TUI Travel has set itself four new sustainability goals in a new three-year Sustainable Holidays Plan.
Outlining 20 commitments to the environment and community, the travel company said the revamped plan had come as more customers expect companies to look after the environment. Covering the destinations, carbon, colleagues and customers areas, the company has aimed to become rated as a leader in sustainability by staff and clients.
In addition, it has pledged to offer 10 million greener holidays by 2015, with more certified hotels and the company to measure how many customers are staying in environmentally-friendly hotels. Meanwhile, the company said it will strive to operate one of the world’s most fuel-efficient airlines while also saving 20,000 tonnes of carbon through its ground services.
‘’What excites me about this new three-year Sustainable Holidays Plan is how closely it aligns with TUI Travel’s strategy – delivering differentiated holiday experiences whilst driving an increasingly online and efficient business model. We have already experienced how more sustainable holidays create higher value, quality and satisfaction for our customers,” said Johan Lundgren, deputy chief executive at TUI. ”We also know that looking at our business through a sustainability lens is helping drive product innovation and eco-efficiencies, for instance our use of electronic brochures and of geo-thermal energy in our hotels.”
As well as its in-house initiatives, the company is also to continue its work with projects including wind farms, saving water and reducing waste. The company’s new plan has been described as ambitious but a benchmark for other mass tour operators.
“Over the last 10 years we have seen major tour operators accept that they have the potential to do both good and harm in destinations and that they have responsibility to ensure that tourism becomes more sustainable – there is still a long way to go. TUI Travel’s new ambitious three-year sustainability plan sets a challenge for others to meet,” said Professor Harold Goodwin, International Centre for Responsible Tourism at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Source from <Travel Daily Asia>
