Holiday Extras has announced a five-year sustainability plan including a commitment to The Travel Foundation.
The add-ons specialist has unveiled four key pillars of its approach to protecting the planet as travel resumes.
Its pillars are aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals, and include:
- Inspire and Share: SDG Goal 4: Quality Education
Holiday Extras will share its learnings on how to live sustainably with customers and partners, and work with schools in a bid to inspire young people about the world of work. It will also continue to use their skills and expertise to support non-profit organisations such as The Travel Foundation.
- Unleashing Potential: SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth
Holiday Extras has pledged to create a “diverse and fully-inclusive environment whereby everyone feels they can be their best selves” by building an “enriching environment” designed to help employees continually learn and grow.
- Leave Only Footprints: SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Holiday Extras has pledged to review its operations and work to reduce its impact. It will partner on key projects to support sustainable tourism, helping customers to explore the planet with limited negative impact while increasing value to the destinations.
- Clean Energy: SDG 13: Climate Action
Holiday Extras is to calculate its carbon footprint and has set goals to achieve carbon neutrality. It will audit partners to understand their sustainability approach and increase its range of sustainable products and services.
As part of the sustainability plan, Holiday Extras has pledged its commitment to the Future of Tourism – a movement founded by The Travel Foundation along with five other international tourism NGOs to build back better and recentre the travel industry around a set of guiding principles vital for long term deep-rooted growth.
Becoming a signatory means Holiday Extras’ partnership with The Travel Foundation has been in place for 10 years, in which time it has raised more than £300,000 and helped the charity with website optimisation, social media management and content creation.
Ben Lynam, head of communications at The Travel Foundation, said: “Our partnership with Holiday Extras has gone from strength to strength over the past ten years and they’re one of our most valuable partners.
“Our aim when The Future of Tourism initiative was launched in June 2020 was to create a more concrete vision for the travel industry to build back better and one that we can all align to. As Holiday Extras is one of the largest UK travel operators to become a signatory, it’s an incredibly important step for us.”
Michelle Clarke Cowell, associate director of sustainability at Holiday Extras, added: “We are delighted to continue our support for The Travel Foundation as part of our five-year sustainability plan.
“Ten years into our partnership, we have seen first-hand the positive impact they have on communities in tourist destinations, and truly believe in the goals they are working to achieve.
“The Future of Tourism movement is another example of the great work The Travel Foundation does, and becoming a signatory marks our commitment to building back better.”
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