In response to growing demand for more sustainable cruises, Peregrine Adventures has tripled the number of cruises in Europe in 2018, announcing sustainability will be a focus for its small ship Adventure Cruising this year.
Cruise is one of the largest growing sectors in the global tourism industry, but has recently experienced criticism regarding sustainability issues, with locals protesting against mass tourism in European cities like Venice, Dubrovnik and Barcelona.
“Over-tourism is reaching crisis point in major hot spots, making people increasingly aware of their impact on the places and people that they visit, prompting more travellers to seek out authentic, local experiences in lesser-known destinations,” Intrepid Group chief executive officer James Thornton says.
“The Intrepid style of travel has always been to travel the local way: using local accommodation and transport, eating in local restaurants and employing locals.”
Peregrine Adventures is a carbon-neutral travel company whose cruise range is operated by small ships with no more than 50 travellers onboard, enabling travellers to visit the small ports that big ships can’t get to, exploring little-known towns and villages in some of the world’s most desirable travel destinations.
Furthermore, as part of its commitment to sustainable tourism, Peregrine Adventures has banned all single-use plastics such as straws, cups, and water bottles on board its 2018 charter trips, providing guests with cloth bags and refillable water bottles instead.
In 2018, the company will add four new charter itineraries to its Adventure Cruising range in Europe, with a total of 20 departures available for the year.
“We’re starting small, but we have big ambitions to grow a more sustainable style of cruise ship travel, and by 2025, we may even see more Peregrine customers travelling on small ship cruises than on our land-based trips.”
Highlights from Peregrine’s 2018 Adventure Cruising Europe program include:
• Croatia Coastal Cruising trip, which sails from Split to Dubrovnik including the small riverside town of Opuzen and a special detour to Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Hidden Gems of Greece combines traveller favourites such as Santorini and Mykonos with stops in lesser known islands such as Syros and Sifnos, known for its incredible cuisine.
• Cruise Croatia’s Central Coast itinerary heads north from Split to Zadar, and includes an inland excursion to Plitvice Lakes National Park.
• Iceland’s Wild West Coast travels from Reykjavik to Akureyri through the far-flung Westfjords looking out for puffins, nesting birds and whales along the way.
