As latest research suggests, 90 percent of travelers are looking for sustainable options when traveling, and are willing to pay somewhat more to make their travels more sustainable. While it’s clear that sustainability is buzzword, and that sustainable trend is somewhat of a hype, question is: what is really sustainable? Is it just choosing carbon-neutral options (and are there really true carbon-neutral options available)? If not, what is sustainable travel, and how to know you’re choosing one?
How do you impact community?
Local choices are mostly sustainable ones. By choosing local options (local agency, local service people, local guides, local food etc.) you are supporting the community and people. If community thrives, it will live on and off the season, and it will find new ways of supporting itself that don’t involve tourism. Don’t get us wrong, tourism is fine, but the community cannot live on tourism alone. So, by choosing local, you’re supporting local, and that is a big deal.
How do we fit here? Our team is local: Majda is born and raised on Hvar and lives here bigger part of the year. Dalibor came to live on Hvar twenty years ago and decided to build a life here. All our business partners are from Hvar too. So by choosing Villas Hvar, you are supporting Hvar, plain and simple.
Can you travel AND reduce carbon emissions?
That is the Holy Grail of travel industry, but how much can we really achieve is quite another matter. But there are truly green options available, and that means investing in greener solutions.
How do we fit here? Every year we plant trees – one tree is planted for every booking received. We are also raising the bar for acceptable premium villas: more than interior and architecture, we’re looking for green options and smart solutions.
How can you know for sure that we are sustainable?
You can’t – you see us online, and it’s increasingly harder to verify the truth these days. And most local, small companies, face similar challenge. There are certificates you can verify, but mostly, you must do your research.
How do we fit here? We are eco certified by CO2CUT, but more than that: we communicate openly everything we do, on our website and on all of our social channels. If sustainability is important to you, you can also contact us for more details about our activities.
What about extra activities, trips and such?
Here’s where it gets messy sometimes: your vacation provider or an agency may claim sustainability, and still use partners that are cutting some corners, to be polite. You can’t check and control everything, but you can ask some questions regarding extra activities. How are they being conducted? Are those partners local, so you can be sure you’re supporting local community? Are there any protocols regarding environment protection?
How do we fit here? Community is extremely important to us, and we want to see Hvar grow and develop. For us, it’s a no-brainer: we cooperate with people that have similar values, and we try to grow with our community. That means cooperating with businesses from Hvar, and working with local people as much as we can. That also means putting emphasis on projects that are green and sustainable, or use such practices. We are happy that there is a growing number of villas that are shifting to sustainable and smart solutions.
