Tui Travel is seeking a step-change in sustainable tourism while pursuing day-to-day changes that make a difference. Group director of sustainable tourism Jane Ashton spoke to Ian Taylor
Water is central to most people’s idea of a summer holiday – a pool and a shower are hardly luxuries.
But water illustrates perfectly why greater sustainability in tourism is essential and has to be mainstream not niche.
Pressure on water supplies is increasing – as illustrated in California, which is in a third year of drought. The state’s Orange County was reported last week as increasingly dependent on “toilet to tap” recycled water.
Jane Ashton, Tui Travel’s group director of sustainable tourism, points out that many places we most like to go on holiday are worst affected.
She said: “A number of holiday islands are among the places that will suffer water stress in coming years.”
Cyprus and Malta already experience “a high level of stress”. Yet Ashton said: “Most hotels can save 20% on water, and 10% on energy, without [much] upfront investment.”
She gave examples: “Putting flow restrictors on taps, ensuring there is no leakage, educating staff on better use of water, improving signage to customers on towel management, training housekeeping staff and understanding the principles of backwashing on pools do not cost anything.”
On energy, she said: “Ensuring key-cards function well and cut energy when people leave rooms, not lighting more than necessary in communal areas and making sure there is as much low energy lighting as possible takes modest investment that pays for itself within weeks.”
The Holiday Village Aliathon in Cyprus is a shining example.
The hotel boasts the largest swimming pool in Cyprus – and pools use a lot of water due to evaporation and regular cleaning.
Yet the Aliathon used just 165 litres of water per guest per night last year, down from 200 litres in 2008.
Tui Travel’s target for all its hotels is 400 litres per guest per night, and in the wider industry it can be 800-1,000 litres a night.
How does the Aliathon do it?
Ashton said: “By daily monitoring of leaks, water aerators on showers and taps, dual-flush toilets which use backwash water from the pool, water conservation signs in restaurants, educating staff to report leaks – standard stuff but they do it very well.
“They even reuse the final rinse water from the laundry.”
The Aliathon has also invested in electronic water conditioning in the pool so it does not have to backwash so often, robot pool cleaners that save 50% on water, and drip irrigation for its gardens.
Ashton explained: “We’ve set benchmarks of 400 litres of water and 24kwh of energy per guest per night within three years [from 2012].”
Average energy use in Tui’s mainstream hotels is now 24.3kwh, down from 26kwh in 2012, and water use is 470 litres – down from 494 litres in 2012 and more than 500 litres in 2011.
She acknowledges there is a way to go, particularly on water. One reason is the benefits may not be immediately obvious.
Ashton said: “The cost of water does not yet really reflect the environmental challenges water is going to face.” But the Aliathon shows what is possible.
Now Tui has joined the Travel Foundation and business consultancy PwC in a project to measure the full impact of holidays in a destination – something never done before.
The project in Cyprus will use PwC’s Total Impact Measurement and Management (Timm) system to gauge the environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism.
Work PwC has already done with hospitality group Accor suggests 80% of a hotel’s water ‘footprint’ is in the food it serves.
Travel Foundation chief executive Salli Felton has described the project, now underway, as “a step-change for the industry”.
Ashton said: “We will be measuring the environmental, fiscal, economic, human and social impact of eight mainstream hotels Tui Travel operates in Cyprus.
“We’ll look at everything that happens from the moment people land until they leave – the ground handling, excursions, discretionary spending.
“It will look at the whole impact to understand and, as far as possible, put a value on this. It will look beyond arrival numbers to the total benefit of tourism to understand what we could change.
“It is about understanding from the destination perspective, but the project will look just at Tui mainstream customers.”
The project should be completed by the end of the year and the results shared with the industry.
Tui staff have a chance to help too, through volunteer programme Project Discovery.
Ashton said: “We’ve had volunteering in the UK for a couple of years now. About 1,000 people have been involved and almost 100 have gone overseas.”
Most get involved in local initiatives, but volunteers who are selected to go abroad join Travel Foundation projects in destinations. About 100 go overseas each year, usually in pairs for one to two weeks.
The selection process is rigorous. Ashton said: “Typically there are 10 times more applicants than places. People have to demonstrate a genuine interest and the right skills.”
Distribution training manager Abi Pugh went to Turkey as a Project Discovery volunteer two years ago, joining a Travel Foundation programme at the First Choice Holiday Village in Sarigerme, near Dalaman.
Pugh said: “I was a rep there in the 1990s. It was great to go back. The project gathered evidence on the impact of all-inclusives. We spoke to customers and to local business owners to find out where people spent their money – in the hotel or outside.”
She was there two weeks with a Thomson Airways colleague. Pugh said: “We went out and got the data, put together a report and made recommendations.
“We interviewed customers before they flew home about their spending. It was obvious they do spend outside – they try different restaurants. A majority spent outside the resort.
“We recommended changes to reps’ welcome meetings, to add personal recommendations and insider tips.”
When Pugh returned from the project, she says: “I made office presentations in lunch breaks. We had taken videos and photos and gave a taster of the project and what the Travel Foundation does.
“I was extremely proud to be chosen. It really opened my eyes, developed me and brought me new skills.” She added: “I’m proud to work for a company that encourages you to take part in a project like that.”
Now Pugh is based at Tui’s head office. She said: “I’m responsible for all training in retail shops and contact centres. There is a real focus on sustainability.
“Staff need to be aware of sustainability in the environment they work in and also aware of initiatives in resorts, so they can talk confidently about these with customers.”