Sustainability at Depot Adventures
Walking lightly: our sustainability commitment
At Depot Adventures, the service we offer is the city itself, and operating lightly is a core business model for us.
Depot Adventures is an Accredited Tourism Business under the national Quality Tourism Framework, meeting both the Quality Tourism and the Sustainable Tourism standards.
Every experience is on foot. We hold a strict no-vehicles policy and make deliberate use of Melbourne’s Free Tram Zone, which lowers our footprint and shows visitors how locals actually get around.
The venues we visit are independently owned, so guest spending stays with the traders who give Melbourne its character. We estimate more than $1 million has gone into the city’s independent bars, restaurants and shops since we began operations.
Our curators are employed, not freelanced. That means superannuation, workers compensation, penalty rates and our own public liability cover, at a time when the industry standard is a freelance guide carrying their own. In the past year, 98 per cent of our guided hours were worked by employed staff.
Public groups are capped at 12, which keeps our impact on laneways and small venues light.