30 Ways Travel Companies Are Reducing Emissions
The travel and tourism industry is experiencing rapid growth, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. However, this expansion comes at an environmental cost, contributing significantly to global emissions. Recent studies reveal that tourism accounts for 8.8% of worldwide emissions. Between 2009 and 2019, the sector’s carbon footprint surged by 40%, rising from 3.7 to 5.2 gigatonnes of CO2e.
Thankfully there are LOADS of actions travel companies can take to reduce their emissions. Here are 30 ideas just to get you started:
TRIPS
Addressing the emissions of what a travel company sells has the biggest impact when it comes to reducing their carbon footprint.
Changing the way customers travel
Help customers travel by train like Inghams who are making it easier to travel to the Alps by train.
Incentivise low carbon travel like Canopy & Stars who offered a £75 gift card to customers who chose to reach their holiday destination by train, bus, bike or on foot
Cut out domestic / internal flights like Explore
Promote destinations that are closer to home like Kuoni who are expanding their European programme
If flights are unavoidable, choose lower carbon routes and airlines like Inside Travel Group
Switch to electric transfer vehicles like Wilderness Scotland
Increase the capacity of vehicles / encourage people to travel in groups rather than alone like Butterfield & Robison and Exodus
Make transfers human powered and part of the adventure like Cycling for Softies
Cruise companies - Encourage customers from ocean to river based cruises
Put customers on electric powered cruise ships like 50 Degrees North
Encouraging customers to take the train can reduce your (and their) carbon footprint
Picking the best hotels
11. Prioritise accommodation that has a Net Zero plan like The Laslett
12. Choose accommodation run on renewable energy like Inntravel
13. Collaborate with accommodation suppliers to help them decarbonise like Audley
Choosing hotels that run on solar power, helps reduce your carbon footprint
Redesigning menus
14. Switch to vegetarian or vegan menus like Adventure Yogi
15. Remove high carbon items from menus, such as beef, like Inghams
Introducing tasty vegetarian and plant-based dishes is another way to reduce your carbon footprint
Updating trip activities
16. Phase out high carbon activities in favour of lower carbon options - eg. petrol snowmobile for electric
17. Prioritise human powered activities like walking, cycling, canoeing like Much Better Adventures
Choose human, wind or electric powered activities for a lower carbon footprint
Like what you’re reading so far? Want to find out which actions will have the biggest impact on reducing your company’s carbon footprint?
HEAD OFFICE
Although a small proportion of a travel company’s total carbon footprint, it’s worth checking out what you can do to engage your team in reducing your emissions here.
Evolving the way staff travel
18. Incentivise your staff to take the train or car share rather than fly like Consensio
19. Introduce a business travel carbon budget like us at ecollective
20. Encourage employees to take the train with Climate Perks (extra time off when they travel internationally by train to allow for the extra travel time) like Explore
21. Install electric vehicle chargers at the office like Kuoni
22. If business class is typical, allow staff to reap the cost saving rewards of going in economy
Kuoni staff benefit from free EV chargers at their office, reducing their commuting emissions
Switching to renewable energy
23. Put solar panels on your office roof like Just a Drop (their panels are so effective they sell energy back to the grid!)
24. Encourage staff who work from home to switch to a renewable energy tariffs like Sawdays
Updating their approach to brochures
25. Stop producing printed brochures altogether like Much Better Adventures
26. Or adapt them like Kuoni, removing dates and prices in favour of links to their website so they can be used for longer periods and moving to an on-demand strategy
Taking action on their website
27. Start carbon labelling your trips to help change customer booking behaviour (and encourage your product team to take more ownership) like Explore & Intrepid
👉 Read about carbon labelling here
28. Reduce the size of your website each year like Travalyst
29. Switch to a website host powered by renewable energy like Audley
Rolling out Carbon Literacy training
30. Make your workforce Carbon LIterate for 5-15% reduction in your company’s carbon footprint like Hotelplan, Scenic, ATTA & many more
👉 Psst… ecollective can help you with this
ecollective founder, Charlie Cotton, presenting at a Carbon Literacy training session in London
We need every travel company acting to reduce their emissions because every tenth of a degree counts to limit the worst effects of climate change. If you need help measuring your carbon footprint and identifying the most effective actions your business can take. Get in touch.
