Vagabond Tours Becomes A B Corporation
Sister-company and intermediate members to the Sustainable Tourism Network, Vagabond Tours Ltd, has recently been certified as a B Corporation, solidifying their promise to being a sustainable tourism business and aiming to “reduce their impact on the Ireland we all love.” Commenting on their latest sustainable certificate to add to the wall, owner Rob Rankin said “We are absolutely thrilled to have achieved this certification. It is a great achievement by everyone on the team involved.”
B Corporations are businesses that “meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” This includes the local community, the environment, the workers and the suppliers. 3,762 companies across 74 different countries are currently certified, four of those companies being Irish. Vagabond Tours is the first Irish tourism business to be B-Corp certified by scoring a fantastic 81 on their assessment, further proving that they are committed to keeping their environmental and social impact low. Their impact assessment holistically covers how the business has an impact on all of its stakeholders. Their assessment was governed by an independent Standards Advisory Council made up of 20 experts in their field and will be reviewed again in another three years. Reflecting on the application, Rob discussed how it was “a thorough, exacting and thought-provoking process. While we entered the process already on the right track, B Corp has inspired us to think hard about how we run all aspects of the business”
Although the tourism and hospitality sector is currently in repose, Vagabond has demonstrated how a business can still be proactive and prepare themselves for the industry restart. “We felt it was vital to look to the future and commit to achieving B-Corp certification,” stated Rob. “Hearing this news in the middle of winter has been a massive boost to our team. This positive news will help us convey the message to our customers, past and future, that we are a good business to work with.”
One area in which Vagabond excelled was in the environment, which is not surprising. Their headquarters are solar-powered, they have been carbon-neutral since 2016 and in 2020 alone they planted 3,000 trees. They also scored high for their working environment. Their impact score states that staff feel engaged and satisfied in their roles, that they have a high sense of financial security and that importance is placed on their health, safety and wellbeing.
Congratulations to Vagabond Tours Ltd on their awesome accolade of becoming a certified B Corporation. Through their certification they have validated their sustainable tourism stamp of approval of being committed to having a positive impact on both the environment and society. Here’s to hoping they have inspired other tourism and hospitality businesses here in Ireland to follow in their footsteps.
