CONGRATULATIONS TO OUTBACK ELITE TOURS FOR ACHIEVING ECOTOURISM CERTIFICATION
Congratulations to Outback Elite Tours on achieving Ecotourism Certification for their East and West MacDonnell Ranges Day Tours, Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley Conservation Park Day Tour, Fink River National Park and Hermannsburg Day Tour and Uluru and Kata-Tjuta and Kings Canyon National Park 3 Day Tour.
The tours take the guests into the picturesque remote sand hill country of the Red Centre. The experienced guides share their knowledge and experience with the passengers and due to small group sizes, the tours get their own personal touch. Passengers learn, amongst other things, about Aboriginal culture. The guides share creation stories, history and beliefs. The importance of the knowledge of the landscape to the Aboriginal people is emphasized.
Filippo, founder of Outback Elite Tours, and his team are passionate about their work and the environment. Trips are carefully planned to ensure minimum fuel consumption. Besides that, the size of the cars used on the tours matches the number of passengers. They can choose out of three different 4WD cars that carry from four up to 11 passengers. All equipment used on the tours, such as lights and batteries, are charged via power generated with solar panels.
The protection of National Parks and Conservation Areas are important to Outback Elite Tours, with all passengers educated on appropriate behaviour. Food waste is stored away during overnight stays to prevent the attraction of dingos. Passengers are also advised not to feed dingos, if they encounter any. In general, wildlife is only spotted from a distance and wildlife parks that allow handling and feeding of animals are not visited. If passengers or staff find rubbish on the tours, they collect it and dispose it appropriately. Furthermore, passengers are educated on how to travel sustainably, for example, guides suggest renting a bike to travel around Alice Springs or using the Hop-on Hop-off bus to visit the main attractions.
Outback Elite Tours do their best to reduce waste and have implemented different practices in their daily operation. Water is provided in water bottles but refilling of these from the water cooler taken on every tour is promoted. Empty bottles are collected and recycled. To do so, a monthly trip to the depot is scheduled since there are no recycling bins in town. The protection of water is important to Outback Elite Tours. For this reason, they have taken part in the Outback Water Project, providing samples from waterholes along the West MacDonnell Ranges for research.
Snacks provided are homemade and packed in non-disposable containers to minimise waste. The abundant aperitif is delivered by a business that uses minimal packaging.
Outback Elite Tours doesn’t settle on their achievements and wants to set the bar higher regarding sustainability in their business operation. They are working on a few projects that they want to implement in 2019 to become even more eco-friendly.
We are proud to welcome Outback Elite Tours to Ecotourism Australia and once again congratulate them on their achievement.
For more information please visit their website or Facebook page.
[Pictures sourced from Outback Elite Tours Facebook.]