The public do care about society and the environment, but believe it is the responsibility of travel companies to ensure these cares are met on their holiday, says Abta’s Nikki White
When businesses are concentrating on maintaining their bottom line in tough trading conditions, sustainability can often drop down the priority list or seem a long way from day-to-day operations. This is particularly the case for retail agents who might view sustainability as an operator’s responsibility.
It was certainly some of the feedback I had from agents when speaking at the recent Elite Conference in Seville.
The view that sustainability is someone else’s responsibility is often shared by consumers.
Sustainability scores more
Abta research has found that the public do care about social and environmental considerations when they are on holiday, but most feel it is the travel company’s job to take responsibility.
It also shows that one in five consumers would pay a premium to travel with a sustainably responsible company, and that customers who go on more sustainable holidays tend to score the holiday higher in satisfaction surveys.
For agents, sustainability can extend far beyond just switching off the office lights at night. There are opportunities to look at your suppliers, identify which products have a focus on sustainability and learn how to make them appealing to customers.
To help with this process, Abta has launched Better Places – a free online programme providing agent members and operators with a broad introduction to sustainability in tourism.
The programme has been created through feedback from Abta members and contains examples of their good practice.
Better Places
The course consists of five key steps:
- Learn about sustainability: Breaks down the vast amounts of information and provides a guide to sustainability by making it relevant to agents and operators.
- Create a plan: Designed to help agents plan and map out current activities, as well as to lay out strategies for driving their business towards success.
- Work with your suppliers: Focuses on how travel businesses can engage key partners and get them to come on board with their sustainability approach. Suppliers are a key way for businesses to magnify their positive impact.
- Tell your customers: Explains how agents can use their training to sell more sustainable holidays. Research shows that consumers who go on more sustainable holidays tend to be more satisfied. This section makes it easy to integrate these messages into day-to-day sales dialogues.
- Measure success: Focuses on encouraging Abta members to monitor their performance and paint a bigger picture with regards to the industry and their engagement with sustainability.
Better Places is available exclusively to Abta members at abta.com. Members are encouraged to get in touch at sustainabletourism@abta.co.uk.