…
As part of its commitment to sustainable tourism worldwide, The Thomas Cook Group has become the first tour operator to subscribe to the Travelife Sustainability System for all of their tour operator businesses on a global basis.
The Thomas Cook Group takes approximately 23 million customers away each year on trips and holidays from the source markets of the UK, Ireland, Canada, the Middle East, and Central, Western and Northern Europe. Collectively, Thomas Cook has now decided that the Travelife Sustainability System will be the preferred way of not only managing their supply chain and ensuring that their sustainability offering is consistent across the world, but providing its customers with a simple way of being able to recognise those hotels that actively protect and support their local environments and communities.
The Travelife scheme is an industry wide initiative allowing hotels and other forms of accommodation to rate their sustainability practices on bronze, silver and gold levels of achievement. Hotels that sign up to the programme are assessed on a range of sustainability issues such as waste and energy management to preventing forced labour and discrimination to supporting local businesses. Hotels and apartments can then display their awards in brochures and other marketing materials allowing customers to make informed holiday choices based on individual hotels sustainable credentials.
The UK was the first market within The Thomas Cook Group to subscribe to Travelife back in 2004, and in 2010 over a million of its customers stayed in properties that have been audited against the Travelife criteria. The Group is now working proactively to engage all of its markets fully with the scheme and looks forward to seeing both the recognition for the hotels who participate and the benefits to their environments they operate in.
Andy Cooper, Thomas Cook Director of Government and External Affairs said: “Thomas Cook’s commitment to sustainability is serious and long-term and we wanted a scheme that would not only be consistent across all our hotels worldwide but offer our customers a easy way to select hotels that excel in these areas. We have hotel groups with properties in many different countries supplying our various markets, so it makes sense that we all use one, credible system that will drive up sustainability performance.”
Chris Thompson, Travelife Manager said: “This is a massive step forward for Travelife which, as a recognition scheme, has been steadily building over the past few years. Thomas Cook’s commitment to Travelife across its group means that tens of thousands of hotels will now have an incentive to join the scheme which will help them improve and market their sustainability practices.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
