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We are aware that to be a company that provides thoughtful and smart travel experiences requires doing things differently. With that in mind, we would like to outline our commitment to the practice of responsible and sustainable travel and to the safety of our guests.
Culinary Backstreets’ mission has always been to preserve, protect and celebrate local culinary traditions and the unsung heroes of the kitchen. Now, more than ever, we remain focused on this goal. These days, we are paying close attention to the physical, economic and psychological well-being of the local communities and the people who keep them fed. We view this as an opportunity for cities to develop a tourism model that makes sense for them and that avoids the mistakes of the past, and for companies like Culinary Backstreets to be part of that process by renewing our commitment to a more sustainable way of traveling and working. By joining our tours and trips, you are contributing to this effort, which includes:
Going local: Our food tours and culinary trips continue to feature independent, family-run businesses and spotlight local products and small producers.
Respecting local needs: Since new regulations require restaurants to limit their seating, we will make sure that our tours and trips don’t displace local patrons.
Honoring tradition: We continue to honor the traditions of the communities we work with by promoting their cultural and culinary heritage.
Preserving community memory: By telling the stories of the unsung culinary heroes of these communities, we continue to help preserve community memory and keep the unique spirit of neighborhoods and their local businesses alive.
Expressing appreciation: Human contact with the local community is one of the joys of our tours and trips and the reason many of us travel. Despite the requirements of social distancing, we continue to safely express our appreciation of all the culinary masters we meet along the way.
Supporting independent businesses: Small, independent businesses are what make our cities and their culinary landscape so spectacular. These businesses — from neighborhood bodega in Barcelona to grill joints in Tokyo — are highly vulnerable these days and it is particularly challenging for them to adapt to the new conditions. Our support, now more than ever, is particularly important.
Reducing ground transportation: Conscious of the carbon footprint of our tours and trips, we are redoubling our effort to keep our tours and trips, as much as possible, on foot.
Reducing single-use plastic: We are working to reduce single-use plastics on all of our tours and trips, most significantly water bottles. We encourage guests to bring their own water bottle which we can refill throughout the day. We’re also persuading restaurants to offer filtered water as an alternative to plastic bottles.
In order to fulfill our promise to drive measurable change and use our business as a force for good, we have developed a set of Mission Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPIs track our progress in areas such as diversity, inclusion, investment in the local communities we visit, and the development of meaningful relationships that go beyond purely commercial interactions.
We are particularly committed to creating tours and experiences that support small, local businesses, as well as producing editorial content that highlights and promotes them. We view these businesses as essential pillars of the neighborhoods and cities they are part of – repositories of local traditions, both culinary and cultural, that are often at risk and deserve to be celebrated and preserved.
Our focus also extends to neighborhoods and other locations – urban and rural – that lie off the beaten path. These areas often lack visibility in international travel media and suffer from limited tourism infrastructure investment, despite their cultural and historical richness. By bringing travelers to these communities, we aim to help distribute the economic benefits of tourism more equitably and contribute to a more sustainable travel economy.
Additionally, we are committed to featuring businesses on our tours that are owned by underrepresented groups, including immigrants and refugees, entrepreneurs from Indigenous and other culturally distinct backgrounds, and women.
Below are some key statistics related to our KPIs:
Tours in under-visited neighborhoods: 67.2% in 2025 (to date)
Tours that visit traditional food markets: 58.79% in 2025 (to date)
Tour stops featuring small and independently owned businesses: 87.94% (as of April 2025)
Tour expenses spent at small and independently owned businesses: 92.11% in 2024
Tour stops at multi-generational businesses: 50.35% (as of April 2025)
Tour expenses spent at multi-generational businesses: 53.52% in 2024
Tour stops at businesses open for more than ten years: 78.72% (as of April 2025)
Tour expenses spent at businesses open for more than ten years: 82.25% in 2024
Tour stops at businesses owned by underrepresented groups: 37.59% (as of April 2025)
Tour expenses spent at businesses owned by underrepresented groups: 33.99% in 2024
Guides who have lived in their communities for over ten years: 64.84% (as of May 2025)
These continually updated results help us identify both our successes and areas for improvement. They also provide our entire team with a clear view of how we’re supporting the communities we work in – and how we can deepen that support moving forward.
Culinary Backstreets is working with a new set of safety guidelines designed for the physical well-being of our guests, guides and members of the local community that we encounter. These guidelines have been developed in line with the best practices published by governments and health officials in the countries where CB works with regard to restaurant and tour and trip operation. With these procedures in place, our guests — led by our team of professional guides, who are being trained accordingly — can explore with peace of mind.