ATTA - Leading By Example
The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is a membership-based community organisation for the adventure travel sector. They host a number of events each year and their mission is “to empower the global travel community to protect natural and cultural capital while creating economic value that benefits both trade members and destinations.”
ATTA is an ecollective client and one of the things we love about them is that they are leading by example on sustainability. Their objectives are to:
measure and reduce
lead and partner
inspire and enable
Let’s have a look at how they are taking action.
Measure & reduce
ATTA has been working with us to measure their emissions. Although we measured 2021 and 2022, these years did not reflect full activity post-COVID; therefore they set their baseline year as 2023. Being true to their objective of leading by example, they have agreed to let us share their emissions data with you.
All ATTA employees work remotely, leading to a minimal HQ overhead. Besides this component, ATTA’s total carbon footprint (including travel to their events booked by third parties) was 1,330 tonnes of CO2e, all of which sits in Scope 3 (indirect emissions). This works out as 2.24 tonnes per event delegate (that’s less than a 2-week holiday to the Maldives). They chose this carbon intensity metric because whilst they do other things like provide training, events are the biggest (and most carbon-intensive) part of their business.
Results
| Emissions type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 0 tCO2e |
| Scope 2 | 0 tCO2e |
| Scope 3 | 1,330 tCO2e |
| Total emissions | 1,330 tCO2e |
| Emissions per event delegate | 2.24 tCO2e |
Their 2023 emissions breakdown looks like this:
Travel to events is, as expected, the largest proportion of their carbon footprint. Reducing this will be challenging. A key action is to carefully consider which locations to hold events. However, with a typical 3-year lead time up to an event, ATTA will not see any immediate reductions with this strategy. To achieve reductions in the next 3 years, they should identify the airlines / carriers with the lowest emissions profiles and limit domestic flights where possible, instead utilising rail travel or shared vehicle transport. Other actions include working with accommodation providers and venues with strong sustainability credentials.
Target
ATTA’s target is to reduce their emissions by 5-10% each year for the next 5 years. Their carbon intensity target for next year is: 2.01 tCO2e per delegate.
Lead & partner
ATTA’s biggest opportunity to influence, lead and partner is with its member organisations. On this front, they have set a goal for all members to commit to sustainability and climate policies by 2026. They are also encouraging travellers to understand their impact and to choose sustainable providers.
To help their members understand and improve their impact, the ATTA has created a wonderful Sustainability Resource Center with reports, webinars and toolkits full of valuable information, ideas and frameworks.
In a bid to reduce emissions further, they plan to partner with destinations and accommodation providers committed to increasing their positive impact and decreasing their negative impact.
ATTA also has a sustainability fund which they invest in improving biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions. For the latter they partner with Tomorrow’s Air, which works to accelerate innovative carbon removal and storage technology solutions, directing funding to vetted partners to improve efficiency and expand capacity.
Inspire & enable
Enabling their team to talk confidently about climate change and their sustainability plans was a top priority so in April 2024, ecollective provided Carbon Literacy training to 21 employees, all of whom became certified Carbon Literate 👏. As part of this, the ATTA team has pledged to make changes to their personal lives to reduce their carbon footprint and work together to effect big change through ATTA.
Innovate for Tomorrow: Climate Action Summit
The ATTA is also inspiring change through their events which have a big sustainability focus. In 2024 ATTA and Tomorrow’s Air hosted their first Climate Action Summit in Norway, which included a partnership with Hurtigruten to hold part of the event aboard one of their new hybrid / electric ships. This event successfully brought together 50 climate leaders in the travel sector with the aim of creating space for important discussions and fostering new partnerships.
Find out more
To find out more about the Adventure Travel Trade Association visit their website and if we can help you measure and reduce your company’s carbon footprint get in touch.
