Monserrat Yacht

Overview

Description

The destination we promote the most is the Galapagos Islands for their unequalled biodiversity, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Our approach is to provide personalized service. We offer tour packages that are tailor-made to the clients’ needs and our tours include visits to local communities on the islands and on the continental territory.

Rooms

Eight

Making a Difference

Number of employees: 20 (Vía Natura)

Percentage of local employees: 100%

Via Natura operates under a philosophy of using tourism activity to provide incentives for nature conservation. We own this yacht that operates in the Galapagos and administer the Hotel Casa Natura in Puerto Ayora.

We are now funding Fundación Terranova, a non-profit organization committed to promoting environmental protection in the Galapagos Islands. The Foundation counts on Via Natura as a business ally in the development of sustainable tourism. As an outcome of this relationship, Via Natura maintains strict control to prevent the introduction of exotic species to the Galapagos Islands, enforces strict procedures in its food supplies, uses biodegradable inputs, produces its own water for human consumption using a desalinization process, and recycles trash.

Most of the services we use have agreements with the Rainforest Alliance in order to fulfill our commitment to carry out sustainable tourism.

Getting There

Nearest international airport: Quito (UIO).

Nearest local/national airport: Baltra (GPS).

Travel time to nearest airport: 1 hour.

Additional Information

Additional Web sites

• www.fundacionterranova.org/ (available in English and Spanish). On the Terra Nova Foundation Web site, you can learn about Via Natura's commitment to support the conservation projects they carry out in Ecuador.

Date This Information Was Provided

August 2009.

Photos courtesy of Monserrat Yacht, Ecuador, for SustainableTrip.org.