At SASO Uganda Safaris Ltd we believe and work towards ensuring that tourism maximizes the benefits to local communities, minimizes negative social and environmental impacts, and helps local people conserve fragile cultures, habitats and species. So we wrote this Responsible Tourism Policy to guide us into delivering on our promise and we hope this policy compels our travellers into joining our causes. Our Responsible Tourism Policy We are fully aware that tourism is a two-edged sword. It can bring prosperity through jobs, foreign investment and foreign exchange and at the same time it can damage environments, stress societies and erode cultures and traditional values. In addition to the 20% tourism revenue that the government gives back to the communities surrounding the national parks for development, SASO Uganda Safaris Ltd, on its part, encourages responsible tourism by supporting the following causes: Economic Providing information about the levels of local poverty and the importance of spending money in the local economy in order to encourage development that can benefit the local people in the tourist destinations. Encouraging our clients to spend money in the local economy e.g. by buying crafts that are made locally and to bargain responsibly. Hiring and training local people to provide services to tourists as local guides, porters, story tellers, entertainers etc. Ensuring that local supplies such as food and beverages during safaris are, as much as possible, procured from the local farmers an business people in the area. As part of our corporate social responsibility, SASO gives 5% of the profit on each Safari back to the communities that our clients visit. In Bwindi and Kampala we currently have some school going children we support with scholastic materials as one of the ways of helping them to achieve their education. Social Showcasing local community projects and asking our visitors whether they would support payment towards a community levy or fun