Quality of the Experience
Sustainability and quality reinforce each other
Being responsible should also mean being excellent. This sub-indicator measures the overall quality of the responsible travel experience — whether the tour is not just ethically sound but genuinely memorable, well-organised, and something guests would enthusiastically recommend.
The overall quality of the responsible travel experience — how well the tour delivers on its sustainability promises while also being an enjoyable, memorable journey.
How RTA measures this
The same sub-indicator is assessed from two sides: operators self-assess their performance; travellers rate their experience. Both use a 1–5 scale.
“How well did this tour deliver a high-quality experience that embeds sustainability in a meaningful, enjoyable way?”
- 1Our clients are satisfied so we assume it is a qualitative experience. The site is usually overcrowded but travellers are willing to see it.
- 2In the case of a built heritage tour, our guide is able to provide basic explanations on the heritage site visited. There is no interaction with local communities or visit to watch some traditional activities along this tour.
- 3Our tour is limited to 12 persons and provides good interpretation on local community life, viewing of some traditional activities and/or in-depth explanation on the built heritage. And/or: the most famous site is usually overcrowded but we developed a special itinerary enabling our travellers to enjoy a similar experience in much better conditions.
- 4In addition to the foregoing, this tour includes some hands-on experience(s) of traditional activities (craft making, farming, cooking class, caring for wildlife, etc.) allowing meaningful exchanges with locals.
- 5In addition to the foregoing, we contribute directly (donations for local heritage and cultural preservation) to local initiatives. And/or: we involve locals in heritage and cultural preservation. For example, we developed specific interpretation tools for clients in the local language, and we monitor these actions.
“How would you rate the overall quality of your experience on this tour?”
- 1The overall experience was poor — I would not recommend this tour to others.
- 2The experience was below average — several aspects detracted significantly from my enjoyment.
- 3The experience was reasonable — enjoyable in parts but not particularly memorable.
- 4The experience was very good — I found it genuinely rewarding and would recommend it.
- 5The experience was exceptional — a truly memorable and inspiring journey that I would strongly recommend.
Other sub-indicators in Cultural & Environmental Preservation
Rate this indicator yourself
Complete a questionnaire and see how an operator scores across all 16 sub-indicators.