CSR report

OUR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY

It is not so easy for us to write about sustainability. Why? Because this word has been used very often in recent years to represent a certain ecological attitude to the outside world. However, our attitude to sustainability is an inner one and has been one of the most important building blocks of indigo holidays since the company was founded fifteen years ago.

We understand holidays with sustainability on several levels:

1. SUSTAINABLE PROGRAMS
Our guests have a lasting effect of their vacation long after the travel season. Often it is much more, because the trips, the programs often bring about a change in the participants, which is crucial for everyday life. It is the quality of the encounters, the attentiveness of the hosts and the program manager, the conscious encounter with nature that leads to a new encounter with itself. The awareness of the fact that the encounter at the heart level, the appreciative interaction with the other person and with Mother Earth is the most important thing in life. When guests often tell us that they had this experience during indigo holidays, that is the greatest compliment to us.

2. SUSTAINABILITY AT THE VACATION SITE
We are quite delicate when it comes to choosing our accommodations. On the one hand, it is important to us that we like the place and that we - as is said in Austria - “feel good straight away”. Because this feeling of well-being is the cornerstone of a valuable holiday. Feeling good usually happens unconsciously through the interaction of many small factors, many energies, many hearts. Most of the houses are small, familiar and mostly operated by the owners. From owners who care about hosting with everything that goes with it. All of our houses are characterized by the fact that they are located in beautiful nature and give the guest the opportunity to feel nature. Be it through the gardens, which bring guests closer to the local flora, or be it through their own fruit, vegetable and herb gardens. And of course by the view of the sea, the mountains or another beautiful natural landscape.
An important criterion for us is the ecologically responsible attitude of the hosts, which is often shown by big “things” like solar systems, the already mentioned partial self-sufficiency through vegetable and fruit cultivation. And often it is the little “things” that, taken together, do great things. Drinking water can be filled into your own drinking bottle in many houses at water dispensers or fountains, thus saving you the often terrifying mass of plastic bottles. Perhaps what is most important to us when choosing our accommodations is the way the operator deals with guests, with employees, with partners. In our eyes, the interpersonal level is the basis for a special vacation.

3. SUSTAINABILITY WHEN ARRIVING
Vacation and arrival is often such a thing. When choosing our offers, we pay attention to the good mix. For air travel, it is important to us that there is a minimum stay of one week and that the aircraft is not chosen for shorter periods. For destinations within Austria, we guarantee that guests can be picked up from the nearest train station. We arrange carpooling for guests arriving by car.

4. SELECTION OF OUR TARGET AREAS
When choosing the destination areas, it is important to us that the hotels are not located in areas of mass tourism. It is also important to us that everything possible or as much as possible of the sales generated locally remains in the target area. The places and regions are special, but not exotic. We make sure that the journey is not only reasonable for humans, but above all for nature. We reject trips to areas in need of protection. We offer year-round trips to an area on the edge of the Limestone Alps National Park. In this context, it is essential for us to work with a national park partner company. Guided hikes, during which guests can learn about protected plants and the special features of the region, are on offer here.

5. OUR CLIENTS
And last but not least, sustainability in customer relationships. We consider it a great gift that people entrust us with their most valuable time of the year - the holiday season. From the very first guest, our innermost orientation was designed to enable the guest to have a really special vacation - to touch him, to give him a special moment, to give him quality of life - far beyond the vacation. For us, this orientation begins with the first customer contact and actually never ends.

For us, the preparation of the trips, from the choice of locations, the programs to customer information and aftercare is a cycle that - and we are extremely grateful for this - makes our work a real matter of the heart.

Sonja Miko
Management Indigo vacation
January 2020