IMPACT REPORT | 2023
Incorporating the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation
Not perfect... but another step on our journey!
2023 was a landmark year for Exodus. With most of our key destinations fully recovered from the pandemic and our customers travelling in record numbers, we entered 2024 (our 50th year in business) with a renewed sense of purpose, newly anointed as a B Corp and as aware of our responsibilities to our customers, community and the planet as ever.
Early in the year, we took the decision to move away from offsetting via third party brokered carbon credits, and instead placed an increasing focus on the regeneration and conservation of the natural world. This focus on nature will be the compass that guides our direction over the coming years. This involves using our core products, experiences and operations to protect and enhance natural environments, empower communities and collaborate with others to invest in projects that support the regeneration of nature and removal of carbon.
Our business, like so many others in the travel industry, relies on taking customers to places where communities thrive with nature. The impacts of climate change are critical factors within this, and the urgency is only growing. We still have a number of trips that rely heavily on fossil-fuel based transport, and we know that we need to take decisions that will lead to significant reductions. I am hopeful that by moving further to align our business goals with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and developing a carbon reduction roadmap based on science-aligned targets, the way we will make those reductions will become ever clearer.
We have a lot of work to do to drive down our negative impacts and drive up our positive impacts, and I am inspired by the people we have supporting us in this effort. Our tremendous suppliers not only help guide our adventures towards greater regenerative practices and transformational customer experiences in every corner of the world, but they are also making huge strides with their own climate actions.
Our Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation trustees welcomed a new Chairperson this year and are working hard to articulate a renewed purpose, ensuring that the projects that receive funding act dually to empower the people we visit and support the regeneration of the natural world we explore. I want to thank them for their excellent governance and engagement, and I am inspired by the examples of the projects that pepper these pages.
Of special note is our incredible community of customers who dug deep to support a number of projects this year, including the relief and recovery efforts after the Morocco earthquake; work that is still ongoing today.
Finally, our Exodus and Headwater teams want to be proud to work for a business that acts with purpose and intention; they hold me accountable every day for which I am grateful.
If you’ve read this far (!) then I commend you to enjoy the rest of this report, which is such an important part of our commitment to share both our successes and struggles as a business trying to live up to our own values and expectations.
SAM SEWARD
WELCOME
AT A GLANCE / OUR BUSINESS
WHERE WE SUPPORTED IMPACT
PEOPLE PLACES & PLANET
PROGRESS AGAINST OUR GOALS
PEOPLE
OUR COMMUNITIES
OUR TEAM
OUR CUSTOMERS
Through this report, we acknowledge that - as a business which relies on taking people to pristine and protected environments across the world - we have a responsibility to address climate change, biodiversity decline and social inequality, so that these amazing places are around for future generations.
These pages provide examples of how we are attempting to do this, progress made and work still to do.
Our progress covers the period of January to December 2023. Note that our carbon footprint covers our financial year (1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023).
IMPACT at a glance
50 years of operation Score:
81.6
zero waste to landfill for UK HQ in Surbiton
Governance:
Our
This year, we proudly commitment as a company involved in our adventures. improvement are integral in 2024, we will continue provide responsibly-run
For Exodus and Headwater, evidence and
•Take care of our staff around the world. Offering diversity and making sure
•Measure, monitor places we enjoy •Are standing invested in in 12 PROJECTS COUNTRIES 15
100 of land rewilded per passenger square metres
87% of meals on trips are taken in locally owned restaurants* 35% OF THE PEOPLE EMPLOYED ON OUR TRIPS WERE WOMEN 92% of all accommodation used on our trips is locally owned*
*At least 50% owned by a local resident or citizen of the country
•111 water samples taken on Citizen Science trips
•Re-base of our carbon data for 2019
•On-trip carbon impact calculated for 700 Exodus and Headwater itineraries
•Aligned Nature First strategy to 2022 KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework
•Have the right systems, to •Are honest in our back to the
92% of trips are single use plastic free (direct distribution)
Exodus rated 4.7 in 2023
79% of all trips visit one national park, wildlife reserve protected natural
Headwater 4.7/5
proudly became certified as a B Corporation by proving our company that acts for purpose and for the benefit of all who are adventures. The values of accountability, transparency and continuous integral to this and as we celebrate our 50th year of operations continue to work extremely hard to in all areas of our business to responsibly-run adventure holidays that aim improve life through travel.
Headwater, becoming a B Corp means being able to and prove through verification that we:
and all of the people we work with in the different destinations Offering fair wages and contract terms, encouraging and celebrating sure that we provide quality training and learning opportunities systems, policies and governance structures that allow us to more easily facilitate positive change our business dealings, learn from our customers and give the communities that our trips benefit so much from monitor and reduce our environmental impact so that the enjoy today are around for others to enjoy tomorrow standing up for better companies and for a fairer travel industry overall
185 EXODUS AND HEADWATER STAFF AT END OF 2023
37% more than at end of 2022
642
TRIP ITINERARIES
115 new or completely updated itineraries in 2023
169
SPECIFIC WALKING/ TREKKING OR CYCLING SMALL GROUP TRIPS
Most popular activity level 2 trips: 117
95
New countries added in 2023: Saudi Arabia and Mozambique TRAVEL TO COUNTRIES
Exodus Adventure Travels is part of the Travelopia group, the world’s leading collection of experiential travel brands.
WHERE we supported impact in 2023
Over the past 12 months, Exodus Adventure Travels has been supporting a number of projects and initiatives that aim to increase nature and conservation in the destinations that we travel to and further our mission of improving life through travel.
In early 2023, we received the findings from some eDNA samples taken deep in the Peruvian Amazon, during the filming of our minidocumentary, ‘Footprints of the Forest’. The freshwater samples showed a remarkable diversity of over 160 different species, including the endangered Pink River Dolphin and near threatened Neotropical Otter. These results – subsequently incorporated into the IUCN’s eBioAtlas - help demonstrate eDNA’s potential to inform the IUCN Red List of endangered species, identify sites for conservation and inform community advocacy.
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Together with our partner NatureMetrics, we enable our clients to take part in the collection of environmental DNA samples from freshwater on their adventures, thereby helping to support conservation action and inform world biodiversity policy. See page 27 for more.
In 2023, our Citizen Science departures went to: Botswana, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Finland, Georgia, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Kenya, Portugal, USA, Uzbekistan, Zambia
REWILDING
The process of “rewilding” or “renaturing” helps to restore nature’s ecosystems and biodiversity for wildlife to return and thrive. We’re proud to partner with Rewilding Apennines, to rewild 100 square metres of land for every Exodus passenger. Since the start of our partnership with Rewilding Apennines, we’ve contributed to the rewilding of 915 hectares of Italian landscape. See page 26 for more.
In 2023, our Rewilding Apennines partnership further contributed to the rewilding of five coexistence corridors, to provide safe passage for wildlife between national parks, management of the innovative Castel Madama Rewilding Reserve and other activities to support conservation of the region’s endangered Marsican brown bear. Two Exodus wildlife and walking trips to the region were also undertaken, all the profits of which were donated to Rewilding Apennines’ work.
EXODUS ADVENTURE TRAVELS FOUNDATION
Established in 2019, our Foundation builds on decades of Exodus Adventure Travels’ support for nature and community-based impact across the world. This includes our Community Kickstart Project, which offers small grants to partners in our supply chain, to help fund local community nature-related initiatives. See page 36 for more.
In 2023 the Foundation supported projects across: India, Italy, Kenya, Maldives, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia
In 2023, we continued our partnership with Bee1 in Wales. Bees play a crucial role in supporting our ecosystem, regenerating biodiversity and even bolstering our planet’s food production. During our partnership, we have helped sponsor 50,000 bees in hives that our pollinating over 200 million plants, flowers and fruit across 10 acres of land.
One of our 2023 ‘Exploration Without Boundaries’ grantees, Susmita Lama, studied Forestry Science, and her passion for wildlife is tied to her Nepalese roots. As an avid traveler, nature advocate and research enthusiast, her research goal is to document local stories of climate resilience in the transHimalayan region of Nepal, in order to bridge unequal climate exchanges, and use storytelling as a tool to bring scientific recommendations and indigenous recognition.
One of five Community Kickstart Project grants given in 2023 was to one of our Exodus Tour Leaders, who applied for a grant to fund a trip to Livingstone for 16 college students. This gave students from disadvantage backgrounds the chance to explore natural wonders on their doorstep, that tourists enjoy, but which are usually out of their reach. For many, this was their first time seeing wildlife such as giraffes and rhinos, or the magnificence of the Victoria Falls, providing not only a new and exciting experience, but the opportunity to spark a future passion for responsible travel and conservation.
support across Kickstart in community or more.
Morocco,
PARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE
Additional partnerships during 2023 have enabled us to support bees (Bee1), sea turtles (SEE Turtles) and tigers (TOFTigers) and help fund conservation and education efforts across the world.
Our partnerships have contributed to conservation in: Colombia, India, Kenya, UK
EXPLORATION WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
Our Exploration Without Boundaries grants – in association with the Explorers Clubadvance our global understanding of the social and natural world through cultural, scientific and conservation fieldwork, and are led by explorers who have taken alternative routes to acquire the skills necessary to conduct their research. See page 22 for more.
Our 2023 grantees have conducted research in: Cambodia, Nepal, Peru, USA
Indonesia is home to 20% of the world’s mangroves, but has witnessed significant loss since the 1980s due to shrimp farming and coastal developments. Through our partnership with Blue Marine Foundation, we support a project here, focused on mangrove restoration in a way which supports community livelihoods, increases local biodiversity and removes carbon at up to four times the rate of terrestrial forests. So far, we’ve supported the training of 45 community members in blue carbon ecosystem restoration, and will support employment opportunities over time, through the development of the site into a mangrove ecotourism hub, providing a sustainable income to the wider community.
MARINE CONSERVATION
We’ve joined our sister companies across the Travelopia Group to partner with Blue Marine Foundation. Together we are supporting the conservation and restoration of 7,000 hectares of vital marine ecosystems through seven global projects.
Projects we support are based in: Aruba, Greece, Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines, Maldives, Formentera (Spain)
PEOPLE, PLACES & PLANET
We are guided in our action by our People, Places and Planet plan which, in turn, is highly influenced both by our Nature First approach and by the requirements needed to fulfil our role as a Certified B Corporation.
Exodus first set out our Nature First approach in 2021 with a goal to ensure our adventures give back more to nature than they are taking from it. As we measure and look to reduce our company carbon emissions, we have set ourselves targets to address issues of pollution, biodiversity loss and ecosystem exploitation and to create positive benefits with and for the communities we visit.
Across the year, the input we receive from stakeholders, key scientific reports, Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation trustees, industry sustainability meetings, partnerships and our staff teams helps us identify and address our actions toward these challenges, revise our plans and, where possible, raise our ambition levels. A combination of data sources including our annual supplier sustainability survey, carbon reporting measurement and reporting, client surveys, holiday evaluation forms and Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation impact measurement, helps us measure our progress. A regular programme of learning and information sharing also helps build the knowledge of our own teams internally.
In the following pages, we report back on our progress over the year, and our intended next steps. We are in the process of plotting these as targets into our 2025 to 2028 sustainability strategy; we look forward to sharing these in our 2024 impact report.
UN SDGS
Any content which relates to our Foundation activity is tagged with our Foundation logo, so that it can be easily identified.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for collective action to tackle issues such as poverty, gender equality and climate change. Our People, Places and Planet plan specifically focuses on of the 17 goals. Find out more at sdgs.un.org
Development framework tackle global gender change. Planet on nine sdgs.un.org
Our People, Places & Planet Plan
IMPROVE LIFE THROUGH TRAVEL
IN THE PLACES WE VISIT, FOR THE PEOPLE WE MEET, ON THE PLANET WE EXPLORE
PEOPLE PLACES PLANET
PRIORITY FOCUS AREA: Economically empowering communities
PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS: Protecting wildlife, biodiversity and reducing waste.
OUR OFFICES
OUR TRIPS
OUR GIVING
PRIORITY FOCUS AREA: Taking action on climate change
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – the GBF sets out a pathway to a vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. The GBF has set 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030. We have aligned to 16 of the goals. Find out more at www.cbd.int/gbf
B Corps are companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Companies need to achieve a minimum score of 80 points in the B Impact Assessment across 5 impact areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. Find out more at www.bcorporation.net/en-us/ (GBF)
PEOPLE PROGRESS against our goals
Our people goals touch on all our travels, our internal teams our adventures and our customers, communicate and exchange learning.
While out on our adventures, most of the people remote villages and rural areas. By supporting boosting employment opportunities through help communities thrive by driving economic positive impacts.
We also do our very best to ensure that the adventures have an experience that creates Every piece of feedback is reviewed and used for future customers. This year, analysis from has shown us that our customers are more satisfied they see that their trip benefits communities. ensure that we do as much as we can to support
The Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation provides which we pursue our mission. Established in to be a catalyst for funding projects that empower employment opportunities for locals and support biodiversity and wildlife in the countries we generous support of our customers, we also after a natural or man-made disaster occurs (see more on page 40).
Of course, all of our trips and our drive to be company in the world would not be possible experts who share their knowledge and passion high standards of service every single day.
PEOPLE goals
who we meet on who help create customers, with whom we learning.
people we encounter live in supporting local businesses and through their value chains, we aim to economic empowerment and creating
people who trust us for their creates lifelong happy memories. used to improve the experience from our holiday evaluation forms satisfied with their holiday when communities. This is a huge incentive to support the people we meet.
provides a key channel through in 2019, our Foundation aims empower communities, increase support the conservation of travel to. Thanks to the also support relief efforts occurs in one of our destinations
be the best adventure travel possible without our own teams of passion for the world and their
OUR SUCCESSES
WITHIN OUR DESTINATION:
• Partnering with local and international organisations and initiatives in our business and through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation to create opportunities for people to thrive. The Foundation funded 15 projects in 12 countries
INTERNALLY:
• Building our supportive, inclusive, and diverse workplace to create a great place to work
• Improving and rewriting our policies including those related to procurement, ethical marketing and parental leave
• Supporting learning through monthly ‘buzz’ sessions for all staff on topics related to environmental and social sustainability
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS:
• Continually integrating feedback from our holiday evaluation forms into our adventures
• Improving our data security with regular technology updates, training and simulated phishing campaigns to ensure our staff are fully trained and always on high alert to threats
OUR STRUGGLES
• Only 6% of staff took their allocated volunteer days,
• Our communications should do more to mention our social and environmental goals
• Lower numbers of women were employed on our trips in 2023 compared to previous years
PEOPLE Goals WHERE NEXT
As we develop our 2025 to 2028 goals, we seek to:
• Measurably increase employment and income generation opportunities through our trips for disadvantaged, underrepresented and hard-to-reach communities
• Increase our team’s use of inclusive language and imagery for marketing communications
• Ensure at least 20% of customer communications relate to social and environmental impact
• Increase the number of customers who rate Exodus 9 or 10 for being a socially and environmentally responsible company (currently 31%)
• Increase the number of staff who say that they know how their team contributes to our sustainability goals (currently 77%)
• Significantly increase take up of staff volunteering days
CASE STUDY
Long-term relationships with our suppliers
The family-run Hotel Due Torri in Agerola, Italy, forms the base for our trips to the popular Amalfi Coast and has been working with us for nearly 23 years. The albergo is located in a small village in a relatively unknown area of Amalfi, so our guests support an area away from the crowds that does not usually benefit from tourism. We are also committed to helping to support the passions of the community. Exodus is the main shirt sponsor for SSD Agerola, the local amateur football team.
Like all our trips, we pride ourselves on working with independent, family-owned businesses which employ people from the surrounding area as it helps to keep villages and their networks alive. Just for Exodus, this hotel supports the employment of over 20 people including those from low-income communities. Over half of all of the staff employed are women.
Our Communities
We aim to maximise the employment and income generation opportunities for communities we visit. As a tour operator, the most impact we believe we can have in championing fairness and diversity is by encouraging this among all the companies in our supply chain. We collect, benchmark and feed back this information to our suppliers in an annual supplier survey.1
• 92% nights in locally-owned accommodation (85% in 2022, 80% in 2021)
• 87% of meals in locally-owned restaurants (90% in 2022, 91% in 2021)
• 35% of people employed on our trips were women (44% in 2022, 40% in 2021 and 35% in 2020)
• Ownership of our supplier businesses in 2023:
- 19% are majority owned by women
- 10% are majority owned by people of colour or individuals from underrepresented populations
• Employment within our supplier businesses in 2023:
- 57% employ people from low-income communities (48% in 2022)
- 41% employ people from indigenous communities
- 16% employ people with a mental or physical disability (3% in 2022)
- 23% employ people from another minority/underrepresented group
1 We used a new software system and a new approach to collect feedback from our suppliers this year. This resulted in an increase in response rate from 50% to 77%, giving us a much more robust and comprehensive picture of the companies we are working with to create our adventures. However, there are some significant changes year on year and at this stage, it is difficult to understand whether they are the result of the new methodology or our actions.
ON AVERAGE, OUR TRIP SUPPLIERS HAVE WORKED WITH EXODUS FOR 16 YEARS
Through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation Community Kickstart Project, funding provided our Inca Trail porters the opportunity to experience Machu Picchu. The permits to the site are pricey which means that many porters have never seen the site that our customers spend days climbing to see. We want to improve equity in tourism and this funding allowed a group of our hard-working porters to enjoy a tour of the site in their Quechua language. FIND
Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is known as the ‘Roof of Africa’ and is one of the world’s great climbs.
Many women in the communities surrounding Mt. Kilimanjaro struggle to stay afloat. A good job with a good income like being an official mountain guide means that their children can go to school and they can support their families.
Just over 10 years ago, there were no female porters or guides on the mountain, but now, thanks to courageous women who defy social stigmas, numbers are slowly rising.
In 2020, with the help of a local NGO, Robertson Outdoor Bursary, the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation launched the Mountain Lioness Scholarship to help move women up the career ladder from being porters to guides. It was one of the first women-only guide training programmes of its kind in Tanzania. Our goal in 2020 was to have trained 30 women by the end of 2023. We have now trained 28 of the 30 women and the further two have been recruited for training later this year. We’ve also committed to training an additional 5 women per year for each of the next 3 years and funding a ‘Becoming Even Better’ programme through which women are given further training in language, culture, first aid and other mountain and tour group essentials.
Exodus has also made a promise that on all of our Kilimanjaro treks, there will be at least four women who are part of every team supporting the climbers. With the Foundation paying for a guide apprenticeship scheme in 2024, hopefully in years to come, we can increase that number even more!
Our TEAM
Our skilled, dedicated and enthusiastic staff are integral to creating amazing travel experiences. We now operate hybrid workplaces in six countries and five continents. This geographical spread allows us so many opportunities to embrace the diversity of thought and culture among our colleagues.
To help our people feel challenged and happy at work, we have encouraged our teams to value and practice having a ‘growth’ mindset, setting aside resources and time to help. Our teams have many opportunities to take part in learning for development, educational trips, volunteer days and staff representation committees to support their progress and feed their learnings back to others in the company.
Subsidised football, netball, breakfasts, team walks and other activities aim to encourage better health, wellness and overall happiness.
2023 STAFF ENGAGEMENT SURVEY RESULTS:
I believe we are a socially and environmentally responsible business:
I have a clear understanding of our purpose as a business:
Our sustainability and social impact activity is important to my motivation to work here:
WORKPLACE METRICS
WE ARE COMMITTED TO A DIVERSE AND ENGAGED WORKFORCE. FOR TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, WE REPORT ON KEY WORKPLACE METRICS:
ALL MANAGERS: 64% FEMALE
FEMALE
4.8
0-1 YEAR 15 YEARS + 10-15 YEARS
5-10 YEARS
PREFER NOT TO SAY IDENTIFY IN ANOTHER WAY 3-5 YEARS 1-3 YEARS
AVERAGE LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT: 69 18.7 9.1 35.8 21.9 9.5 0.5 3.2 27.3 % % % % % % % % % % MALE
Our CUSTOMERS
Our customers are an important part of the people we meet on our adventures. To help ensure trust, we are transparent with the feedback we receive and use trusted platforms to help increase the visibility of trip reviews.
We also want to ensure that our customers understand and value our commitment to nature and communities. In our 2023 customer survey, 31% gave a score of 9 or 10 out of 10 for being a socially and environmentally responsible company (with 10 being completely socially and environmentally responsible) – this is a five-percentage point increase from when we asked previously in 2021, showing we are heading in the right direction.
When asked about what social and environmental issues our customers want Exodus Adventure Travels to address, there is a clear desire for us to continue focussing on the areas we have prioritised; nature and wildlife, reducing waste and supporting local communities. Indeed, our internal analysis of customer satisfaction shows that the more we can show we benefit communities while on our adventures, the greater the satisfaction scores are for the trips overall!
REVIEWS & RATINGS:
13,400 REVIEWS ON OUR WEBSITE
1,190 NEW REVIEWS added over 2023
Reducing waste (single-use plastics, food, etc)
Source: In-house consumer research UK = 1947 respondents, Aug 2021; and 614, December 2023
OUR TRIP FEEDBACK SCORES ALSO HELP ENSURE THAT INDIVIDUAL TRIPS CREATE POSITIVE BENEFIT.
Out of nearly 5,000 surveys, our customers give us scores of: for minimising carbon for benefitting natural environments for benefitting local communities
PLACES PROGRESS against our goals
The ‘Places’ pillar of our People, Places & Planet plan is all about how we seek to protect and benefit the places we explore on our adventures.
OUR SUCCESSES
• Evolving our Nature First strategy with goals and actions in line with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
• Accelerating action to reduce threats to biodiversity including citizen science, plastic reduction, removal of invasive species and wider industry engagement
• Supporting the rewilding of 100 square meters of land for every passenger on an Exodus or Headwater trip
• Increased sales of rail rather than air to get to the start of our trips
• Encouraged take up of a new lower resource intensive linen and towel policy for our single centre hotel holidays
OUR STRUGGLES
• We did not complete an animal welfare audit in 2023
• Fewer trips in 2023 than the previous year included a visit to a national park or naturally protected area (79% in 2023 v. 85% in 2022)
PLACES Goals WHERE NEXT
AS WE DEVELOP OUR 2025 TO 2028 GOALS, WE SEEK TO:
• Further embed sustainable procurement across all teams and increase and diversify the way our itineraries and other operations support conservation efforts
• Develop new sustainability training for leaders that incorporates communication of the value of nature
• Create an overtourism policy to guide our action on any new trip development and help prioritise where we may need to change
• Conduct an animal welfare audit and continue to support solutions to overcome industry challenges with animal encounters
• Further reduce both direct and indirect distribution of single use plastics on our trips
OUR SUPPLIER SURVEYS GIVE US AN IDEA OF HOW OUR TRIPS SUPPORT NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY:
79 92 46 of all trips visit at least one national park, wildlife reserve or other protected natural space (85% in 2022) of trips are single use plastic free (direct distribution) (94% in 2022) of customers on our trips see or visit places where Exodus, our suppliers or our Foundation are directly supporting nature conservation and/or nature restoration projects
CASE STUDY
Preparing for higher temperatures
Global temperatures have been rising steadily and at times, and in certain places have become unbearable, particularly in peak summer months. Our team has assessed trips currently running in high-heat areas and are taking measures to mitigate the impact wherever possible. This includes removing or changing trips entirely in destinations that experience extreme heat during the hotter months of July and August and adding new trips in places with milder climates instead.
In one of our most popular trips in Amalfi, Italy (TDA), we have created a new itinerary for July and August to try and mitigate the impact of temperature. We’ve found new, shorter hiking routes amongst the trees, moved activity times to early mornings with more rest in the afternoons, added in more beach time and use accommodation with guaranteed air conditioning.
Funding grants for scientific exploration
One of the ways that we are trying to increase and diversify the way in which our business supports conservation efforts, is by funding grants for scientific exploration. We funded four Exodus Exploration Without Boundaries Grants in 2023 and hope that the cultural, scientific, and conservation fieldwork will go on to advance our understanding of the social and natural world.
Christian has been contamination among diet of native communities basin. The research but early data fish studied, microplastics samples taken. all the plastics elongated in shape. with companies to about excessive plastic
CASE STUDY
Removing waste in North Cyprus
We had been struggling to cut plastics in North Cyprus and managed to achieve some significant progress this year. Together with our customers, we really didn’t like the fact that while their picnic lunches were delicious, the individual items came wrapped in plastic film and in paper bags. We worked with our suppliers to source reusable lunch boxes and cutlery as well as establish a storage and robust sanitation process. More recently, we have also worked with those same suppliers to purchase a giant water cooler and ensure fresh water so our guests can now refill their bottles instead of requiring plastic bottles.
studying the extent of microplastic among fish that are part of the food communities in the Peruvian Amazon research results are just being finalised, is showing that of the species of microplastics are in 100% of all taken. More than three-quarters of found were blue in colour and shape. He is now hoping to work to create awareness campaigns plastic consumption.
Seagrass is home to countless marine species and a critical tool against climate change due to its capacity to sequester carbon. Amanda’s research mapped seagrass meadows around Cambodia to establish a baseline that would help the creation of a marine protected area. In addition, the project has informed the placement of anti-trawling structures to prevent further damage to seagrass meadows in the region.
At the end of 2022, 188 governments signed up to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This landmark UN agreement sets a new global ambition for nature and biodiversity, not least with a goal of 30% of all land protected. Just as our actions within our People, Places and Planet plan align with nine of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, we can now also show our action around the three themes within the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF):
• Reducing threats to biodiversity
• Meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing
• Tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming
We have chosen to focus specifically on 16 of the 23 goals within the Framework and are setting threeyear targets for each. These 16 goals recognise the importance of connecting nature, carbon reduction and community development and resonate strongly with way that we have been operating our business at Exodus for the past 50 years.
WE EXPRESS THESE GOALS SIMPLY AS REMOVE, REDUCE, RESTORE AND REGENERATE.
PURSUING NATURE
POSITIVE TOURISM
STRIVING FOR ADVENTURES
WHICH GIVE MORE BACK TO NATURE THAN THEY TAKE
ENGAGE CLIENTS, SUPPLIERS AND DESTINATION COMMUNITIES IN NATURE REGENERATION
REDUCING TOURISM’S NEGATIVE IMPACT ON NATURE:
CARBON EMISSIONS, POLLUTION AND WASTE, ECOSYSTEM EXPLOITATION
ELIMINATE SINGLE-USE PLASTICS ON OUR TRIPS
SUPPORT BIODIVERSITY RESTORATION THROUGH TRIPS AND THE EXODUS TRAVELS FOUNDATION
ENGAGE WITH SUPPLIERS TO AVOID PRACTICES WHICH DEGRADE ECOSYSTEMS
AVOID HARMFUL WILDLIFE INTERACTIONS AND ANIMAL PRACTICES
SPOTLIGHT
Rewilding Apennines
Rather than just being about planting trees, rewilding is a holistic approach which allows nature the space to regenerate diverse and fully functioning ecosystems. We’ve been supporting these initiatives in the Italian Apennines since 2021.
Over this time, we have helped Rewilding Apennines to secure 651 hectares of land to boost coexistence practices, reduce grazing pressure and support forest regeneration. Some of this funding was allocated for transforming former agricultural land to grow fruit trees to help increase food sources for the Marsican brown bear outside protected areas. In 2023, more than 120 fruit trees were planted for this purpose.
Other funding has helped the team with:
• Removing 6,075m of barbed wire to increase the connectivity on corridor areas.
• Purchasing 14 bear-proof bins for human food waste inside rural towns
• Building 25 nest boxes for birds and bats
• Restoring the functionality of three water collection points
• Putting on three community and stakeholder events on rewilding with more than 200 local students and community participants
Building the eBioAtlas through Citizen Science Departures
Part of our commitment to give back to nature involves giving our customers the ability to measure biodiversity on selected adventures. We partnered with the tech science company NatureMetrics, who, together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are building the eBioAtlas – a global atlas of life in the world’s river basins and wetlands.
On Citizen Science Departures, our customers collect environmental DNA data from freshwater samples which are then mapped to find species, with data feeding into global conservation databases. All customers then receive a report of the findings.
In 2023, as well as the data feeding into the eBioAtlas:
We undertook 37 Citizen Science Departures from 15 different Exodus adventures... ...spanning 13 different countries.
Within these samples, we found 287 species, including seven on the IUCN red list
Alongside the seven species on the IUCN red list, the samples also detected 13 different invasive species.
These species are those that aren’t native to a particular area and in some cases can cause major disruption to the region’s ecosystems and potentially lead to environmental harm.
So far, our samples have found that Cambodia, with 54 different species, and Italy, with 49 species, are the locations with the most diverse species. Italy is also the country where our sampling detected the most invasive species.
PLANET PROGRESS against our goals
The planet pillar is about how we take action on climate change, reducing and mitigating the carbon footprint of our offices and our adventures.
OUR SUCCESSES
• Re-baselined our 2019 carbon emissions with better actual data and more accurate estimations
• Calculated the on-trip carbon emissions of 700 trips across both our Exodus and Headwater brands, measured the emissions of all other aspects of our business, set reduction targets and reported progress
• Provided all suppliers completing the sustainability survey with feedback that incorporated the carbon footprints of their trips
• Found ways to further reduce single-use plastics within our offices and on our adventures
• Made a complete move away from the purchase of third party brokered carbon credits and invested more directly in nature-based ‘blue’ and ‘green’ carbon sequestration projects and marine habitat restoration
• Developed a contracting check list to help our product teams ask the right questions of current and new suppliers about their climate actions
OUR STRUGGLES
• A number of our trips still require significant fossil-fuel based transportation
• We are still working on developing our science-aligned carbon reduction targets and roadmap
PLANET Goals
WHERE
NEXT
Finalise our science-aligned targets and carbon reduction roadmap, to plot out our decarbonisation tactics over the coming ten years and beyond. This will primarily focus on targeted reductions in areas of:
• In-trip accommodation
• In-trip transport and activities
• Transport to and from our trips
• Staff travel
OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
In preparing our carbon footprint for 2023, our 2019 data underwent a rebaselining exercise to build on better data we had collected for 2023 to fill gaps or provide more accurate estimations. 1 This newly refined 2019 baseline continues to provide the most effective basis for comparison of our 2023 carbon report v. our 2022 data, given the more untypical business activity that year as we re-emerged from COVID. As such, the figures featured in this report show a comparison against 2019, rather than 2022.
1. The methodology for calculating our in-trip impact emissions impacts (including meals, accommodation and transport) has been refined to ensure consistency and accuracy across our business activities and reporting periods. Where required the improved data collected during the last reporting year has been used to make sure our baseline and previous carbon footprint data is as accurate as possible. As carbon accounting best practices evolve and the understanding of our business carbon impact develops we will always consider whether our historical data should be recalculated to ensure our carbon disclosures are complete, transparent and representative of our ever-changing business.
Low Carbon Lab
Our ‘Low Carbon Lab’ brings together a small team from across the business to find and implement opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint of our trips. This year we measured the carbon impact of 200 new trips, quantifying the exact distances, methods of transport, fuels used, accommodation choices and meals eaten, and began to develop the criteria for our low carbon trip collection – trips with a low overall footprint, as well as those run by suppliers who have a climate action plan and include more plant-based meals. The Lab has also developed a contracting check list to help our product teams ask the right questions of current and new suppliers about their climate actions.
TRIP CARBON
(Inc. international flights sold by Exodus/HW)
In the years since 2019, our overall carbon impact per passenger has risen by 4%. This increase is solely due to a significant change in the emissions factor used to calculate the carbon impact of our sold flights. The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero sought to reflect decreased airline occupancy during 2021 and 2022 in a highly increased emissions factor for 2023. Removing the impact of this change in emissions factor, our overall carbon impact per passenger would show a reduction of around 10% per passenger since 2019.
However, we know that some of our trips are very highly energy intensive and we know we need to pursue carbon reduction across our itineraries.
In order to inform these efforts, we calculated the footprint of every component of every trip including the carbon impact of all accommodation, transfers, meals, activities and other services used while in the destination.
From this, we can assess the amount of CO2e per passenger per night, measured in kilograms. For all our trips in 2023, the average was 32.3 kg CO2e per person per night .
• European trips: average 23.4 kg CO2e per person per night
• UK Trips: average 12.3 kg CO2e per person per night
• Walking trips: average 20kg CO2e per person per night
• Cycling trips: average 31kg CO2e per person per person per night
• Polar trips: average 434.7kg CO2e per person per night
• All Headwater self-guided holidays: average 16.5kg CO2e per person per night
This year, we have also been engaging more intentionally with our suppliers to understand their climate action. Our supplier survey gives us an idea of how our suppliers are trying to reducing carbon 2:
23
65 of hotels that we use on our trips generate their own renewable energy of included meals offer vegan alternatives for all meals of restaurants have food waste initiatives of included meals offer vegetarian alternatives for all meals % % % %
46 54
2. Question wording changed this year, so direct comparisons not available.
IT IS ENCOURAGING TO SEE THE EXTENT TO WHICH OUR SUPPLIERS ARE STARTING TO TAKE THEIR OWN CARBON ACTION.
Overall, a full two-thirds (68%) of all Exodus or Headwater suppliers either measured their carbon footprint, have company climate action policy, and/or have set carbon reduction targets for their business.
Our priority is to decarbonise our own operations, however we also continue to seek ways to support the removal of carbon from the atmosphere while restoring nature.
Our trips rely so much on nature and thriving communities and will only be possible in a world that is rich with clean resources and biodiversity. That is why this year, we moved completely away from purchase of third party brokered carbon credits and instead invested more significantly in rewilding and other nature-based carbon sequestration such as our partnerships with Rewilding Apennines and (with our sister brands at Travelopia) Blue Marine Foundation.
SOME OF OUR LOWEST CARBON TRIPS (PER PERSON PER DAY)*:
C03CH (Headwater) Cycling through Champagne, France 5kg CO2e (3 nights)
C03LX (Headwater) Cycling In The Royal Loire Valley, France 6kg CO2e ( 3 nights)
C07SL (Headwater) The Lakes Tour with Charm, Austria 7kg CO2e (7 nights)
EVA (Exodus) Aurora & Adventure in Iceland
EUC (Exodus) Rainforest & Restful Retreat in Costa Rica
CFA (Exodus) Finnish Wilderness Week, Finland
TNA (Exodus) Mansulu Lodge Circuit, Nepal
CO2e (4 nights)
CO2e (7 nights)
CO2e (7 nights)
CO2e (17 nights)
*Note these figures represent just the on-trip carbon. We realise that for most people, getting to the start of the adventure will involve considerably more carbon emissions.
OUR WIDER STAKEHOLDERS
An essential part of reaching our goals is developing strong and meaningful relationships so that we can work collaboratively with others to support change and find the best sustainability ideas and actions.
Our key stakeholder groups are:
COMMUNITIES:
We engage in the communities where we operate to learn, share ideas and collaborate to create positive impacts on the environments, livelihoods and local economies. Our Destination Community Council (see our Council Members on the right) helps inform our priorities and actions.
CUSTOMERS :
To provide the best adventure holidays, we need to understand the needs of our customers. We engage with customers in many ways, such as via our sales consultants, online, on our trips, and through our customer services teams at all stage of their customer journey. The information that we receive from them are used to improve and develop our adventures.
DONORS :
Many, but not all, of the generous donors to the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation are also customers. We take great care to ensure that their money is being used ways that create the greatest possible positive impact.
STAFF :
Our team from around the world shares a special set of values and a vision to create the best adventure expeditions, run responsibly. Each of us is encouraged to offer our own unique perspectives and experience to support an inclusive and open working environment.
PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS:
We collaborate with many external organisations that are committed to tackling travel industry challenges that both impact and are impacted by our business.
PARENT COMPANY, TRAVELOPIA:
As a brand that cares deeply about the people and places it visits, we have much to share with the other brands within our wider group as well as learn other ways that might help support our own journey.
SUPPLIERS AND PARTNERS:
We work with hundreds of direct suppliers and service providers that help support our trips. There are many more, who - through our suppliers - we engage to provide essential services, food for the restaurants and clean linens for tired heads.
DESTINATION COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
KARMA LAMA
Exodus Treks, NEPAL
MOHAN TICKOO KVT, INDIA
JOHNNY VILLALOBOS
Destination Services, COSTA RICA
THIERRY JOUBERT Greenvisions, BALKANS
RUTH FRANKLIN
Secret Paradise, MALDIVES
RODRIGUEZ
Peak, PERU
MIKE STEWART
Peak, THAILAND
PEDRO PEDROSA
A2Z, PORTUGAL
PAULO LAIZER
African Safari Trails, TANZANIA
ANDY MCKEE
UK/ Baraka, ZAMBIA & LAOS
FERNANDO
EXODUS ADVENTURE TRAVELS FOUNDATION
The original purpose of the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation was to support projects in ‘hard to reach places’. The trustees of the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation have spent time this year reviewing that aim in order to align more clearly with the company’s vision of improving improve life through travel, so people, local communities and the natural world can harmoniously thrive together for the benefit of future generations to come. This work to realign the strategy will continue into mid-2024. MISSION & GOVERNANCE 2023:
FREEDOM DISTRIBUTED WOMEN WITH HEALTH AND IN CONSTRUCTED 2 FENCES AROUND DELIVERED TRAINING ARE PROTECTED ELEPHANTS WILD IN
Highlights of 2023 INTIATIVES
28 OUR 30 FEMALE PORTERS AS MT KILIMANJARO GUIDES IN TANZANIA
PURCHASED
50 SPRAY PUMPS FOR ORGANIC FERTILISERS AND WE PROVIDED WOMEN WITH TRAINING FOR ECO CAFES AND FELTING
500
FREEDOM KIT BAGS
DISTRIBUTED TO SUPPORT WITH MENSTRUAL AND SANITATION IN NEPAL IN NEPAL WE FUNDED THE PLANTING OF
500 FRUIT TREES
CONSTRUCTED FENCES
AROUND FARMS AND DELIVERED PERMACULTURE
TRAINING SO CROPS PROTECTED FROM ELEPHANTS AND OTHER WILD ANIMALS IN KENYA
SUPPORTED
5
COMMUNITY KICK START PROJECTS
INCLUDING ONE THAT FUNDED 98 STREET CHILDREN IN UGANDA TO RECEIVE PERMACULTURE TRAINING IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
177
HOUSEHOLDS... PROVIDED WATER PUMPS TO VILLAGES AND FUNDS TO MODIFY CATTLE SHEDS FOR ...SAVING
1,200
TREES
FROM BEING FELLED IN THE BUFFER ZONE AROUND BANDHAVGARH NATIONAL PARK, INDIA
FOR A FULL LIST OF PROJECTS FUNDED DURING 2023
SEE PAGE 39
THE FOUNDATION HAS INCREASINGLY BEEN GIVING GRANTS TO INCREASE OUR NATURE-BASED IMPACT AND FUNDING THE THREE AREAS OF...
Learning for nature: Learning/ skill development that inspires people in local communities to protect and regenerate their local natural habitats
Enterprise for nature: Developing entrepreneurial initiatives that deepen a community’s connection with nature
Regeneration for nature: Regenerating and protecting land to help communities thrive and including the recovery of wildlife and ecosystems, and the reduction of human/wildlife conflict
As in previous years, in 2023, the Foundation also supported immediate and short-term disaster relief post crisis with longer-term recovery efforts in addition to our long-standing legacy projects.
PROJECTS SUPPORTED IN 2023:
Community Kickstart Project Global
Disbursement of 5 Community Kickstart grants for implementation of community initiatives by our local supplier network. These included, Machu Picchu experiences for our porter team in Peru, a rewilding seminar in Italy, permaculture training for disadvantaged youth in Uganda, and both an educational trip for students and post-pandemic education catch up lessons in Zambia.
Mountain Lioness Scholarship Tanzania
Delivery of mountain guide training to 7 women. We were able to secure the training of 28 of our 3-year goal of 30 trained female mountain guides by the end of 2023. The final two women will be trained in August 2024, followed by a further ‘Becoming Even Better’ programme of first aid, cultural awareness and tour guiding.
Within this wider region, we also supported the delivery of “Village Savings and Loans” workshops that empower participants to better manage money and generate alternative streams of income to help them overcome social and financial barriers. In 2023, the VSLA concept was presented to over 1,700 mountain crew. 11 porters received training as Community Based Teachers to guide and oversee the savings groups. After the full year, six are now allowed to form and support groups independently and five will continue under supervision of the VSLA coordinator.
Himalayan Community Project India & Nepal
Support for number of small, community-based initiatives across several villages in the Nepalese and Indian Himalaya. In 2022, many areas of Nepal including Thulopatel village where many of our trekking staff live, lost crops due to a disease that affected potatoes and corn. This was particularly difficult as the pandemic meant that trekking work completely stopped. A large proportion of our 2023 funding went to provide spray pumps and an organic spray to get rid of the insects. Smaller amounts continued to help with educational opportunities for children who lost a parent in trekking/climbing accidents as well as support for women through the eco cafes and felting crafts.
Freedom Kit Bags Project Nepal
Delivery of 500 Freedom Kit Bags (hygienic, re-usable sanitary wear) by Exodus Tour Leaders, to women across rural Nepalese villages, along with stigmareducing community training on reproductive health. Two of our colleagues raised money and then were part of the distribution of the bags in Nepal.
Free to Roam Project Kenya
People in households in the Shirango Conservancy benefitted from the construction of two fences funded by the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, which will increase employment and food security. The “10% Fence Plans” on farmsteads empower and enable communities to give 90% of land back to wildlife, while increasing food security through permaculture on the remaining 10%. Community members are also receiving permaculture training for self-sustaining farming. Since construction of the fences, they have been 100% effective with no wildlife incursions.
Sal & Mahua Schools Project India
Funds for this project were raised by the Photographer and Exodus expert guide Paul Goldstein in 2021. After finishing the refurbishment work that included a new roof, a clean water pump, kitchen, toilet blocks, playground and library to these two schools in Bandhavgarh, India, the Foundation provided the remaining funding for staff and security in 2023. This project is now complete.
Tiger Habitat project India
In the buffer zone surrounding Bandhavgarh National Park, Foundation funds were allocated to both provide water pumps to villages and to modify cattle sheds for 177 households in the region. By providing these cattle sheds, our partners estimate around 1,200 trees would be saved.
SPOTLIGHT ON
After the earthquake that hit communities in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains in September 2023, our customers and network of supporters generously donated £28,500 to our Morocco Earthquake Recovery fund. The first £25,000 of this was then matched by the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation for a total of £58,500. A first tranche of these funds supported our disaster relief partner, REACT, with their initial relief response in remote villages, providing humanitarian aid such as emergency food supplies and tents. Subsequent funds are going to provide local communities with support for longer term recovery efforts, such as the reconstruction of homes and water infrastructure. Here, these funds have been channelled through our long-standing trip leader and partner Andy McKee from Baraka Community Partnerships and also to the High Atlas Foundation.
SPOTLIGHT ON
Other disaster relief efforts in 2023
Following devastating events in 2023, our customers donated generously to our disaster relief campaigns. As well as Morocco, our appeals helped people in Nepal, ,Türkiye and Ukraine:
• Funding for REACT in Ukraine to provide first aid and hot meals in Dnipro and towns on the front line for mothers and children, elderly and disabled and others arriving from conflict areas
• A small amount of funding to support REACT with a needs assessment after the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria and supporting the delivery of aid for those most vulnerable
• Funds for emergency aid and tents distributed by Freedom Kit Bags to support those affected by the earthquake in Jajarkot, Nepal
Our Trustees
DIANA TICKELL CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
Diana has a wealth of experience in the charity sector having held senior positions at non-profits such as Barnardo’s and NABS. Diana began her career in the tourism industry and is still a passionate adventurer, enjoying cycling and discovery trips. She has also spent time volunteering in Sierra Leone, gaining a deeper understanding of delivering community-based programmes.
RICHARD ISAACS TREASURER
SAM SEWARD TRUSTEE
An experienced Finance Director and travel industry professional, having worked with such notable brands as Kuoni and TUI Travel before joining Exodus, Richard has a passion for travel, international development, and sustainability. He is an active member in his local community, notably helping with local school and swimming club accounts, and a keen cyclist.
Sam heads up the Adventure division of Travelopia (Exodus, Headwater and Sawadee). He is passionate about high impact customer experience and helping the Exodus team deliver expertly crafted adventures that benefit travellers, local communities and nature.
HILARY THOMAS TRUSTEE
An experienced fundraiser with nearly 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, Hilary is a corporate partnerships specialist who is passionate about harnessing the power of the private sector to drive positive change in the world. Her career and passion for travel has taken her around the world and she looks forward to sparking the same spirit of adventure in her two young children as they grow up.
GILES TOTTERDELL TRUSTEE
Giles has extensive experience of financial management and governance across a number of charities both large and small. He is particularly passionate about helping rural communities to thrive and prosper through economic development. Giles is also a regular Exodus client, combining his love of travelling with cycling and trekking.
Our Accounts
For more detailed accounts, please refer to the Accounts and Annual Returns section of the Exodus Travels Foundation record on the Charity Commission’s register of charities (registered charity number 1182265).
