The travel industry has had a bad press regarding its approach to sustainability in recent years and, while in my view, the criticism is in many cases unfounded, we need to move from a defensive position to one where we are seen as leading the way.
So what are the Federation of Tour Operators and ABTA doing? We believe our members should have a comprehensive toolkit to help them address sustainability issues.
Tour operators, particularly members of the FTO, have increasingly been adopting a comprehensive approach. FTO members signed statements of commitment in 2004, agreeing a process of improving sustainability in their businesses.
As part of the programme, the FTO and its members have subsequently developed the Travelife Sustainability System –
a comprehensive solution addressing all aspects of supplier sustainability, including environmental and social goals.
The Travelife system is benefiting from increasing recognition and support from suppliers, with more than 100 sustainability awards now made and numbers increasing daily. Furthermore, ABTA members are also now able to use the system and can encourage suppliers to work with Travelife.
We need to help our members make their own businesses more sustainable, and that must include providing tools for them to assess the sustainability of their business and make improvements.
We can help them understand sustainability issues, such as the impact of aviation on the environment, and provide tools such as Reduce My Footprint to help them address these with their customers.
We also need to look at training and education for our members and their suppliers in these areas – and in this we have a great partner in The Travel Foundation, which was developed specifically to help the industry work in areas of sustainability.
The travel industry has a chance to move into a position of leadership in this area, and we should seize that opportunity.
- Travelife Sustainability System
- resptourwtm08
