A senior ABTA member has called for the association to make the adoption of sustainable business principles a condition of membership, with a supplement on subscriptions to pay for it.
ABTA board member and Sunvil managing director Noel Josephides believes the association should make adherence to the principles of Tourism 2023 – launched at The Travel Convention in Barcelona early this month – compulsory for members.
His call comes as the latest research suggests consumers want the industry to take prime responsibility for changing the way we travel and reducing the carbon footprint of holidays.
The research by TNS found almost three out of four consumers are concerned about climate change, but no suggestion that people are considering foregoing holidays out of concern about global warming.
The survey of 2,000 people found little evidence of rising interest in offsetting the emissions from flights or in airlines promoting their environmental credentials.
Just 5% had offset a flight in the past 12 months – although the rate is higher among better-off, frequent fliers.
However, the research suggests significant support – from 41% of those surveyed – for a system that would independently assess the environmental performance of airlines.
TUI Travel recently called for just such a measure, suggesting carriers be required to publish their emissions per passenger per kilometre.
UK managing director Dermot Blastland said: “All airlines should have to report their emissions so people can see them and we can set targets.”
TUI Travel is among the signatories to Tourism 2023, along with Thomas Cook, British Airways, Carnival UK, The Co-operative Travel, ABTA, Advantage, The Travel Foundation and Sunvil.
Writing in Travel Weekly, Josephides argues ABTA should “take the lead and make movement towards fulfilling the 2023 principles an integral part of membership”.
“We need to add a small amount to ABTA subscriptions to enable us to do this,” he writes.
Josephides believes the contributions should be pitched at about £15 a year per £1 million in turnover, and the money be diverted to projects under the supervision of ABTA and The Travel Foundation.
Such a move would raise about £330,000 a year, given a combined annual turnover of £22 billion among ABTA members.
He said: “The benefits would far exceed the small amount members would be required to pay.”