As you would expect, the enormous multinational companies that now own the vast majority of well-known travel companies require their subsidiaries to deliver as large a profit as possible to their shareholders.

As a result, these multinational parent companies are now directing their travel company subsidiaries to walk away from the independent, local tour-operating companies (destination management companies) they have previously worked with and to establish their own tour-operating companies to run all their overseas trips. In MBA-speak we’re talking about ‘vertical integration’.

Often these new multinational-owned, tour-operating companies run trips for a stable of the travel companies owned by their own multi-national owner and, of course, any profits are sent overseas to their multinational owners quick smart.

There’s plenty of talk from all the big companies about their responsible tourism policies and their charitable trusts, but we think the most important questions to research about any travel company you are thinking of using are:

Who owns the travel company?
Around The Sun is an Australian company owned by Richard Everist and Lucrezia Migliore.

Which local tour operator (aka destination management company) does the travel company use, and who owns it?

Around The Sun is transparent about the different tour operators we use, because we’re so proud to use them! They are all small, locally-based, independent companies.

Are local operators and guides paid fairly?
Around The Sun insists all its local operators and guides are among the best paid in their country – and we’re happy to pay, because they are the best!

What profits are repatriated from the country you visit?
The local operators used by Around The Sun do not repatriate profits to western-owned multinationals.

Does the travel company use local or western guides, or both?
Around The Sun always uses local guides. In some cases the local guides are joined by a western, English-speaking guide. Our special interest tours are led by expert practitioners and teachers, and sometimes by Richard Everist or Lucrezia Migliore, but a local guide is always part of the trip.

Does the travel company use responsible, high quality, locally-owned accommodation, restaurants, and transport?
Around The Sun only uses foreign-owned infrastructure when there is absolutely no suitable locally-owned alternative.

Does the multi-national parent of the company you are considering use its market power to drive down the prices of suppliers to unsustainable levels?
Around The Sun has no market power! The consolidation of the travel industry presents you with an opportunity to access the services of the very best, locally-based tour companies in the world via Around The Sun.

Around The Sun does not sacrifice quality experiences, or your comfort, or the well-being of local suppliers, in order to make a profit for a multinational. Around The Sun supports the best local operators, the best local guides, the best locally-owned hotels, the best locally-owned restaurants. And the more money we leave behind in the countries where we operate, the happier we are.

Around The Sun runs small trips so we do not overtax the environments where we are guests. We respect the wishes of local people. Wherever possible, we minimise our carbon footprint, and we use sustainable, environmentally safe products and services.

You can download, print and share our introductory brochure here!