A small family-run walking holiday business — measuring, reducing and reporting our real impact on Ireland's landscapes and rural communities.
Our holidays should leave Ireland's hills, villages and people in better shape than we found them.
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 supplier — B&B, taxi, baggage transfer, restaurant — is local to the route. Your euro funds Irish rural livelihoods directly.
The on-trail product is near zero-carbon. We promote Rail & Sail arrivals over flights, measure trip emissions, and contribute to Irish biodiversity restoration.
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, country pubs, conservation partners. 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 publish a verified figure annually in our Sustainability Report.
of suppliers are local to the destination
single-use plastics in the WHI walker kit by 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
We have assessed WHI against every one of the 35 criteria in the GSTC Tour Operator Standard v4.01 — the international benchmark used by most sustainable-tourism certification bodies. Our published Gap Analysis sets out exactly where we are aligned, where we are partially compliant, and the actions we have committed to close every gap in 2026.
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.
Read the post arrow_forwardOur 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.
