Brian Young, G Adventures’ managing director, said holidaymakers were increasingly interested in how their visits helped to improve the life of local people.

“We want customers to have a great time and also know they are giving back to the local community through social enterprises in a responsible way,” said Young.

“They can see the impact they are having on a community by having a great time – it’s quite powerful to have that purpose and I think that’s one of the reasons we have such a high repeat rate. Consumers want to know they are making a positive impact.”

G Adventures says 112,000 local people are employed globally by its contracted service providers.

The operator adds 91% of hotels, restaurants and tour providers are owned by local people, while 97% of on-tour suppliers employ sustainable practices within their businesses. And 90% of suppliers purchase more than half of their provisions from local producers, farms and markets.

“We are the only company that self-audits the supply chain,” said Young. “We publish the numbers on how much money stays in the local community in every brochure.”