Wilderness Scotland

Last updated

Wilderness Scotland
TypeTour Operator
Industry Tourism
Founded2001
Headquarters Aviemore, Scotland, UK [1]
ProductsSmall group adventures
Number of employees
36 office team and 50 guides
Website www.wildernessscotland.com

Wilderness Scotland is a tour operator specialising in active and nature based travel throughout Scotland, Ireland and North of England.

Contents

History

Wilderness Scotland was started in September 2001 by Neil Birnie, Paul Easto and Gordon Birnie, and they were later joined by Stevie Christie. [2] There are now 36 core staff and over 50 guides. The guides are all qualified through the National Governing Body relevant to their skills e.g. - Scottish Mountain Leader Association. Wilderness Scotland's first ever trip visited Knoydart in 2001.

Sustainable tourism

Wilderness Scotland is dedicated to sustainable tourism which is environmentally, culturally and socially responsible (ecotourism) for small groups only. [3] The company operates to strict environmental standards and is committed to supporting the local economies in which it operates. It holds the Green Tourism Gold Award. [4] It was awarded second place in the 2008 Guardian Ethical Travel Award. [5] It was winner of the Best Green Tour Operator award in the 2007 World Travel Awards [6] and again in 2014. [7]

In 2006 Wilderness Scotland was Highly Commended at the World Responsible Tourism Awards. In 2007 it received the Investing in the Environment award at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards. It has been part of National Geographic's survey rating adventure travel companies. [8]

Holidays

Wilderness Scotland organises small group trips including walking holidays, sea kayaking, mountain biking, ski touring holidays, canoeing, and photography. Their trips take people to locations such as Knoydart, the Cairngorms and Torridon; as well as islands including Skye, the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. The company also offers self-guided walking holidays, family activity holidays and customised private group holidays.

Sibling and charitable projects

Wilderness Ireland is Wilderness Scotland's sister company and is based on the west coast of Ireland in Sligo. The Ireland operation offers a very similar style of guided active and nature-based holidays and has been operational since 2013. The company works with Trees for Life, a registered charity, to contribute to creating a "Wilderness Forest" in Dundreggan. It also participates in the Leave No Trace education programme to promote enjoyment of the natural world through responsible outdoor access and practice.

Business awards and achievements

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Scotland</span> Overview of tourism in Scotland

Scotland is a well-developed tourist destination, with tourism generally being responsible for sustaining 200,000 jobs mainly in the service sector, with tourist spending averaging at £4bn per year. In 2013, for example, UK visitors made 18.5 million visits to Scotland, staying 64.5 million nights and spending £3.7bn. In contrast, overseas residents made 1.58 million visits to Scotland, staying 15 million nights and spending £806m. In terms of overseas visitors, those from the United States made up 24% of visits to Scotland, with the United States being the largest source of overseas visitors, and Germany (9%), France (8%), Canada (7%) and Australia (6%), following behind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knoydart</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Knoydart is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. Knoydart is sandwiched between Lochs Nevis and Hourn — often translated as "Loch Heaven" and "Loch Hell" respectively, although the somewhat poetic nature of these derivations is disputed. Forming the northern part of what is traditionally known as na Garbh-Chrìochan or "the Rough Bounds", because of its harsh terrain and remoteness, Knoydart is also referred to as "Britain's last wilderness". It is only accessible by boat, or by a 16-mile (26 km) walk through rough country, and the seven miles (11 km) of tarred road are not connected to the UK road system.

Founded in 1982, Rough Guides Ltd is a British publisher of print and digital guide book, phrasebooks and inspirational travel reference books, and a provider of personalised trips. Since November 2017, Rough Guides has been owned by APA Publications UK Ltd, the parent company of Insight Guides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Muir Trust</span> Scottish charity

The John Muir Trust (JMT) is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust runs an environmental award scheme, manages several estates, mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and campaigns for better protection of wild land. In 2017, it took on a lease to manage Glenridding Common in the English Lake District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillie</span> An outdoor attendant in Scotland, especially one assisting with hunting or fishing

Gillie or ghillie is an ancient Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as the River Spey. In origin it referred especially to someone who attended on his male employer or guests.

Trailfinders is a British travel company in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Canadian Affair is the UK's largest tour operator to Canada, providing services including scheduled passenger airlines, package holidays, cruise lines, hotels, motorhome hire and car hire. Since it was founded in 1995, Canadian Affair has flown over one million passengers to Canada.

Kuoni Travel is a tourism company, operating various services including charter and scheduled passenger airlines, package holidays, cruise lines, and hotels in destinations around the world across nine different geographic regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Hammerton Travel</span> Travel agency in the United Kingdom.

Mark Hammerton Group Ltd was a UK-based travel organiser and travel publisher specialising in camping, caravanning, motorhome and mobile home holidays on campsites in France, Spain, Italy and other European countries. The Group published the market-leading Alan Rogers campsites guides and offered a European travel service for readers including ferry bookings. The Group was acquired by The Caravan Club in 2012 under the brand Alan Rogers Travel Group, along with its subsidiary company Belle France, which offers walking and cycling hotel holidays.

Intrepid Travel is a small group adventure travel company. The company offers more than 1,100 escorted tours worldwide with an average of 10 travellers per tour. Intrepid is a B Corporation, certified to meet the standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Its a non profit organization..Intrepid Foundation has raised more than A$12 million to support communities where it travels.

Pennicott Wilderness Journeys is a tourism company based in Hobart, Tasmania. It operates two separate tours, one on Bruny Island and one at Port Arthur. The company was founded as Bruny Island Charters in 1999 by Robert Pennicott and is one of the largest tourism operators in Tasmania, carrying 50,000 passengers over the 2009/10 season.

NST or the NST Travel Group is a British educational travel company, part of the Holidaybreak group of companies.

Tourism Concern was a British NGO, advocating ethical tourism through campaigning and educating the tourism industry and travelling public.It closed in September 2018. Its members and staff worked to highlight global tourism's negative impacts and potential solutions, believing that host communities should truly benefit, not suffer, from tourism development. Its web archive on www.Travindy.com and print archive held by Warwick University document the scope of its work over thirty years. Stated aims were 'to increase understanding of the impact of tourism on environments and host communities among governments, industry, civil society and tourists; and to promote tourism development that is sustainable, just and participatory, and which is founded on a respect for human rights.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Pacific Touring</span> Australian commercial intercity bus company

Australian Pacific Touring (APT) is an Australian tour and river cruising operator with worldwide reach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newmarket Holidays</span> British tour operator based in Wallington, Surrey

Newmarket Holidays, part of The Newmarket Group, is a British tour operator based in Wallington, Greater London, providing escorted holidays, resort-based stays and event-based tours to destinations throughout the UK, in Europe and to worldwide destinations. The group employs 180 staff at its Surrey head office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Responsible Travel</span> Activist travel company

Responsible Travel is an activist travel company offering over 6,000 responsible holidays from 400 holiday providers around the world. In 2018 annual sales were £20.8m and the company took 16,500 passengers. It is one of the world’s largest green travel companies. It is also a travel publisher and has published over 650 destination guides as of March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camps International</span>

Camps International Ltd is an international volunteer travel operator headquartered in Ringwood, Hampshire UK, Dubai, UAE and Australia. Camps International build permanent volunteer accommodation camps within Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Borneo, Cambodia, Ecuador and Peru. Its products include adventure expeditions, educational school expeditions for UK, UAE and Australian school groups.

JacTravel is a leading European Destination Management Company (DMC). JacTravel provides groups and Tailormade FIT products and services to the international travel trade including accommodation, transportation, attractions, catering, and guided touring. Long term specialists in England, Scotland, Wales, and the Island of Ireland, in recent years JacTravel has expanded it's offer into France and key destinations in mainland Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audley Travel</span> Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom

Audley Travel is a tour operator based in the UK in Witney, Oxfordshire, with offices in London and Boston. The company covers over 90 destinations worldwide, providing tailor-made travel. According to the Financial Times, Audley is the largest operator in this market.

Jet2holidays is a British package holiday provider and tour operator. It was formed in 2007 as a subsidiary of Dart Group PLC, and a sister to Jet2.com, the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK. As of 2023 Jet2holidays is the largest tour operator in the United Kingdom, by ATOL licenses in 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact us". Wilderness Scotland.
  2. ↑ "go-wild-for-a-different-kind-of-holiday". www.scotsman.com.
  3. ↑ "Trips : Wilderness Scotland".
  4. ↑ "Wilderness Scotland - Inspiring Adventures in the Wild Places of Scotland". Changemakers.
  5. ↑ "Ethical travel award: Paris Velib". The Observer. 12 October 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "World's Leading Green Tour Operator 2007". World Travel Awards. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "World's Leading Green Tour Operator 2014". World Travel Awards. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Wilderness Scotland". National Geographic. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Wilderness Scotland Ltd Great Place to Work UK | Organisational Consultancy & Employer Recognition". www.greatplacetowork.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "Wilderness Scotland recognised as one of the 2018 UK's Best Workplaces". 27 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "World's Leading Green Tour Operator 2014". World Tavel Awards.
  12. ↑ "Tourism awards". Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.