Explore! A travel industry carbon reduction case study
Find out how ecollective worked with tour operator, Explore! to calculate the carbon footprint of their trips, set their net zero target, and identify key carbon reduction strategies.
The challenges facing Explore!
A commitment and a lack of data
In January 2020, Explore’s parent company became a founding signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, pledging to halve their carbon emissions by 2030. However, they had no idea of the size of their carbon footprint. They needed to measure.
Measuring carbon emissions is hard!
Explore had a team of people in-house keen to start measuring, but, upon starting, they quickly realised how tricky and time consuming it would be to get an accurate picture without the necessary knowledge and expertise. They needed help, and fast!
Product complexity
Explore sells over 500 different products (trips) with each trip made up of over 20 components (flights, transfers, accommodation, activities etc). Each element has a different carbon footprint. They also have staff and a head office to account for.
ecollective’s process
Measure to find the carbon emission hotspots
We knew we needed to strike a balance between accurately measuring Explore’s footprint and not spending too much time on this part of the process.
Throughout the project, we kept in mind our goal which was to get Explore’s primary data to teach us where its carbon hotspots lie. With this information, we were able to identify key areas for Explore to reduce its carbon footprint without negatively impacting their customer experience or satisfaction.
Collaborate for success
With the focus on carbon reduction, collaboration was key. We knew the more closely we worked with the team at Explore, the better we could understand where their emissions came from and the more accurate our measurements would be.
We held weekly meetings with key members of their team throughout the project to keep it on track.
Create a carbon calculator tool
We created tool specifically for Explore, so they could measure the carbon impact of every element of their products (trips) with a view to adjusting the elements each year to have a lower carbon impact.
The tool means that Explore product managers, can see how changing one item (e.g. a helicopter tour) to something else (like a cookery class) can reduce the carbon footprint of that adventure by 50kg of CO2e.
“We knew what we wanted to do, but had no idea where to start! With ecollective’s help we now have a full picture of where our emissions come from and a clear plan on how to reduce them.”
— Hannah Methven, Sustainability Lead, Explore!
The results!
4 years of carbon emissions data
Explore now know the carbon footprint of each part of their business for last 4 years. Understanding where their emissions come from has allowed them to identify areas for reduction.
Reduction targets and a plan of action
Explore now have yearly data-based targets to keep them on track to hit their goal of reducing their emissions by 50% by 2030. They also have a carbon action plan in place to ensure they achieve their targets.
Carbon labels for all 500+ trips
Explore has been recognised as a leader in their industry for their carbon reduction strategy. Part of their plan has been to educate their customers by carbon labelling all the trips on their website.
Contact us
If you work in the travel industry and would like us to measure your organisation’s carbon footprint and assist you on your journey to Net Zero, get in touch.