The most discerning luxury travellers today are asking a question that previous generations of tourists rarely asked: what does my journey give back? This is not a sacrifice of luxury. It is a redefinition of it — the recognition that the most meaningful travel experiences are those that enrich the places they visit, not only the travellers who pass through them.
At Affluent Travel & Leisure, responsible tourism is not a marketing position. It is the way we have operated from the beginning — because we believe that the India we love, and the subcontinent we share with our guests, deserves to be protected, honoured, and sustained for the generations who will travel here after us.
"The most luxurious thing a traveller can do today is ensure the places they love will still be extraordinary for those who come after them."
Our Environmental Commitments
We are registered members of Green Globecare and apply sustainable tourism principles across all our operations:
- Carbon offset programmes for all international flights arranged through our network
- Plastic-free travel kits for all guests — reusable water bottles, filtered water at all recommended hotels
- Priority partnerships with hotels that hold internationally recognised sustainability certifications
- Minimisation of single-use plastics in all packaging, documentation, and travel materials
- Support for solar-powered and responsibly managed accommodation across our hotel selection
Community Tourism — Travel That Benefits Locals
The finest experiences we arrange are those where our guests' presence directly benefits the communities they visit. We do this in several concrete ways:
Artisan Community Visits
When we arrange visits to Rajasthan embroidery villages, Kutch craft communities, or Varanasi weaving families, guests purchase directly from the artisans — not through intermediary shops. The full margin stays with the maker. Over thousands of guest visits, this creates meaningful economic support for traditional craft communities that might otherwise see their children leave for urban factory work.
Conservation Contributions
At Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, and other wildlife reserves, we partner with Project Tiger conservation initiatives and arrange optional guest contributions to local anti-poaching patrol funding. We brief guests on the conservation context of each reserve — so wildlife sightings are understood within the framework of the extraordinary human effort required to protect these animals.
Local Hiring Practices
Every guide, driver, and ground support staff member we work with is local to the region they serve. We do not import staff from other regions or use centralised agency labour. Local employment creates local stake in the protection of tourism resources.
Responsible Wildlife Tourism
We apply strict ethical standards to all wildlife experiences we arrange:
- We do not arrange elephant rides — only ethical elephant encounters at vetted sanctuaries
- We do not visit wildlife facilities that breed animals in captivity for tourist encounters
- All wildlife photography guidance includes ethical distance and disturbance protocols
- We select safari lodges with the smallest footprint and the strongest conservation programmes
- We support minimum safari group sizes to reduce pressure on sensitive wildlife areas
Cultural Sensitivity — Travelling with Respect
India's cultural complexity — its religious traditions, its social protocols, its sacred sites — requires a level of cultural literacy that we build into every journey. We brief all guests before arrival on appropriate dress for temples and mosques, photography protocols at religious sites, tipping customs, and interaction norms that ensure encounters with local communities are conducted with dignity and respect.
Our Green Globecare Certification
Affluent Travel & Leisure is a certified member of Green Globecare — an internationally recognised sustainable tourism certification that evaluates environmental, social, and governance practices. This certification is reviewed annually and confirms that our operations meet internationally benchmarked standards of responsible tourism.
When you travel with Affluent Travel & Leisure, you travel with an operator that takes its responsibilities to India seriously. Contact us to learn more about how we design journeys that are extraordinary for you and beneficial for the places you visit.
