Travel firms must be able to back up the sustainability claims they make, according to Giles Hawke.
The chief executive of Cosmos, Globus and Avalon Waterways UK told industry colleagues they need to honour any promises they make.
“If you’re saying you’re doing something, you’ve got to do it,” said Hawke, who will soon join Celebrity Cruises as vice‑president and managing director for the EMEA region.
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During a sustainability round-table hosted by Travel Weekly and Switzerland Tourism, Hawke said the Globus group of touring brands and river cruise operator had been looking closely at sustainability issues since 2018.
Offering advice to businesses going down the same path, he said: “Only talk about the things you can substantiate and get behind and prove.”
He pointed to his brands’ work on ocean clean-ups as “something we’re doing which no one can dispute”, adding: “It’s doing some good.”
Intrepid Travel general manager Hazel McGuire suggested that when companies are found to be guilty of making themselves appear more eco-friendly than they really are, it damages the industry’s reputation.
“Greenwashing is a thing,” said McGuire. “It’s something we feel we shouldn’t be doing as an industry. When there are instances of greenwashing, it undermines all the good things that are going on.”
Photo: Giles Hawke. Credit: Ali Elmes