Thomson and First Choice parent Tui Travel has collected almost two tonnes of rubbish from beaches around the world as part of Make Holidays Greener month.
Europe’s largest travel group organised more than 30 beach clean ups across nine countries as part of the annual industry-wide campaign run by sustainable tourism charity the Travel Foundation.
As many as 700 people took part last month and about 400 bags of rubbish were collected. This amassed to over 30,000 pieces of rubbish from 30 kilometres of beach worldwide.
Thomson and First Choice promoted the campaign to customers throughout July in stores, on aircraft, and in destinations.
Tui Travel staff kicked off the month by joining other industry members to clean Hove beach, collecting over 1,000 pieces of rubbish in early July.
Employees, suppliers and customers came together to participate in beach cleans around the world from Spain to Jamaica.
Volunteers in Turkey collected 216 bags of rubbish from seven beaches, while in the Dominican Republic, 127 people cleaned four beaches collecting 68 bags of rubbish.
Tui Travel group sustainable development director Jane Ashton said: “The beach clean events have been a resounding success across the globe.
“Clean beaches aren’t just important for holidaymakers, they are also essential for coastal communities and wildlife.
“It has been a great effort from all the Tui Travel colleagues and customers who have given up their time during Make Holidays Greener month to contribute to this worthwhile initiative.”