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Sustainable Tourism

 

Pyrenees Collection operate holidays to very beautiful places in the French Pyrenees and we want to keep them this way. We also believe in acting responsibly to preserve the environment where we can.

 

Sustainable Tourism in the French Pyrenees - Coast   Sustainable Tourism in the French Pyrenees - Mountains & Lakes 


Pyrenees Collection only operates holidays to the French Pyrenees – Coasts, Cities, Lakes and Moutains. This means that:

 

1. As the French Pyrenees is a close tourism area from the UK, travel distances and therefore CO2 emissions are kept to the minimum.

 

2. Travelling to France and the French Pyrenees can be done by land transport ie. car via ferry/Eurotunnel or train. These are the most environmentally friendly ways to travel.

 

3. France is, very much like the UK, an environmentally aware country. Recycling is widespread (an amazing 17 Billion carrier bags are issued in the UK each year so do bring some with you as you won’t find these issued in French supermarkets)

 

4. France is famous for its food and wine. Most of the food, fruits & vegetables available locally come from within the country, therefore avoiding damaging carbon emitting imports.

 

At the same time:

 

We don’t book flights for clients. We only arrange ground transport so that you can minimise your carbon foot print.

 

We don’t tend to offer all inclusive packages as we prefer to stimulate the local economy in the resorts we feature. In nearly all our resorts, you will feel you are abroad rather than in a ’little England on the slopes’ enclave. You will be able to sample a great range of locally produced food & wine.

 

We support resorts that have dedicated green practices in respect of building policy, recycling, traffic reduction, sewage reduction, bio-diesel use…

 

We act responsibly within our own UK office (ensuring no energy is wasted, minimising paper use by promoting e-mail use as much as possible and avoiding to print unless absolutely necessary, recycling waste paper and unused brochures).  

 

How can you help too?

 

1. Recycle as much as you can when in resort. In all our resorts recycle bins are widely available. There are usually several different types so do ensure you use the correct one.

 

2. Do dispose of any rubbish in the correct way and don’t leave litter on the mountain. Smokers particularly should not leave cigarette ends on the floor.  

 

3. Do walk or use free bus within the resorts rather than your car.

 

4. Reduce your carbon foot print. Each time we take a flight or drive the car, CO2 is added into the atmosphere. Offsetting means paying someone to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by the same amount that your activities add. In this way you can 'neutralise' or 'balance' the CO2 added by your activities. If you would like to offset your CO2 emissions from traveling to the French Alps please visit www.climatecare.org.

 

To tell you the truth we don't really believe in carbon offsetting ourselves. As Patrick Thorne, the "Snowhunter", the ski journalist who set-up the SaveOurSnow campaign says “It's the traveling to the resort rather than the resort itself which has the biggest carbon footprint. I found the average carbon output from a week in the Alps (accommodation, plus a figure per skier for use of lifts/snowmaking arrived at by taking total carbon output of a resort and dividing it by number of skiers!) = less that the carbon output involved in a short haul flight. So the shorter the journey (eg to French resorts), the less carbon output. A flight to Geneva from London puts out a third of the carbon as a flight to Bulgaria, or a tenth of the amount to Colorado/Vancouver so they are 3X or 10X more carbon output for your ski week regardless of what the resort itself is doing... what we are saying is that French resorts are, on the whole, the best for minimal carbon output towards global warming for British skiing based primarily on the obvious proximity, lowest-carbon-emission travel options and in an increasing number of cases - their green power of resorts, ski lifts, snowmaking and bio diesel in the trail groomers”.

 

At Pyrenees Collection we believe it is best to minimise one's carbon footprint in the first place rather than to try to repair the damage done.

Useful Links:
We support the SaveOurSnow campaign see www.saveoursnow.com.

The Travel Foundation also offers useful tips see www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk.  

For further information please call 0844 576 0176
Opening times Mon-Fri 9am – 6pm (7pm Sept-Mar), Sat 10am – 4pm. Closed bank holidays and Sundays.

 

Should you have any further queries about your French Pyrenees summer holiday, please contact one of our team on 0844 576 0176 or email us at reservations@pyreneescollection.co.uk 

 

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