SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
MISSION
The mission of Travel Club Kazakhstan is to provide each client with the highest possible range of tourism services of high quality and reliability, following global standards and the principles of corporate ethics.
Our strategic mission is realized on creating the most favorable conditions for the local population, personal involvement and responsibility of each employee and supplier. Continuous reduction and prevention of negative impacts on the environment.
POLICY
The activity of Travel Club Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership is aimed at the full satisfaction of customers' needs, being a reliable provider in the market of Kazakhstan in providing services to the corporate sector and privileged private tourism. We strive for sustainable development in all areas of activity, including personnel, environment, economy and society.

The company's policies include the following important areas:
1. Sustainability management and legal regulations compliance
- Have an assigned employee who is responsible for the tasks of the sustainability coordinator;
- Have a sustainability mission statement that is reported to customers, partners and suppliers;
- Have an accessible and written sustainability policy that seeks to reduce the negative social, cultural, economic and environmental impact of company operations; and includes employee health and safety aspects;
- Collaborate and actively participate in external forums and working groups that support sustainability in tourism;
- Conduct a baseline assessment of the company's sustainability practices;
- Have a sustainability action plan with clear goals, actions, measures, responsibilities and time planning;
- Develop documented procedures to monitor and evaluate the implementation of sustainability policies, goals and objectives;
- Ensure company transparency on sustainability issues through public reporting and information sharing;
- Ensure that all employees are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and strive to implement and improve it.
- We are committed to comply with all national laws, rules and regulations.

2. Internal management: social policy and human rights
We strive for sustainable internal management with a clearly stated social policy that includes the following principles:
- Include working conditions in accordance with national labor laws and job descriptions in the employment contract;
- Provide health and liability insurance in accordance with national law;
- Provide employees with fixed annual paid leave and sick leave and unpaid annual leave;
- Have an employee health and safety policy that meets national legal standards;
- Have first aid kits and trained staff in all appropriate locations;
- Comply with the national minimum age for employment;
- Provide periodic guidance and training to employees on roles, rights and responsibilities regarding health and safety issues. This includes fires and related disasters;
- Create opportunities for students to participate in internships/apprenticeships;
- Encourage employment opportunities for people with special needs;

We are committed to human rights by enforcing the following rules:
- Prohibit discrimination in hiring, terms and conditions of employment, access to training and senior positions or promotions based on gender, race, age, disability, ethnicity, religion/belief or sexual orientation;
- Ensure that all employees have equal opportunity and access to resources and opportunities for personal development through regular training and education;

3. Internal Management: Environment and Community Relations.
We are committed to protecting the environment and strengthening community relations by enforcing the following rules:
- Actively reduce the use of disposable and consumer products;
- Support the purchase of environmentally friendly products and services, office supplies and catering businesses, free gifts and merchandise;
- Purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging materials;
- Set copiers and printers to default to double-sided printing or other paper saving modes;
- Print brochures on environmentally friendly paper from a print shop that operates a certified environmental management system, if available locally at a reasonable cost;
- Turn off lights and equipment when not in use and default equipment to energy-saving mode where possible;
- Give preference to equipment with low energy consumption when purchasing new products, considering cost and quality;
- Have an active water reduction policy implemented and monitored on a monthly or annual basis for monitoring purposes;
- Comply with national legislation on waste disposal;
- Take measures to reduce the amount of packaging materials and not provide non-recyclable or biodegradable packaging materials;
- Take measures to reduce the number of (disposable) plastic drinking water bottles for office use;
- Apply waste reduction methods when using ink and toner cartridges for printing and copying whenever possible;
- Dispose of batteries appropriately;
- Measure and reduce staff travel and use greener modes of transportation. Calculate their emissions to reduce and offset with a robust local program;
- Provide periodic guidance, training and/or information to all employees on their roles and responsibilities with respect to internal environmental practices;

4. Partner Agency.
Based on an inventory of our key partner agencies, we have developed and implemented policies to improve the sustainability of our partner agencies. Our goal is to make sustainability specific to every partner in our business.

We are committed to doing this by:
- Maintain a list of sustainable partner and agent placement practices;
- Work only with organizations that truly incorporate sustainability into their travel policies;
- Raising awareness of sustainable consumption among key partners by organizing (online) campaigns and trainings;
- Informing key partners about Travelife and national tourism standards;
- Having a cooperative contract that includes an annex to the national code of conduct for local partners to encourage their sustainability practices;
- Regularly evaluating the sustainability practices of our key partners to ensure that their practices are truly sustainable;
- Informing key partners of travel company sustainability policies and that they are expected to comply with them, and/or communicating them to their end clients as appropriate;
- Including key sustainability clauses in contracts with incoming/open partners;
- Having a written contract with partner agencies;
- Ensuring partner companies comply with all relevant national employee protection laws;

5. Transportation
We try to ensure that the vehicles used on tours do not cause more than average pollution. We believe that transportation is an important aspect of sustainable tourism, and we do everything we can to reduce average pollution.

This is facilitated by:
- Choosing the most environmentally friendly options based on price and comfort when selecting transportation options to the destination; including sustainable (public) transportation to the point of origin for international/long distance travel;
- Considering and preferring greener alternatives when selecting transportation options for destination transfers and excursions based on price, comfort, and practical considerations;
- Integrating and/or promoting one or more green products / vacation packages based on a recognized methodology, including green transportation, green lodging, and green activities.

6. Accommodation
We strive to create a fully sustainable tourism supply chain.
- Selecting accommodations that meet sustainability and quality standards;
- Motivating and encouraging accommodation partners to obtain sustainable certification;
- Preferring and selecting housing that is locally owned and managed;
- Choosing housing that is locally owned and operated;
- Availability of housing that signs a sustainability application;
- Encouraging accommodations to follow best practices/training on responsible tourism;
- Encouraging accommodations to complete a sustainability questionnaire to better understand their practices;
- Communicating clearly and proactively our sustainability goals and requirements for contractual and other relevant terms;
- Give explicit preference to residences that have internationally recognized (e.g., GSTC recognized) and/or Travelife certifications;
- Include standard sustainability clauses in all contracts with housing providers that focus on child labor, anti-corruption and anti-bribery, waste management, and biodiversity protection;
- Ensuring that children's rights are respected and protected in our housing supply chain;
- Having a clause in contracts throughout the supply chain that establishes a general policy of no sexual exploitation of children and zero tolerance;
- Having a clause in the contract addressing this aspect that allows the travel company to prematurely terminate the contractual agreement if the housing provider fails to take appropriate steps to prevent child sexual exploitation;
- Training for employees on children's rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation, and how to report suspected cases;
- Supporting, collaborating, and engaging stakeholders in preventing sexual exploitation of children;
- Working with facilities and restaurants that have elements of local art, architecture, or cultural heritage; While respecting the intellectual property rights of local communities;
- Terminating cooperation with residential facilities when there is clear evidence that contracted residential facilities jeopardize the integrity of providing essential services, such as food, water, energy, health care, or soil, to neighboring businesses;

7. Excursions and events
We value the welfare of animals and the community and aim for tours that leave only a small footprint. We protect the authenticity of communities and the environment and are strongly against harming wildlife and pollution.
- Having a list of ecologically or culturally sensitive tours offered at each destination;
- Advising guests on standards of behavior during excursions and activities with an emphasis on respect for local culture, nature and the environment;
- Communicating our sustainability goals and requirements to contracted and other relevant tour providers by disseminating this information through a code of conduct, agent representatives, social media, email, discussions and/or meetings to minimize negative impacts on visitors and maximize enjoyment;
- Not offer tours that are harmful to people, animals, plants, natural resources such as water and energy, or that are socially and culturally unacceptable;
- Not to offer any tours involving wild animals in captivity, except for properly regulated activities in accordance with local, national, and international laws;
- Not be associated with companies that harvest, consume, exhibit, sell or trade wildlife species, except as part of a regulated activity that ensures that their use is sustainable and complies with local, national and international laws;
- Availability of qualified and/or certified guides to accompany our guests to cultural, heritage sites;
- Promoting and advising our guests about tours and activities that directly engage and support local communities by purchasing services or goods, traditional crafts and local (food) production methods, or attending social projects;
- Promoting and advising our guests on tours and activities that support the local environment and biodiversity, such as visits to protected areas or conservation projects;

8. Tour leaders, local representatives and guides
We strive to attract as many local people as possible by hiring them into the tour business. We advocate for a fair and safe work environment that supports and respects local communities.

We are committed to:
- Ensuring that all employees have a written employment contract, including working conditions and job description, and fully understand the terms and conditions;
- Preferring to work with local tourism leaders, local representatives, local guides, porters, drivers, cooks and other local staff if of equal ability, and providing training as needed;
- Ensuring that our local partners comply with all applicable international, national and local laws and regulations, minimum industry standards and any other relevant legal requirements, whichever are more stringent;
- Paying tour leaders, local representatives, guides, porters and other local personnel contracted by us at least a living wage that equals or exceeds the statutory minimum or relevant industry standard;
- Ensuring that our guides, hosts and other contract employees are qualified and regularly trained;
- Ensuring that our employees are informed of and comply with the relevant aspects of our sustainability policy through newsletters, links or contract supplements, emails or training and information sessions;
- Informing our tour leaders, local representatives and guides about relevant issues of sustainability in the destination (e.g., protection of flora, fauna and cultural heritage, use of resources), social norms and values (e.g., tips, dress codes and photography) and human rights (e.g., sexual exploitation);
- Training our hired tour leaders and local representatives to prevent sexual exploitation of children. This will include training on how to check the requirements for eliminating child abuse;

9. Destination
We strive to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on the destination in order to ensure the sustainable development of the places where we operate.

We are committed to doing so:
- Consider sustainability aspects in the process of selecting new destinations and possibly suggest alternative, non-core destinations;
- Refuse to select destinations where tourism leads to structural negative local effects (unless the company's involvement leads to clear counterbalance effects);
- Consider selecting new destinations that can be reached by more environmentally friendly means of transportation;
- Support initiatives that improve the relationship between residences and local producers;
- Influence and support local governments (when possible, along with other tourism companies and stakeholders) on sustainability, destination planning and management, natural resource use, and socio-cultural issues;
- Not to promote souvenirs containing endangered species of flora and fauna or historical and archaeological artifacts (except as permitted by law);

10. Customer Liaison and Protection
Customer welfare and information are very important to us. We provide clear and consistent communication and high protection for our clients.

Before making a reservation, we commit ourselves to:
- Ensure that customer confidentiality is not compromised;
- Comply with relevant standards and voluntary codes of conduct in marketing and promotional communications and not promise more than is delivered;
- Make product and pricing information clear, complete and accurate about the company, its products and services, including sustainability statements;
- Provide destination information, including sustainability aspects, that is true, balanced and complete;
- Inform customers of the environmental impact of various vehicles to reach their destination (if not included in the package) and offer environmentally friendly alternatives, if available;
- Promote (certified) environmentally friendly accommodations, tours, packages and/or transportation options through logos or other messaging; ensuring that they are recognizable to the consumer and presented as the "best" option;
- Inform the customer of sustainable alternatives regarding lodging, excursions, packages, and transportation options, if available;
- Clearly inform (potential) direct customers of sustainability commitments and actions;

After booking and during the vacation, we commit ourselves to:
- Provide information to consumers about the environment, local culture and cultural heritage of the vacation destination;
- Inform consumers about key sustainability aspects and issues in the destination and receive guidance on how to make a positive contribution;
- Inform customers about risks and precautions related to health and safety issues at the destination;
- Contact person and phone number available at all times for emergencies;
- Train staff and keep instructions available on how to handle emergencies;
- Provide clients with information about commercial, sexual or any other form of exploitation and harassment, especially of children and teens;
- Inform clients of applicable laws regarding the purchase, sale, import and export of historical or religious artifacts and items containing endangered flora and/or fauna materials in the destination;
- Motivate clients to visit local restaurants and stores (if necessary);
- Inform clients of sustainable transportation options at destinations whenever possible;

After the trip, we commit to:
- Systematically assess customer satisfaction and take the results into account to improve services and products;
- Include sustainability as an integral part of the customer satisfaction survey;
- Have clear procedures in case of complaints from customers;

Sustainable Manager
Aksaule Sadyrova
tck@travelclub.kz
+7 776 246 10 05