Responsible Tourism

Having been involved in tourism for almost 30 years, our travel agency was created to offer our visitors an “off the beaten track” experience and a meeting between cultures.

In keeping with original cultures of the region, we invite our guests into village houses where they are able to share precious time with the local population, who directly benefit monetarily from this experience which assists them in supplementing their otherwise very modest incomes. We are ’hands-on’ with various social and cultural projects in the area. We employ people from the nearby villages, and also support the youngest ones in their studies.

All of our programs are completely respectful of the inhabitants and of the natural beauty. We do not utilize mass tourism hotels but only use family run boutique hotels, and all of our service provider work by this principle also. We have been very successful with this approach. We love our country and in keeping with this, we do not sell any clichés, but only genuine experiences, being considerate of both the locals and our guests.

As we are natives of Cappadocia, which is an amazing and unique region protected by UNESCO, we are very aware of the importance in caring for our environment.

Not only for our ancestral and cultural inheritance, but also for the magnificent natural wonders, out of which the population’s main sources of living are derived. Indeed, although over the years many locals became involved in tourism, agriculture remains the premiere resource, and one can see villagers tending the fields in the morning and then opening their shops at noon.

In this region, we have a unique Boutique ‘cave’ hotel, in which each stone has been carefully selected and hewn from local ruins, in order to perfectly compliment the natural rock-hues of the area. We (Indigo Group) also operate Cross Golf in Cappadocia which is the one of the best Responsible Luxury in Turkey.

Matiana Travel Member of;

*The International Ecotourism Society

*Sustainable Travel International

http://www.matiana.com/responsible_tourism_turkey.htm