Big Five Tours Launches New Sustainable Travel Website

WHY IT RATES: The new site provides information and rankings to aid travel agents and travelers in crafting sustainable safari holidays around the world. —Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse Senior Writer

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Big Five Tours & Expeditions announced today the launch of SafariTours.com, a sustainable travel website inspired by one of the most cherished travel genres available the world over.

The latest in a collection of websites the company is launching that focus on sustainable tourism, Safaritours.com is designed to engage, inform and ultimately connect travelers and travel advisors with opportunities to explore world-class holiday destinations that also benefit local people and the planet.

SafariTours.com comes close behind Galapagos.com, launched last October as the first sustainable travel site of Big Tours & Expeditions.

Like its predecessor, which focused on the archipelagic home of some of the rarest species on earth and birthplace of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, SafariTours.com offers a wealth of information as well as rankings, employing a memorable elephant icon, to reveal the progress each destination has made with sustainable tourism initiatives.

"We're pleased to launch our new website for travelers and travel advisors to learn about safari destinations that support sustainable tourism practices to safeguard cultural heritage, improve local livelihoods, and save endangered species," said Ashish Sanghrajka, president of Big Five Tours & Expeditions. "Our company has always been deeply committed to making the world a better place through purposeful travel experiences that reward friends and family with trips they'll always remember, while also benefiting the countries they visit.”

Big Five Tours & Expeditions has been a respected operator of safaris and sustainable tourism for years, providing adventurous travelers, including families and groups, access to exceptional wildlife, natural beauty and authentic culture via travel programs designed to preserve rather than exploit the destinations around them.

Even still, as with Galapagos.com, the new site is about more than safaris alone.

"We fashioned SafariTours.com to provide an overall context for sustainable tourism destinations in order to help travelers select places to experience safaris that work to protect our planet for the present as well for future generations," noted Sanghrajka.

SafariTours.com is focused on providing a general ranking for destinations based on the three pillars of sustainable tourism including:

—Environmentally friendly practices

—Support for the protection of natural and cultural heritage

—Contributions to the social and economic well-being of local communities

Each country listed on the website has been given an elephant icon (one to five elephants, with five being the highest), reflecting their sustainable tourism initiatives. For example, one elephant means that a country is in the early stages of sustainable tourism, while five elephants reflect a country that has established sustainable tourism programs and initiatives at the national level.

The website also features the blog, World of Ellie, which will share travel information, ideas, challenges and solutions on sustainable tourism in Africa. Big Five Tours & Expeditions will continue to explore the world of responsible travel with the next website focused on Asia and the South Pacific.

SOURCE: Big Five Tours & Expeditions press release.