectneeds.ThisistheheartofourCom-munitySupportPartnershipconcept.Thecommunity identifiesandpriori-tisesnecessaryactionsforlocalde-velopmentandthenweengagewith

thoseprojectsandassistinprovidingfundingdirectlyorseekingthird-partysupport. Between charitable trusts,guests’privatephilanthropy,staffdo-

VERIFICATION NOTES

19. ITNCfundsarehandleddirectlybyTigerMountainofficeinKathman-du.The lodgeonly facilitates therelationshipbetweentheprojectsandthecharity.Therewasnoevidenceof the lodgereceivinganyfinancialgain.

20.ThisisanestimationmadebyMarcusCotton,ManagingDirectorofthelodgeandisnotfullyverifiable.However,datafromAugust2004wasverifiedusingthecharityaccountsandshowedtotaldonationsof28,530GBPand14,715USDrespectively.

21.Allvalueswereverifiedusing thecompanyaccounts,philanthropydatabaseandthecharityfundsstatementandcross-referencedwiththecharitybankstatements.

nationsandcorporatedonationswehave raised approximately 50,000USDforthecommunityoverthepast10years20.

ITNCFacilitatedDonation42,000

GuestDonations425,329

CompanyDonations18,030

StaffDonations100,000

StaffHours(monetaryvalue)

8,750

ITNCFacilitatedDonation42,000

GuestDonations328,668

CompanyDonations19,805

StaffDonations135,000

StaffHours(monetaryvalue)

16,289

ANNUAL BREAKDOWN OF TOTAL PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITY (NPR) 21

2008/09 2009/10

0.2%

ANNUAL CASH DONATIONS21

2.8% 2008/09

2009/10

3.4%

0.2%

Staff(%oftotalwagebill)

Company(%ofcompanyprofits)

2008/09 2009/10

0.3%

0.4%

ANNUAL STAFF PHILANTHROPIC HOURS (% OF WORKING YEAR)21

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RIGHTS OF WAY & ACCESSWeencouragelocalvisitorswhoareshownroundthepropertybystaff.Alimited explanation of our environ-mentalapproachisgiven.

There are no formal / legal rightsof way over the property but ourneighboursarewelcome touse thepathsthroughthegrounds–forex-ample, several employees’ childrencutthroughthepropertytoandfromworkaswellasparkingtheirmotor-cyclesinthelodgecarpark.

Villagers collecting fodder and fire-woodfromthecommunityforestarealso welcome to use the property’spaths22.

WATER SUPPLY BACK UPWesupplywater topublic taps thatwereformerlythecommunity’smainsourceofwater23.

Sincetheinitiationofamainswatersupply,ourtapshavebecomeabackup.Severalneighboursareprovidedwaterfromthelodgessupplyfortheirprivatestandpipes.

RESOURCE USUFRUCTIn return for organic manure, ourneighboursarepermittedtocutgrassfor theircattleandgoats.Thinningsfrom trees, bamboo, etc. aremadeavailablewhenwearelandscaping.

FACILITATING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTThrough our Community SupportPartnership, the lodge has workedcloselywithAmarJyotiSchooloverthepastfiveyears24,facilitatingfinan-cialsupportofover25,000USD25.

Guestdonationsfundcapitalinvest-ments in the school’s infrastructureincluding classroom furniture and asecond storey classroom construc-tion.

VERIFICATION NOTES

22.Duringtimespentatthelodge,itwasclearmanypeoplefromthesur-roundingneighbourhoodhadfreeaccesstothelodgeandgrounds.Oninterviewingtheguests,onementionedwatchingalocalwomancollectingfirewoodfromoutsideherroom.

23.Oneoftwowatersupplypointsisnotcurrentlyavailableforimmedi-ateuseasthetaphasbeenremovedbylocalpeople.Childrenhavealsoblockedthesupplybypushingrubbishdownthepipe.However,inanemergency,thesystemcanbemadeoperationalatabouttwohour’snotice.Somelocalsareusingthestaffkitchentocollectfreewaterunofficially.Itshouldbenotedthatthesetwotapsarenowonlyabackupsourceforthemaincommunitysupplypaidscheme.

24.Thestaffmemberresponsibleforthiswasquestionedandestimatedhespendsbetweenoneand fourhoursat theschool, three timeseachmonth.

25.TheactualfinancialsupportgiventoAmarJyotiSchoolwas18,700GBP(rounded).Thiswasverifiedusingthecharityfundsstatementand cross-referencedwith the charity bank statements.The lodgehastwodedicatedbankaccounts(USDandGBP)tohandleallfa-cilitateddonations.

26. Theteacher’ssalarywasverifiedusingthecharityfundsstatement.

ACTIONSSOCIAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Wesupportedtheircollaborationwithanothercharity–RoomtoRead–intheacquisitionofacomputerlabora-tory–a rare facility in ruralgovern-mentschools.

In collaboration with People andPlaces, theschool’splan toconvertto English medium teaching is be-ing assisted by voluntary teachertrainersfromUK.Weintroducedtheschool to People and Places andprovide logistic support, office sup-port, administrative backup withoutcharge,aswellasvolunteeraccom-modationandmealsatcost.As theinterface between the volunteers,school,andagency,wecanensureeffective three-way communication.This forms the cornerstone of ourcommunitysupportapproach.

InShivaShaktiPrimarySchool,wefacilitate guest support for a teach-er’swages26.

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AMBULANCE SERVICEOurvehiclescanbemadeavailabletoferrysickvillagerstohospital–thisgenerallyhappensfourtofivetimesayear.Anominalfeeof100NPRischargedbutthosewhoareunabletopayarewaivedthefee–twoorthreecasesannually27.

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT We facilitate the personal supportofindividualsinneedbyguestsandsenior staff.Examples are the edu-cationalsponsorshipofeightschool-children and medical support for adiabetic boy, Bishal Rajbhat, whocannot afford regular insulin injec-tions28.

In amajor project for 2008,we su-pervised the rebuilding of a houseforasinglemotherandhertwochil-dren,themselvesalreadysponsoredby guests29. Senior staff co-fundedthe reconstruction of the five-roomhouse, kitchen, and shed for a sin-glemotherandhertwochildrenthatwerealreadysponsoredbyguests.

COMMUNITY GROUPSThevillagehasseveralsocialgroups:Ama Samuha (Mothers’ Groups)andYouthClubs.Wehaveprovidedsmall amounts of financial assist-ance to the Machhapuchhare ToleDevelopmentCommittee,theSrijana

Women’sConservationGroup,bothAamaSamuhagroups,andseveralyouthclubsinsupportoftheirestab-

VERIFICATION NOTES

27.The amount of paid ambu-lancetripswasverifiedusingthecompanyaccounts.Freetripsarenotloggedthereforearenon-verifiable.

28.The number of schoolchil-dren supportedwas verifiedusingthecharityfundsstate-ment. The diabetic boy issupportedpersonally by theManaging Director, MarcusCotton.

29.The building of the housewas verified by witnessingtransactionsforbuildingma-terialsinthecharityaccountledger. Photographic evi-denceisalsoincludedinthisreport.

30.Communityfinancialsupportwasverifiedusingthelogofall philanthropic activity andcross-checkedwiththecom-panyaccounts.

SOCIAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

lishment, building construction, pro-grammes, and activities. Donationsare generally in the range of 5,000NPRto15,000NPRandarenottaxdeductible30.

Similar donations have been madetocommunityprojectssuchasroadconstruction and repair. These aresometimesmade taxexemptonanadhocbasisbythelocalTaxOffice.

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FUTURE PLANS

Shareholdersdiscussedstruc-tured corporate giving at thecompany’sAGMheldin2010.Itwas resolved to re-addressthis issueandrelategivingtoourdeclarationofdividends.

Improverecordingofstaffvol-unteer time and donations tocharitablecauses.

SOCIAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTCOMMUNITY FORESTRY USER GROUP (CFUG)We support the CFUG’s environ-mental protection work by facilitat-ing funding for a forest ranger fromITNC31.

COMMUNITY FINANCIAL / COMMERCIAL SUPPORTThere are no local craft or prod-uct development groups within thecommunity.Therefore,whenguestsrequest handicraft shopping oppor-tunitieswetakethemtotheTibetanRefugeeCampwhereTibetanexileshave a range of craft products onsale.

Wedonot“bend”sightseeingexcur-sionstoshopping–andnocommis-sionisclaimedbystaff.

STAFF DONATIONSIn addition to support for house re-constructionnotedabove,staffmadedonations to the MachhapuchhareToleBikas–aMothers’Group– tonational and local branches of BirdConservationNepalandtoaprojectfor a local radioprogramme inFar-WestNepal32.

VERIFICATION NOTES

31.CFUG receiptswere shownto verify the forest ranger’ssalary.

32.Staffdonationswereverifiedthrough informal conversa-tionwith various staffmem-bers and the inspection ofloggedrecordsofallphilan-thropicactivity.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & EMPLOYEE SUPPORTInthissection,wereviewourpoliciesofgovernance,employmentfacilities,and wider information, education,and awareness of responsible con-servation tourismamongour stake-holdergroups–employees,guests,andthecommunityinabroadsense.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCEA review and stricter managementof thecompany’scorporategovern-ance started in early 2002 with in-cremental policy development andimplementationonanongoingbasis.

An absolute ban on inappropriatefinancial transactions was made inlate 2001 and has been rigorouslyupheld to date33. No inappropriateentertainmentofgovernmentorotherauthorities has occurred – althoughagovernmentemployeediddefraudthecompanyofapproximately4000NPRworthofalcoholin2009,asumthathadtobewrittenoff.Thisunac-ceptablebehaviouronlystiffenedourresolve to fight corruption and nowgovernmentofficialsofanykindarenotwelcomeonthepremiseswithoutpriorpermission,unlesstheyareonofficialduty.

In2008ourcompanyruleswereup-dated and finalised – these are inaccordancewiththerequirementsofLabourAct2048BSandotherpre-vailing laws / regulations and takeinto account the significant socio-culturalchangesinthesocio-politicalcontext of Nepal resulting from thetumultuouseventsofrecentyears34.These rules cover the broad areasof corporate administration, govern-ance,employeewelfare,communitypartnership, and environmental re-sponsibility.Theyhavebeensubmit-tedtotherelevantgovernmentoffice.

Excerptsfromtherulesaregivenbe-lowtodefinetheexpectationsenvis-agedbytheirinstitution:

“The company has established poli-cies of transparency, integrity, ethi-cal standards and corporate social responsibility to operate with the ob-jective of providing environmentally responsible and sustainable conser-vation tourism.”

“These Company Rules provide an over-view of the terms of service and broad company procedures adopted by the organisation. No set of rules can cover every eventuality and be abreast of every development and thus there will always remain the need to use the rules as a guiding base in their application to novel or unforeseen situations.”

“The Rules should be read in con-junction with the company Admin-istration, Operations, Store and Purchasing, Accounting, Guest Re-

VERIFICATION NOTES

33.Thenon-briberypolicywasverifiedthroughaninformalconversationwiththeaccountantandkeymembersofstaff.

34.CopiesofthecompanyrulesinEnglishandNepali,andthereceiptissuedbytheLabourOfficewereproducedasverification.Employ-eescanaccesstheruleseitherbyrequestingahardcopyfromtheAdministrationOfficer,orreadingthemontheofficecomputer.

35.AuditreportsandproofofthetaxclearancecertificatefromtheIROfor2008/09wereshown.Thisisthelatestandmostup-to-datecer-tificatepossible.

ACTIONS

lations and other manuals as well as other policy documents that support these rules and give further clarifica-tion and endorsement.”

“It is the company’s sincere objective that these rules should help provide a supportive and inclusive working environment for all those associated with the company.”

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITYFiscalresponsibility isadefiningar-biter of corporate governance. Thecompany has a defined policy ofopenaccountingandthuspayingtaxina transparentmanner.Allourac-countswiththe local taxoffice–forcorporatetax,VAT,TaxDeductedatSource (TDS), and for employees’personal incometaxareuptodate.Similarly, all local taxes, dues, du-ties,andleviesareuptodate35.

14

TERMS & CONDITIONSEmploymenttermsandconditionsofservicearedefined in theCompanyRules and all senior staff positionshavespecificJobDescriptions36.Allemployees are “Regular Staff,” asdefined in the company rules, aresalaried, and are provided with allfacilitiesasdefinedbythecompanyrules.

Remuneration is in excess of thestatutory requirements and is paidmonthlynolaterthanthefifthdayofthe subsequent Nepali month (oneinstance;allothermonthswerepaidbetween the 30th of relevantmonthand the third of the subsequentmonth)37. Payment has been madedirectly to employee bank accountssince 2009; service charges andmedicalrefundpaymentsaregener-allymadeonacashbasis.

Medical benefits are significant andapply to all employees and theirfamilies(includingparentsofunmar-riedemployees)equally,irrespectiveofrankorserviceperiod.Fullcoverfor allmedical fees,medicines, op-erations, etc. is provided. In finan-cial year 2008/09, total paymentwas499,000NPR(rounded)and in2009/10 551,000 NPR (rounded)38.Emergency and routine salary ad-vances are made quickly on appli-cation to ensure employees havesufficient funds forunexpectedsitu-ations.

GRATUITIESStaffgratuitiesfromguestsareman-ageddirectlybythestaff inatrans-parentandethicalmanner39.Gratui-tiesaredistributedandtheStatutoryServicechargeispaidmonthlytoallemployees.

VERIFICATION NOTES

36. Jobdescriptionswereseenforthefiveseniorstaffpositions.Threeofthefiveseniorstaffwereaskediftheirjobdescriptionswereaccurate-allagreedbutonewasunsure.

37.Thecompanyaccountswereusedtoverifyallemployeeswerepaidontime.Arandomselectionofstafffromvaryinggradesanddepart-mentsalsoverifiedthisverbally.

38.Medicalexpenseswereverifiedusing themedicalexpensesdata-baseandcross-checkedusingthecompanyaccounts.Itshouldbenotedthatthecompanyhasamedicallimit;however,inbothyearsthislimitwasexceededinindividualcaseswithallmedicalexpensesstillbeingcovered.

39.Tipsarehandledsolelybythestaffandaredividedequallybetweenallemployees.Thecalculationsareavailableforallonthestaffnoticeboardandarerecordedbythecompanyforarchivepurposes.

40.Thecompanyaccountswereusedtoverifyemployeessalaries,bo-nusesandgratuities.MinimumwagewasverifiedusingNepal’sLa-bourAct2048,clause21-subclause5.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & EMPLOYEE SUPPORT

Gratuities

Bonuses

Salary

MinimumWage

ANNUAL SALARY CHART 2009/10 DEMONSTRATING A FAIR & BALANCED PAY RANGE40

ManagingDirector

LowestPaidEmployee

AveragePaidEmployee

HighestPaidEmployee

PercentageofTotalW

ageBill

4%

3%

2%

1%

15

EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVESOur policy of encouraging femalecandidates foremployment resultedintwofemalerecruitsin2008–thisrepresents 33% of all employeeshiredinthelastfiveyears.Allsixpo-sitionspostedsince2005havebeenfilledbylocalpeoplefromtheadjoin-ingcommunity.

Wedo not believe in quotas basedon gender, but recruit employeesbased onmerit alone. To that end,ourrecruitmentprocess(lastappliedin 2009) includes local staff / juniorstaff / senior staff / an independentassessorandthis isreflectedinourinterviewpanels.

All staff come from Nepal, exceptone owner/manager, and 41% ofstaffcomefromthelocalcommunity(2009/10 up from34% in 2007/08).The percentage of staff from Chit-wanareanapparentanomaly.Attheopeningofthelodge,therewerefewlocal candidates interested in per-forming the tasksassociatedwithatouristlodge.WhileinChitwan(Meg-hauli VDC predominantly) manystaffhadworkedatorhad relatives

VERIFICATION NOTES

41.Theupdatedinterviewassessmentsheetwasverifiedbyvisual in-spectionoftheinterviewsheettemplate.

42.Averagelengthofservicewasverifiedusingthestaffdatabaseandcross-checkedthroughinformalconversationwithseniorstaffmem-bers.

43.Themale/femaleratioandthelocal/nationalratioswereverifiedusing thestaffwagesdatabaseandalso through informal conver-sationwithvariousemployees.ItshouldbenotedthattheOwner/ManagingDirectorisinternationalbuthasnotbeenincludedinthesestatisticsbecauseheisnottechnicallyanemployee.

Permanent5%Females

95%Males

2008/09

5%Females

95%Males

2009/10

Casual

33%Females

67%Males

2008/09

63%Males

2009/10

38%Females

MALE / FEMALE EMPLOYEE RATIO43

Permanent

41%Local

59%National

2008/09 2009/10

Casual

100%Local

2008/09 2009/10

41%Local

59%National

88%Local

12%National

NATIONAL / LOCAL EMPLOYEE RATIO43

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & EMPLOYEE SUPPORTworkingatoursistercompany,TigerTops, thus providing uswith a poolofknowledgeablecandidates.Policywas changed to prioritise employ-ment from the local communityandall appointments made since 2001havebeenlocal.

In 2009, an updated score sheetfor interviews was developed41 thatevaluatescandidatesbasedonbothspecific job-related criteria and “in-tangible” values such as local / ex-ternal,socio-economicstatus,caste/ ethnic status,gender,etc.Webe-

lieve thiswillmaximisemerit-basedrecruitment while allowing for con-siderationofcaste/ethnicity,genderandsimilarfactors.

Itshouldbenotedthatover80%ofallemployeeshaveworkedwiththecompanysinceitsinceptionandthatemployee turnover is remarkablylow.Thisprovidesfurtherindirectev-idencethatouremployeetermsandworking conditions are fair and eq-uable.Theaveragelengthofservicefor2008/09and2009/10wasstableat9.3and10.3yearsrespectively42.

16

service trainers recommended byDuncanandRachelBakerofKerandDowney Lodges (on the main trekroute to Annapurna Base Camp),spentfivedaysgivinghousekeepingandhygienetrainingatthelodgeac-companied by a general inspectionandreport47.

Inautumn2009wepaidforLakshmiLamaofTigerMountainKathmanduto attend an official food hygienetraining course organised by theHotel Association of Nepal48. ShewillimpartthistrainingtostaffatthelodgeandotherTigerMountainop-erations. Similarly, cooks from KerandDowneyLodgesundertook twothree-day training sessions in thelodge’s kitchens. Buddhi Ram Ma-

LEAVE & HOURSLeave and working hours complywithcompanypolicy, taking intoac-count the specific staffing needs ofthe tourism industry as they applytoasmalllodgewithwidelyvariablelevelsofoccupancy.Leaveisgrant-ed inaccordancewith thecompanyrulesandattendancerecordsareupto date44. TheAttendance Register,maintainedbytheDiningandRoomsSupervisor, defines presence / ab-sence/sicknessandleave.

The longest working day, duringpeak season (sampled in Octoberand November 2010), is 12 hours(14hoursfrom5amto9pmwithtwohoursbreak),andmaybeworkedfortwotofourdayperiods45.Attheotherextreme, during the off-season thenormalworkingdaymaydiminishtothreehours.The loading thusaver-ages out. Stewards, Cooks, Diningand Rooms Supervisor and LodgeManager tend to have the longestworking hours. Other staff tend, onaverage, to have an eight-hour, orless,workingdayevenatpeaktimes.

STAFF TRAININGStaff training is largely undertakenbypeersusing the “buddy” system.Informal discussion and experien-tial or on-the-job trainingmakes upa significant percentage of trainingforseniorstaff,suchasdepartmen-talheads,managers,etc46.Facilitiesare also provided for more specifictraining,withseveralemployeesopt-ingfortraininginJapanese,English,andcomputeroperation.Familiarisa-tionvisitstootherTigerMountainop-erationsandvisitsfromotherorgani-sationstothelodgeformasignificantpartofstafftraining.

RomieVarley,aprofessionalcaterer,housekeeperandtourguide,makesannual or bi-annual visits from theUKtogiveinstructiononhousekeep-ingandcookery.In2010,MarkWit-teringtonandNathalieMancel,hotel

VERIFICATION NOTES

44.Leavewasverifiedbyinterviewingemployeesofvaryinggradesanddepartmentsandcross-checkingwiththecompanyrulesandtheHo-telAssociationofNepal.

45.Workinghourswere verifiedby interviewingemployeesof varyinggrades and departments. This was reinforced by witnessing staffworkinghours.

46.Trainingwasdifficulttoverifyduetothenatureofhowitisreceived.ThiswasinsteadverifiedthroughstaffprogressionandaninformalconversationwithJhalakChaudhary,featuredinthe‘StaffBio’-seeverificationpoint49.

47.Housekeepingandhygienetrainingwasverifiedbyvisualinspectionoftheresultingreport.

48.LakshmiLama’strainingwasverifiedusingthecompanyaccountstowitnessproofofpaymentforthecourse.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & EMPLOYEE SUPPORT

hato attended a Japanese cookerycourse initiated by Mountain TravelNepalin2007.

Occasionalvisitbyforeignyouth in-terns (Tiger Mountain Nepal YouthTraining Programme) are used tohelp with English language skillsand confidence in spoken English.In 2009,MarcusCottonand JhalakChaudhary participated in MAST, asustainabletourismmarketingsemi-narseries,initiatedbyNepalTourismBoardwithsupportofUNandotherinternationaldevelopmentagencies,over a period of several months inKathmandu.MarcusCottonregularlyattends conferences and seminarsandexchangesfindingsandexperi-enceswithseniorstaff.

17

STAFF BIONowGuestRelationsandOperationsOfficer, Jhalak joined the companyfromthestartin1998asanassistantguideandwastrainedbyTigerTopsJungleLodge.

After sixmonths, hewas promotedtoaguide.Hehasreceivedtrainingin Japanese and English, each anexternal course lasting twomonths.Allwildlife trainingwas internal andgivenbytheseniorguideatthetime.In 2000, Jhalak attended a one-week city- guide training course inPokhara.HewaspromotedasHeadGuide.Aftersevenyears,hebecameanAssistantGuestRelationsOfficer(GRO) and then full GRO. He hashad no externalmanagement train-ingbuthasattendedaMASTtrainingcoursein2008.

Jhalaknowisresponsibleforoverallsupervision of the hotel services ofthe lodge, itsactivities,and trainingofguides.Healsosupervisesallthewildlife-monitoringprojectsundertak-enbylodgestaff49.

FUTURE PLANS

Improveaccesstostafftraining.

Providefirstaidtraining.

Formalise annual fire fightingtraining.

Incrementally increase totaltake-home pay to raise aver-ageremuneration.

Develop an informal staff ca-reer development / assess-ment interview process ifperceived beneficial by themajorityofemployees.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & EMPLOYEE SUPPORT

WIDER STAKE HOLDER GROUPSOurstakeholdergroupsaredefinedas guests, employees, local com-munitymembers,government (localandnational),andsuppliers.

ACTIONSSTAFFApart from reference elsewhere inthis report, staff information andsupport has been derived from theSustainable Action Group (SAG)meetings. This informal forum wasestablished in 2009. It comprisesanystaffmemberwhowishestobeinvolved on an ad hoc basis. Thegrouphasheldseveralmeetings todiscuss issues of responsible con-servationtourismanditsapplicationwithin the lodgeandcommunity.Asmight be expected, the group hasfound sustaining regular meetingsin a busy working environment achallenge!However,meetingshaveresultedinsomesoundideasforim-provedmanagement.

Four SAG Meetings were held in2008/09andthreein2009/10.Aver-age attendance was 12 in 2008/09and8 in2009/1050adecline largelyduetotwolargemeetingstheprevi-ous yearwith staff fromotherTigerMountainpropertiesattending.

Staff have also reported increasedawarenessof thebenefits of avoid-ingcorruptionandapplyingcompanypolicy within their personal interac-tionwithgovernmentofficials.

VERIFICATION NOTES

49.AninformalchatwithJhalaktookplacetoverifythetrain-inghehasreceived.

VERIFICATION NOTES

50.The number of attendeesand the SAG meeting min-utes are used to verify theexistenceoftheSustainableActionGroup.

Theideaforplasticbagmini-misation discussed in sec-tion ‘Plastic Reduction’ wasnoted in the SAG minutesthereforeverifying ideasareformulated and implement-ed.

18

WIDER STAKE HOLDER GROUPSCOMMUNITYApart from as reported elsewhere,initiatives have included a litterawareness programme with localmothers’ groups under the aegis ofthe SustainableAction Group. Thisfaileddue to lackof timeand focusbybothstaffandgroupmembers.

GUESTSWe have focused on informing ourguests about our concept of re-sponsible conservation tourism andhavere-writtenourroominformationfolderstocollateanddefinethisap-proach51.Initialbriefingsofguestsonarrivalalsomentionresponsiblecon-servation tourism, showing how wemake responsible tourismapriority.Notices topromotewaterconserva-tionareineachbathroom52.

Ourwebsitehasbeenupdatedwithboth English and French pages toinformawideraudience.Thesitein-cludesourresponsibleconservationtourismpolicy.Itisregularlycheckedtoensureaccuracy.

GOVERNMENT & INTERNATIONALAvisitinearly2010wasmadebyalocalgovernmentstudyteamtodis-cuss tourism and local governmentinterfaceissues.

StudygroupsfromtheTibetAutono-mousRegionGovernmentandfromBamyanProvince,Afghanistanvisit-edin2008and2009todiscusssus-tainabletourismmanagementandtoexperienceourapproachtorespon-sibleconservationtourism.

SUPPLY CHAIN AWARENESSAs part of our policy,we aim to in-cludeoursuppliersintheprocessofresponsibilityandsustainability.ThisisnoteasyinNepalwhereplagiarismandsuspicion tend topreventopendialogue. However, our soap andshop products supplier, Wild Earth,hasengagedwithustoexplaintheirpoliciesandapproach,whichincludefair trade (www.wildearth.com).Thisorganisation supplies a significant

percentageofthegoodssold inourshop, as well as the soap for ourguestbathrooms.

Workingwithoursistercompanieshasyieldedapositiveexchangeofviews.Thisworkisongoing,withthegoalofspreading the Responsible TourismVerificationprocesstoallTigerMoun-tainNepalbusinessesovertime.

Defining the percentage of goodssourced locally is not easy; how-ever, priority is given to purchasingfrom the localcommunitywheneverand wherever possible – for exam-ple, jamsandmarmaladearemadefrom a supply of 100% local fruit.Some vegetables are purchasedfromindividuallocalfamilieswhereasurplusisavailable.WepurchaseatthePokhararetailpriceforlocalsup-plies except where the supplier of-fersadiscount.Generalstoreitemsand groceries are all purchased inPokhara, unless not available fromthetown.Thelargestelementofim-portedgoods iswineandspirits forthebar.However,wepromote localspiritsasasubstituteaswell.Vodka,gin,andlocallybrewed(Nepal)beerarewidelyacceptedbyguests54.

The vast majority of our paymentsare on a cash basis - over 76% oftotal payments made in financialyear2009/10(creditpaymentsbeingapproximately874,000NPRaspartof6.4millionNPR).Creditduesarepaidateachmonth-endorsooner.

2008/09 – one payment for 14,300NPRwasfourdayslateduetoade-layedbill55.

2009/10 – one payment for 32,200NPR (rounded) was ten days lateduetodelayedbill55.

FUTURE PLANS

Litterawareness-theconceptwillbereviewedandappliedinanewformat.

Furthereffortwithsupplychaindevelopment.

FurtheremphasisonrolloutofResponsibleTourismVerificationwithinotherTigerMountainNepalcompanies.

VERIFICATION NOTES

51.Room information fold-erswerenoted in all roomsspot-checked and guestsquestioned were aware ofaspects of responsible con-servationtourism.

52.Notices to promote waterconservation havebeen im-plemented - see verificationpoint12.

53.Responsible Tourism Policycan be downloaded fromhttp://www.tigermountain.com/pokhara and click on‘DownloadInformation.’

54.The store logs were usedto verify the promotion oflocal spirits and beer. Thepurchase of local spirits in2009/10 was 15.6 timesimported brands and localbrandbeer2.23timeslocallybrewedforeignbrands.

55.Delay in supplier paymentswereverifiedusingthecom-panyaccounts.

19

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?Withoutdoubt, thevalueofhavingquantifiablemeasurestoverifyallourpolicyobjectiveshasbeenparamount. The opportunity to be partners in the evolution of theResponsible TourismVerificationSchemehasenabledustoworktogethertodevelopaneffectiveprocesstailoredtoourspecificneeds.

Theprocessofengagementwiththeverificationprocesshasraisedawarenessandappreciationofthesounduseofresourcesamongallthestaffatthelodge.Thethoroughnessoftheverificationprocessisexemplary.Finally,itgivesformandsubstancetoanextensivelistofactionsinitiatedingoodfaithandnowvalidated.Ourchallengewillbetodoevenbetternextyear!

VERIFICATION REPORT & LEGAL STATEMENT

ResponsibleTourismVerification is theprocesswherebyan independent thirdparty reviews theap-plicant’sResponsibleTourismPolicyandResponsibleTourismReporttovalidatethestatementsmadeineachdocument.TheresultofthisprocessistheResponsibleTourismVerificationReport;thecom-pany’sResponsibleTourismReportintegratedwiththeindependentparty’sverificationnotes.

IhavereviewedtheResponsibleTourismReportwrittenbyTigerMountainPokharaLodge,theirRe-sponsibleTourismPolicyandotherdocumentationsuppliedbythecompanyinordertoverifythestate-mentsmadeintheirreportandpolicystatement.

Thedatamarkedasverified(denotedbythefootnotes)hasbeencheckedbymeandbasedontherecordsprovidedbythecompany,IconfirmthatIbelievethisdataaccuratelyreportswhatthecompanyhasachieved.

Inconsideringthespecificdocumentchecksundertaken,interviewswithseniorandjunioremployeesandthereviewofthereportsandtheirsupportingdocumentation,Ibelievethecompany’sResponsibleTourismVerificationReporttobeavalidstatementoftheirachievementsoverthereportingperiodandthattheycomplywiththeirResponsibleTourismPolicy.

Legalresponsibilityandliabilityresideswiththecompanymakingthedeclarationandiftheirclaimshaveformedpartoftheircontractwithanyconsumer,theymaybeliableformis-selling.

Allpersonalinformationusedtoverifythecompanyisreturnedafterthepublicationofthereportandisnotheldbymyself.

JeneferBobbin

ResponsibleTourismReportingVerifier