As a signatory of the UNWTO Glasgow Declaration, Climate Action in Tourism, Viare Travel has committed to create a Climate Action plan, with concrete steps we will take to mitigate the impacts of climate change in our work and our country.

As an agency that operates in Brazil, the most biodiverse country in the world, but also a country vulnerable to climate impacts and unnatural disasters, we feel it is imperative to take action, even if this is at a smaller level, as a small agency. In the past few years, we have seen some of the worst, historic droughts in the Amazon region, fires taking over the Pantanal wetlands and beyond, and floods destroying entire cities, displacing people, and causing irreversible harm to communities we love and work with.

We are conscious that these are all events that have been occurring more and more, and are more damaging due to climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and in the case of Brazil, illegal deforestation to use land for monoculture agriculture and ranching.

We are also aware that with COP30 being held in Brazil in 2025, we have a responsibility as a host country, to show the world, what an example of sustainable and regenerative tourism can be.

Because of this understanding, our climate actions aim to reduce emissions from transportation, but also the entire pipeline – working to make our experiences as local as possible, with providers who also care about the sustainability of their experiences is important to us. We will also work to promote those who are going against the economic norms in places like the Amazon and Pantanal, moving away from monoculture farming and ranching, and using tourism as a tool for forest conservation through actions like agroforestry and animal protection, as well as uplifting local cultural traditions.

Our Climate Action plan is to implement the following, by 2030, some actions of which we are already transversally incorporating into our standard way of working, others which we hope to implement as our agency grows.

How are we already acting on climate?

Operations

1. We will remain a remote agency, with at most annual retreats for our team, always within Brazil. We are not only a remote first company for the personal flexibility, but we are aware that we are reducing our operational footprint by not requiring commutes and an office infrastructure. We have managed to maintain fantastic connections and culture, even from afar.
2. We limit our number of customers per period. Viare Travel’s founder realized that mass tourism was not capable of reflecting the true essence of our country, and destinations in Brazil are not meant to be visited en masse. Because of this, we intentionally keep our team small, and only take up to 3 groups of travelers at the same time, never exceeding 20 passengers per group, and always favoring small groups of friends and families.
3. We limit flights. When it is possible to get from point A to point B comfortably in under 6 hours on busses or road transfer, we will always offer this option first. We also always offer direct flight options where possible, realizing connecting flights only increase emissions, and that a trip to Brazil can already be a high emission trip for most international travelers.
4. We have standards for nature tourism providers. We only work with local providers and will never fly in an external expert from elsewhere to guide a client’s excursion. There are incredible nature guides throughout the country, and we have found the most profound experiences to be with local guides, who not only understand the ecosystem, but also the local culture and landscape.
5. We avoid large service providers. Viare Travel, unless there are no other options, or there has been a client request, will always favor small, local travel operators, community-based tourism initiatives, and locally owned accommodations. We do not sell services stemming from a catalogue of large national or international tour operators, cruises or book stays at large, internationally owned resorts. The closer to the ground we stay, the more confident we are in offering a sustainable option to our clients – and the destination they are visiting.

Marketing and Values

1. Increasing market outreach to other countries in Latin America. We have traditionally catered to an almost exclusive Anglo and European market, but from 2025, plan on expanding our markets to regional clients. We have taken a first step, by attending FIT Latin America in Buenos Aires in 2024 as exhibitors with the Brazilian tourism board. 
2. We cater to low-carbon profiles. Our travelers are ecotourists, seek cultural learnings whilst in Brazil, and are not set on experiences like cruises and resorts. 
3. We talk to our tourists about climate change openly. When asked about the changing climate, we do not shy away from telling clients that destinations are not ready to be visiting, or certain destinations should be visited, to support tourism that has been harmed by unnatural disaster or climate impacts. We also do not try to sell a destination if we know the climate conditions are not ideal for the experiences clients are looking for. We seek to allow our clients to make informed decisions based on meteorological research. 
4. We talk to our travelers about reasons for making more sustainable choices in their travels. We make every effort to make recommendations to clients that are with service providers and restaurants that are locally owned and run by people who are committed to natural and cultural conservation in their regions. This includes empowering women and community owned restaurants, favoring walks versus tours with high emitted vehicles (when client’s physical conditions allow), and promoting public transport in the larger cities. 
5. We are committed to animal protection. Viare Travel is committed to animal protection and has taken the World Animal Protection wildlife friendly pledge. This means we do not market and sell experiences that can be harmful to wildlife, including forced interactions with pink dolphins, and unnatural animal sightings. 
6. Our partners have similar ideals. Our partners and affiliations are with organizations, platforms and other agencies are based on similar values – this includes those related to making the destinations our travelers visit better than before they visited or cultivating conservation principles and uplifting cultural heritage and traditions. 

Now how to we want to move forward?

Action to be implemented by 2030

We know we still have a long way to go when it comes to acting for the climate. That’s why we’re pledging to implement more into our operations and promotion. 

1. Require active commitments from local partners. We would like 50% of our experiences sold in the next 5 years to be with partners who are committed to habitat protection in areas like the Amazon, Pantanal and Atlantic Rainforest.
2. Promote low emissions itineraries over cross-country trips. Many international travelers to Brazil seek cross-country trips, in some cases, from Foz do Iguaçu to the Amazon, covering sometimes tens of thousands of kilometers on their trips, via flights. We recognize this is because for many travelers, they don’t know when they’ll be in Brazil again, and so they see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the country. We would like to, in the next 5 years, promote more trips that are regional, to visit just one or a couple of parts of the country, encourage more land travel, and slower itineraries. This will allow for more cultural immersion, as well as resulting in less emissions. 
3. Supporting communities in climate action. Not all communities that welcome travelers are aware of the climate risk they are facing until it happens. We’d like to start working with our partners to build awareness and also incorporate this awareness and consideration into their itineraries. 
4. Educating our own team to be climate literate. In the next five years, we’d like to make sure our own team is involved in trainings on climate risk, adaptation, and what it means for travel in Brazil. This will allow our team to make more conscious decisions when building itineraries and vetting new suppliers, as well as helping our clients become more climate informed.  
5. Ensure communities are not taken advantage of – promote just transitions. We have had situations in Brazil where so-called climate solutions have been brought to communities in an unjust fashion. We want to partner with our local providers to help them make informed decisions and advocate for themselves when proposed with clean energy and adaptation solutions, by connecting them to climate experts and advocates we may have access to, and petitioning for a clean energy transition and solutions in infrastructure be beneficial to them, without the communities having to compromise their culture and work. 
6. Prioritize climate friendly destinations. We want to celebrate destinations that are working towards climate friendly itineraries and a just transition. We will make sure to offer more itineraries including these destinations and make our travelers aware of these actions. 
7. Support sustainable infrastructure in the transportation sector. We will advocate on a local and national level through political action, for more climate friendly transportation in Brazil, from the inclusion of electric busses for public transportation, more share road travel and the installation of more train lines to popular tourist destinations. 
8. Work with a climate expert or obtain sustainability certification, to further measure impacts and emissions, to always move towards a better operation. By 2030, we’d like to be certified as a sustainable travel agency by an internationally recognized certifying organization. 

 

Do you have any suggestions as to how we could take more action as a small agency? Don’t hesitate to reach out, we’re always open to more ideas to improve our work!