A group of technology and travel experts sasy it has devised a “simple, intuitive solution” to help travel companies measure the carbon footprint of the trips they offer.
Their aim is to “remove the hesitation and complexity of delivering carbon-neutral trips to the travel industry” and say their technology is built “by travel professionals for the travel sector”.
Path Net Zero is the brainchild of chief executive Mark Duckmanton, who has a background in technology and travel, chief commercial officer Dan Moore who has more than 20 years’ experience in travel, and chief marketing officer Noel Tanner, who has worked in travel for five years.
All say they are passionate about “doing the right thing for people and the planet” and claim they have now come up with the technology to enable travel firms to calculate carbon emissions accurately and transparently, and then offer carbon-neutral trips to environmentally-conscious travellers.
The trio explained that Path Net Zero was formed “after battling with the complexity of carbon-offsetting, a myriad of data sources, and ultimately learning how travel products and services contribute to the climate emergency.
“We identified the need for a holistic solution to measure and cost-effectively purchase offsetting projects that empower the travel sector to impact the planet positively,” said Duckmanton.
“There is a huge opportunity for travel providers to attract new customers, delight existing ones and grow sales revenue through delivering customer, colleague and planet accountability.”
He added: “We are encouraging companies to adopt the philosophy of the triple bottom line – People, Planet, Profit. The cost of offsetting is negligible in the grander picture of sustainable travel and the health of our planet.”
Path Net Zero has created a free online calculator that enables travel companies – whether they are tour operators, transport, accommodation or activity providers – to easily work out the carbon footprint of their trips.
They can easily understand the costs to offset an entire group or individual passengers and choose how to deploy this within their sustainability strategy, the trio said.
Partner travel companies then choose to either absorb the nominal cost, consider it a line item in product pricing or offer the option to the end consumer as an opt-in addition to their trip.
Companies only incur costs on purchasing the carbon credits; Path Net Zero does not charge for access to understanding and measuring the required offset, they added.
Duckmanton said: “We think the savvy, environmentally-conscious traveller cares about this.”
He added: “We’re hoping to get as many people in the travel industry on the bus with us. We need to make them see that this is an accessible thing for them to do. But at the moment there are two barriers – they are thinking ‘I don’t understand it, and I can’t afford it’.
“We get that. The industry is in recovery; companies are concerned about margins. And consumers, while they are conscious of their impact on the environment, don’t want it to be expensive. But by clubbing together, it isn’t too expensive. It isn’t a prohibitive cost.”