12 years of experience, 84,000+ travellers 13 Destinations 100% Satisfaction
We believe that by traveling in a sustainable and conscientious manner, we can transform the world, and connect different cultures. For this reason, we are committed to preserving the magic of the local communities, wildlife and the planet as a whole, with the aim of sharing our wisdom and that of the local people, to contribute to making a better world
We use our inclusive and sustained economic growth to reward the daily contribution of our local experts through economic compensation and performance bonuses. The people that work with us are not nameless faces: They are what make Valencia Travel great.
Each person has a story to tell. And from the small city of Cusco, leaders are born who make it possible to think about tomorrow in a better way. People who come from the breathtaking heights of the Andes, with strong lungs that take in the purest mountain air. These are the people – the guides, porters, cooks and more – who have enabled us to build our agency at more than 3,399 meters above sea level.
We rely on them, and that’s why we treat them as equals and with the respect that they deserve. This is reflected in the fair salaries that we share with our great family of local experts. Beyond on that, we have in place a range of incentives and programs to further show our thanks to our great team of local experts, including:
We promote the inclusion of women as leaders and experts in our various travel destinations and throughout our tourism operation, always seeking gender balance in our employment practices. We actively want to increase the number of employment opportunities for women in the travel industry, and we firmly believe that this will help us progress as a global community and a more inclusive society.
It is no secret that problems surrounding gender persist in Peru, where thousands of women struggle each day simply because of their gender. To improve this situation, we know we all must contribute. We are proud of our initiatives that seek to lay the foundations of a new and fairer society, and our company is on a mission to double the number of women leaders and travel experts in our entire tourism operation.
With this initiative, we also seek to reduce the gender pay gap, so that we can have more open conversations and set goals to address any issues. Starting in 2020, we began to have equal gender representation among our company spokespersons, to ensure that we better reflect the diversity of our society. We also continuously strive to empower every woman in our Andean communities in Cusco, with the aim of improving their job opportunities and quality of life. We know it will be constant and hard work, but we are endlessly motivated to walk along this particular path towards a more just society.
Our objectives:
Increase employee and market sentiment regarding diversity and inclusion across all of our brands.
Diversity:
Means that those of all backgrounds, life experiences, preferences and beliefs are recognized and respected as individuals and valued for the different perspectives they bring.
Inclusion:
Means that all are given equal opportunity to contribute to business success and be their true selves, regardless of background.
Goals:
Ensure that the Valencia teams, partners and travellers are equally represented within the LGBTQ +, Indigenous and People of Color communities and we as as company will not work with companies that don’t support LGBT+, BLM, BAME, human rights, womens rights, workers benefits.
The protection of wildlife and the habitats that animals depend on is of huge importance to us. All of Peru’s numerous animal and bird species enrich the landscapes that we explore when we set off on one of our adventures. Peru may be our home, but is also home to a wonderful array of flora and fauna, which it is why it is considered a megadiverse country. It has record numbers of marine and continental fish species (around 2,000) as well as butterflies (4,000 species); it has almost 2,000 bird species, 449 amphibians and around 515 species of mammals, many of which are endangered and are protected within Peru’s many national parks.
Faced with the threats to wildlife, we have become very much engaged in protecting the flora and fauna of Peru. We follow essential fundamentals for animal welfare, and along all of our routes we take great care to respect and preserve the animal world. This includes the welfare of domesticated animals such as llamas, horses, pack donkeys, alpacas, guinea pigs, sheep and more.
At Valencia Travel, we follow the Five Freedoms of animal welfare:
At Valencia Travel, we plan to comply with the following guidelines that we will implement in our operation. We have made a commitment to long-term sustainable solutions that protect our environment and minimize harmful CO2 emissions.
Goals:
Eliminate single-use plastics from our offices and trips throughout by 2022.
How?
Reduce printed brochures by 50% by 2025
How?
Implement sustainable offices
How?
Our goal is to be one of the companies that does the most to help the planet and our society. We have objectives to meet in the short term and we are very enthusiastic about taking the first steps:
Peru is a diverse country that represents an endless number of unique traditions and legacies that are passed from one generations to the next, up to the present day. This includes arts, gastronomy, medicinal remedies, spirituality, personal values, landmarks, monuments and more. We love to connect our travellers with the local heritage and culture, and we consider every trip an educational and enriching experience. This, in turn, helps to preserve the local traditions.
We ensure that every cultural exchange is carried out in an ethical and sustainable way, while not interfering with or altering the local traditions. As a company:
We promote sustainable cultural preservation through tourism that benefits communities, including through the production and sale of goods and services. With this we seek to connect people with opportunities that promotes and enhances the local heritage to guarantee sustainable tourism models.
How?
Support community-based resource management.
How?
Our tourism programs seek to create new jobs and support local development through cultural preservation and the development of alternative local tourist routes that ensure that investment from travellers truly benefits everyone.
As tour operators we help encourage people to stay longer at sites and contribute resources to local economies, emphasizing quality over quantity, fundamental principles in our new sustainable travel programs.
We employ local guides and community leaders so that we can learn about each culture and way of life directly from those who live it. In particular, we can learn from rural indigenous communities about their relationship to the land and how they have practiced sustainable agriculture for centuries.
We promote purchasing from local suppliers and ethically-sourced fair trade goods. This helps guarantee that farmers and workers receive fair and competitive wages and safe working conditions, prevents forced or abusive child labor practices, and promotes environmentally sustainable farming methods.
We seek work with 100% local companies, our platform model ensures that the profits from our operation go to the local economy. This is incredibly important for conservation as it creates viable local economic alternatives in rural areas, and increases the inherent value of conserving natural landscapes.
Goals:
One of our main approaches is to visit the Waca Punku community, located about three hours from Cusco. Here are a number of small villages located on the side of a steep mountain. Every year it is a great pleasure for us to bring a little Christmas cheer into the lives of the locals. We dress up in our best Santa Claus costumes and make sure that Christmas in this community is celebrated well.
Valencia Travel allocates 5% of the total tourist packages to help this community. We know this won't solve all of the difficulties this community faces on a day-to-day basis, but we think it's a good start and a great way to promote more smiles during the holiday season and make daily life a little easier.
We encourage our guests to save some space in their luggage to bring something small to help these communities, as long as the material does not contaminate or contain plastic.
These treasured items can be as simple as a T-shirt, a pair of socks, a baseball cap, or a pair of shoes. It's okay if these items are second-hand, as long as they're clean and in good condition. Educational materials are also appreciated! Items like notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, and glue are local favorites. If you really want to be a rock star, bring a calculator!
For the last three years we have been carrying out social supports, where we share basic food and coats with the families of our porters, all of them from the communities with which we have worked the Inca Trail route for 9 years for the Valencia Travel company.
There were once 30,000 kilometers of Inca roads and trails that connected Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador Colombia and Chile. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and the point where the roads converged, demonstrating the capital’s supremacy as the “navel of the world.” These roads connected people for centuries, and made it possible for the empire to grow.
At Valencia Travel, we follow in this same spirit of building metaphorical roads that can connect people, while at the same time discovering new paths to explore and follow. We follow the principle that made it possible to connect and unify people many centuries ago. It is very important to us as a company that these Andean interconnections are not lost. Rather, that they spread to the furthest reaches of our global community of travellers.
Goals:
Achieve a 20% increase in itineraries visiting developing destinations for specialty brands by 2025.
How?We have a heritage of superfoods to share, and we are often surprised that eating habits in our region are being replaced by unhealthy alternatives, especially among our children. We want our population to continue growing strong and healthy.
How?
We want everyone to be able to enjoy Peru and the many tours that we offer. That’s why, whenever possible, we include facilities for people with physical disabilities and limited financial resources, with the aim of integrating vulnerable groups and people with disabilities into our travel experiences.
We want everyone to be a part of our journey regardless of their condition in the world -- that's our philosophy. We understand that more than a third of the world's population is directly affected by some sort of disability. For this reason, we challenge ourselves to always provide accessibility for people with disabilities in our travel packages.
Similarly, in Peru there are thousands of people who, despite living in a megadiverse territory with many natural wonders, do not have access to them. It is incredibly sad that some people cannot experience their own land, of which they are a part. We want everyone to be a part of our experience, especially our Andean brothers and sisters. We want to provide them with extraordinary experiences that can change their lives for the better. It is time for everyone to get to know each other and become part of a global community.
How?