A small family-run walking holiday business — measuring, reducing and reporting our real impact on Ireland's landscapes and rural communities.
Our aim: holidays that leave Ireland's hills, villages and people better off — and an honest report each year on how close we are.
We're guided by the UN Tourism definition of sustainable tourism — tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts. We don't claim to be perfect. We commit to publishing what we measure and improving every year.
Every walker receives a Leave No Trace briefing in their pre-trip pack. Boots checked, cleaned and dried between trails. Quiet enjoyment over noise.
Every B&B, small hotel, baggage-transfer firm and taxi we book for you is a local business on or near your route. We pay them directly on your behalf.
Walking village to village means no coach transfers and no internal flights between stops. Baggage transfers and taxis still use vans and cars, and most walkers fly to Ireland — so we encourage Rail & Sail arrivals and are now measuring our footprint, to report real numbers rather than slogans.
A self-guided walking holiday isn't a hotel. It's a chain of small Irish businesses we pay directly on your behalf — B&B owners, taxi drivers, baggage-transfer firms and country pubs. Here's roughly where each €100 of a typical 7-night booking goes.
Illustrative blend of a typical 7-night self-guided booking. Actuals vary by tour and season. We will publish a verified figure in our first Sustainability Report (April 2027).
of our accommodation, baggage-transfer & taxi partners are based along the route
single-use plastics in the WHI walker kit since Sep 2026
target uplift on Rail & Sail arrivals vs flights
GSTC Tour Operator criteria assessed in our gap analysis
We don't claim to be perfect. We don't offset our way out of difficult decisions. We commit to publishing what we measure, year on year — and to letting our walkers see the path we're on.
— Cliff Waijenberg, Host & Owner
Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria
Self-assessment · not a certification
We have assessed ourselves against all 35 criteria in the GSTC Tour Operator Standard v4.01 — the international benchmark that sustainable-tourism certification schemes are built on. This is our own self-assessment, not a certification or independent audit. Our published Gap Analysis shows where we stand today (11 criteria aligned, 21 partially aligned, 1 gap, 2 not applicable) and our Action Plan sets out how we will close the gaps.
Read our Sustainability Policyarrow_forwardSustainability Policy signed and published in EN/DE/NL/FR. Purchasing Principles live. Top-20 partner Sustainability Questionnaire drafted. Home-office energy baseline captured.
Plastic-free walker kit on every booking from 1 September. Leave No Trace briefing in every pre-trip pack. Rail & Sail arrival guides live in three languages.
First WHI carbon baseline published. Named conservation partner. Per-trip footprint estimate added to every booking confirmation email.
First WHI Annual Sustainability Report published in EN/DE/NL/FR. Top-20 supplier review meeting. Year-2 plan and targets set.
Our 13 commitments, signed and published.
Open arrow_forwardWhy a family-run walking business is taking the long, honest route to sustainability.
Coming soonOur first WHI Sustainability Report.
Coming April 2027No coach tours. No flights between stops. Just you, the trail, and a chain of small Irish businesses ready to look after you. We'll handle the logistics. You bring the walking shoes.
