What is the Agency of Change?

The Agency of Change is Regenerative Travel’s membership for travel companies that design and run journeys on the ground in their own country. Applicants are scored out of 30 across three areas: regenerative values and impact, how they choose their partners, and their climate commitments. A score of 20 or more earns full membership.

Regenerative Travel connects independent hotels, ground partners and travel advisors who share one aim: travel that leaves places, cultures and communities better off. Its member hotels and Agency of Change members share real case studies with the advisors it trains. Those advisors then connect travellers with the hotels and ground partners that meet the standard.

What did we have to show to join?

Membership isn’t a pledge you sign once. It is scored on evidence, in three sections worth 10 points each. Here is what each one asks, and how we answer it.

Regenerative values and impact

What it asks: Do we tell guests what we stand for, publish our commitments, give guests a code of behaviour, and take part in social, environmental or cultural work beyond our own trips?

How we answer it:

• Our Sustainable Travel Policy is public. It sets out how we protect ecosystems, keep revenue local and work with culture.
• Before you travel, you receive our guest code of ethics: guidance on local customs, traditions and etiquette, so every visit happens on your hosts’ terms.
• We support conservation organisations including the Eb Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. Time with the teams restoring native forest and protecting reefs can be part of your journey, and your visit helps fund their work.

How we choose our partners

What it asks: Do we favour locally owned partners, avoid suppliers that rely on single-use plastic, and judge every partner against documented criteria?

How we answer it:

• Wherever we design your journey in the Indian Ocean, every stay, guide and table is locally owned.
• Every partner and experience is vetted through our Conscious Travel Assessment, a review aligned with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria. It covers environmental, economic and social responsibility.
• We work with our partners to remove single-use plastic from your journey.

Climate action

What it asks: Do we monitor and reduce our footprint, and have we signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism?

How we answer it:

• We are a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration, the UN Tourism-led commitment to halve tourism emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 at the latest.
• We measure the carbon footprint of each journey, covering every part of your trip.

What does this change about your journey?

The standard sits behind decisions you never have to make yourself: who hosts you, where your money goes, and what the places you visit get back.

Your money stays local

From Mauritius and Rodrigues to Réunion and the Seychelles, every stay, guide and table we book is locally owned. What you spend becomes income for the people who host you. The standard asks us to show this, not just say it.

Nature gets something back

Your days can include time with the teams restoring native forest and protecting reefs, and your visit helps fund their work. You meet wildlife found nowhere else on earth, on terms set by the people who protect it.

You are welcomed as a guest

Cooks, craftspeople and storytellers open their kitchens and workshops in their own way, on their own terms. Experiences are designed with the people who host them, so culture is shared rather than staged.

Ideas proven elsewhere reach your journey

Membership puts us in a working network of hotels, ground partners and advisors, from Canada to the Himalayas. We design to its values and learn from its members, so what works in other places finds its way into your days across the Indian Ocean.

What does the partnership mean for the people who host you?

Regenerative Travel shares requests for Mauritius from across its network among the Agency of Change members here. Every journey that reaches us this way is built with locally owned guesthouses, guides, kitchens and conservation teams.

The result is simple to state: travellers who are already looking for this kind of journey are connected with the people best placed to host it. Their spend lands where the standard says it should.

Travel Advisors: Planning the Indian Ocean for a client?

If your clients want the Indian Ocean done with care, we can be your team on the ground. We design and run every journey ourselves, with our own driver and guide and a network of locally owned partners vetted to the Agency of Change standard.

What you can count on:

• One local team for design, logistics and the days on the ground, across Mauritius and Rodrigues, Réunion and the Seychelles, Maldives and Madagascar.
• Full trip details sent within three days of booking confirmation, with routes and pace agreed with your clients before they travel.
• Clear terms: 50% deposit on itinerary approval, balance due 30 days before the trip starts.
• Credentials you can share: Indian Ocean’s Responsible Tourism Award at the World Travel Awards, four years running (2021 to 2024), and the 2026 World Luxury Travel Awards for Boutique Agency and Luxury Travel Agency.

Start a trade conversation: hello@mauritiusconscious.com

Questions about our Agency of Change membership

Is the Agency of Change a certification?

It is a business membership granted on a scored assessment. Applicants submit evidence across three sections and need 20 out of 30 for full membership.

Who checks the evidence?

Regenerative Travel scores each application against its published criteria. Members then submit impact data every year to renew.

How is this different from an eco-label?

Many sustainability labels assess a single hotel or activity. The Agency of Change assesses the company that puts your whole journey together: who it books, how it chooses them, and what it does about its own climate footprint.

Does it cover every island you work on?

Our seat covers Mauritius, including Rodrigues. Journeys we design in Réunion and the Seychelles follow the same partner standards.

Do I book any differently?

No. You book with us directly, on our usual booking terms. Membership changes how we choose your hosts, not how you pay.

How can I check your membership?

Our profile is listed on regenerativetravel.com, and the full Agency of Change criteria are published on its membership page.