Sustainable Travel Company –

Surprise Tourism LLC

Surprise Tourism – A Dubai-based travel agency is a responsible tour operator who helps travelers experience authentic cultures and innovatively explore the breathtaking landscapes of the middle east innovatively. The Surprise Tourism agency aims to enhance the holiday experience of travelers with our innovative approach to tour operation and ensures that the local communities benefit from it. Our travel packages and activities are designed in such a way that it reduces the negative impact of tourism on nature and local cultural environments.

Traveling and Preserving Mother Nature, Hand in Hand

Most of the time, people take natural resources for granted and consider them forever. However, they are limited and soon vanish. It becomes our responsibility to save and conserve them for future generations. Surprise Tourism aims to reduce the use of fossil fuels and encourage our partners and suppliers to use renewable energy. Our tour programs and operations try to provide the best support we can give to sustainable agriculture, fishing, and organic farming. We are encouraging our team members and customers to take steps to increase tree planting, reduce deforestation, and recycle. Our tour packages and activities are designed and executed by considering the following environmental policies:

Transport:

• Always ensuring that vehicles used on travel trips should not cause more than average pollution and using alternative or public transport whenever possible.
• Encourages our customers to use local buses, trains, and forms of public transport when possible and use direct flights to the destinations they are traveling.
• We are focusing on small group tours and reducing the number of private tours operated, which will help to reduce the carbon emission caused by transportation.
• We always encourage our staff to use public transport or cycle to work.

Office:

• At the Surprise travel agency, we use computers, photocopiers, printers, and other electronic devices that enable energy-saving functions.
• We encourage our team members to make use of natural light when it is available. We try to purchase recycled cartridges and recycle the used papers and cartridges whenever possible.
• We store our data through electronic means and reduce the number of printouts and hard copies of documents. We educate our team members and agents to refrain from the unnecessary printing of emails and documents.
• We try to buy toilet paper and other stationeries made from recycled materials.
• We maintain the air conditioning/heating at optimal temperatures, which saves energy. We ensure that the air conditioning, lights, and other electronic devices are turned off when they are not in use or at night.
• Staff members are encouraged to use less water when in the office and asked not to wash dishes under running taps. We are doing all we can to reduce the waste produced and our environmental impact.

Suppliers & Hotels:

• The Surprise Tourism company encourages its suppliers and hotels to install energy-efficient lighting. Regularly educate the hotels and resorts to adopt ideal room temperatures in offices and rooms to save energy. Encouraging digital equipment for signage and promotions and using energy-efficient appliances.
• There are plenty of water-saving opportunities for hotels. We help our partnered hotels by educating our customers regarding the optimum use of water in hotels.
• Help our suppliers and hotels to develop policies & procedures on waste management. We educate our suppliers to reduce the consumption of Chemicals and Hazardous Waste.

Wildlife & Animals:

• Our tours and activities are designed to reduce the negative impact on wildlife.
• We educate our customers not to destroy the flora and fauna when visiting desert conservations and other natural reserves. Also, suggesting customers not buy products made from wild animals and avoid wild animal meat on restaurant menus.

Economic Responsibility

• We at Surprise Tourism always do our best to deal with locally owned suppliers and help to put fair remuneration or profit into the local community. We ensure maximum money remains in the local economy by using local suppliers, local food, and family-owned accommodation or homestays.
• We encourage local communities to use artisan fishing, organic agriculture, and natural wine and buy the products using these to support them. Most of our holiday packages include guided visits to their farms which includes lunch and promotes the sale of local organic products. There are very few activities in rural areas designed with a low number of participants to avoid disturbing the daily life of local people.
• Surprise Tourism, A Dubai-based travel tour agency that believes in fair trade principles, always encourage our guests to pay a fair price for the high-quality and unique products and services they receive from the local organization we deal with.
• We proudly support the Rashid Center for People of Determination. A nonprofit foundation for social care in the UAE. This initiative helps bring happiness to young children’s lives by giving them a chance to write, learn and work.

Social responsibility

• Our travel packages and services are designed to give our guests the chance to learn about local customs and traditions.
• Each guest is educated about the local language, traditions, and cultural requirements. We try our best to add dining from the locally-owned restaurant or tasting a local cuisine without the aid of cutlery.
• Our day trips also include visiting a local camel farm with lunch to support the local farmers. Along with each booking confirmation, we send the details about local traditions and customs to educate the guests about the destination they are about to visit. A professional and certified local guide accompanies the guest on each travel trip.

Customer Guidelines:

• Bringing visitors to national parks, reserves, and wildlife bring economic benefits when visitors pay the entrance fee. The same contributes to maintaining and conserving local flora and animal species.
• During the guided tour of desert reserves and national parks, Surprise Tourism guides & drivers always stick to established roads & paths with the correct speeding limits.
• Every customer is educated about keeping the code of conduct during wildlife sightseeing. Our guides make sure that the guest is not feeding the animals and maintains a safe distance from them. Guests are advised not to bring a camera flash. However, they can bring a camera with a long-range lens so you can take candid shots of the animal’s natural behavior.
• Guests are advised not to buy souvenirs from wildlife animals and avoid wild animal meat on restaurant menus.
• Many day tours include visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We do our best to educate our guests to follow basic rules when visiting such unique places.
• Taking stones, rocks, or other souvenirs from popular locations like waterfalls, wadis, or water streams was not advisable.

Every team member of Surprise Tourism believes that tourism can positively impact the local economy, local community, and the people who get to experience something new and be part of the positive sides of Tourism. Responsible tourism is a set of guidelines and processes that includes all the parties involved. Proper implementation of Responsible Tourism will make the destination a better place to visit and live.