Earthwise Travel founder and Agent Achievement Awards Sustainability Champion of the Year 2024 Julie Breckon talks to Ella Sagar
Q. How did you start out in travel?
I made my move into travel from teaching about 10 years ago. As a teacher I had very little work-life balance and found I wasn’t seeing my young kids enough. Around the same time I was diagnosed with several chronic illnesses, so I knew something needed to change. I had a background in geography and travel and tourism from my time as a teacher, and my parents had instilled a desire in me to travel from a young age, so moving into the sector seemed like a logical solution. It was something I could do based from home, be flexible with my hours to see the children and save my health. It was also something I had a passion for.
Q. How did you set up your agency?
I started a gradual transition and reduced my teaching hours until about five years ago, when I felt it was right to go full-time with my travel business. I didn’t just want it to be a travel agency; I wanted it to be a force for good in the world. I used the time during the pandemic to get more sustainability-related qualifications, such as a carbon-literacy certificate. This gave me the feeling of being in a much stronger position to market myself as an agency that focused on sustainable travel.
Little changes mean the business is as sustainable as I can possibly make it
Q. How does sustainability come up in conversations with your clients?
It’s very mixed. Some have a practice of sustainability in their daily lives and do not want their holidays to be any different to that. Others just come and ask me for a holiday and have no clue what sustainability is. In some cases, they ask for things that are not the most sustainable or ethical, such as tickets for certain wildlife experiences. Then it’s a case of having a conversation with them, explaining why their choices are not that sustainable and offering alternatives. Whenever I’ve had those sorts of conversations with people, either regarding hotels or travel or experiences, they’ve always been so open to the change and happy to do whatever alternatives I’ve suggested.
Q. How do you make your agency sustainable?
It’s not just the holidays I book for clients, but how I work behind the scenes. For example, I switched from paper documents to e-documents; have a green-hosted website; do not use any single-use plastics; and make sure the electricity supply is from renewable energy. These little changes mean the business is as sustainable as I can possibly make it, before I start to book any holidays. When speaking to clients, I use my expertise and knowledge to help them make wiser travel choices, ranging from hotels, destinations and experiences to things like packing light on the plane, taking reusable water bottles and bringing home any plastic waste.
I want to get to the point where tour operators can provide us with enough sustainable options so that I can be selling sustainable products exclusively
Q. What was winning at the AAAs like?
A colleague at Hays Travel put me forward for it and, when I won, I felt a mixture of surprise and recognition because I had made it my aim to make travel a force for good. I want to spread the word through my clients so they are able to change their habits, which has a ripple effect that is more far-reaching than what I did. I don’t just see the award as an award for me, I see it as an award for everyone who’s doing anything to help make travel more sustainable, in whatever way that might be and however big or small the impact.
Q. What developments would you like to see?
I would love to see growth in the number of my clients requesting sustainable options and in the charities I support through every booking. I plant a tree in each country my clients are travelling to and make a donation to a local wildlife, environmental or social charity. I also want to get to the point where tour operators can provide us with enough sustainable options so that I can be selling sustainable products exclusively. That’s my ultimate goal.
What advice would you share about how to book sustainable holidays?
One of the easiest things to look at is whether the hotels you’re sending people to have a sustainability certification or, failing that, a sustainability policy on their website. That way, you know that even if they’re not perfect, they are doing something – and something is better than nothing.
The other thing is to be mindful around animal tourism and experiences. Most of us have been to marine parks or gone elephant riding, but we need to think about what goes on behind closed doors and the impact of those places on the animals. World Animal Protection has a list of ethical attractions, but you can never get more ethical than seeing an animal in the wild.
I would also suggest looking at carbon emissions on flights and, if you have a choice, go for the one with lower emissions or try switch-selling to rail travel instead. That way, the journey can become part of the destination. All of these are small things, but if we can all just make one small change, collectively it makes a big difference.