The world is a wonderful place -
we want to keep it that way
As one of the world's largest leisure travel companies, we have a great opportunity to drive forward sustainable development in our industry. Tourism is a Top 5 export in 80% of developing countries, and the most important export in a third of developing countries. By joining TUI Travel PLC you will be joining a company working to maximise the positive impacts of tourism.
Getting involved
Our people are key to making sure that TUI Travel PLC is the most responsible organisation it can be. This can mean something as simple as switching off the lights when they aren’t being used to coming up with fresh ideas for new, greener products. Our commitment to sustainability has been recognised across the industry which is why we have been named the Most Environmentally Responsible Tour Operator for three years in a row.
In the UK, there are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, such as Project Discovery. This innovative initiative encourages volunteers to spend a few weeks using their skills to help locals make the most of the opportunities that tourism presents.
Our Shops
In our First Choice and Thomson retail shops, brochures are printed on paper that comes from sustainably managed forests. This means that the trees are harvested carefully to avoid damaging the surrounding plants and animals.
We have now raised £4.5 million for the World Care Fund, our customer donation scheme. The money goes to the Travel Foundation, a charity that supports local communities in our holiday destinations the places we love to visit, and ClimateCare, who invests in carbon reduction a renewable energy products.
Our Offices
Sustainable development starts at home. Just because we focus heavily on helping people and the environment overseas, that doesn’t mean we’re not doing our bit in the UK too. We’ve been working on our direct environmental impacts in the office for several years.
Our Hotels
We are also committed to making our hotels more sustainable, which is why we have been auditing 400 of our top hotels on their environmental and social performance. The hotels that pull out all the stops are given a Travelife award which we feature in our brochures, so our customers can choose a hotel safe in the knowledge that it's leading the way in sustainability.
Our Airlines
Aviation accounts for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but this contribution is rising.
Our number one priority is to make our fleet as fuel-efficient as possible. Here are just a few of the ways we’re doing that:
- Reducing aircraft cruise speed by a fraction to reduce fuel burn
- Increasing direct routing to reduce fuel burn
- Improving our use of ‘continuous descent approach’ techniques into airports to save fuel, emissions and reduce noise pollution
- Reducing the weight of the aircraft by carrying the correct amount of fuel, fewer catering accessories and less non-essential engineering equipment
- Whenever practical, using one engine instead of two to taxi around the airport on arrival
All of this means that we have reduced our CO2 emissions by 34,000 tonnes in a year – the equivalent of taking nearly 10,000 family-sized cars off the road for 12 months. That’s just one of the reasons that Thomson Airways won the British Travel Award for Most Environmentally Responsible Airline in 2009.
The launch of the new more efficient 787 Dreamliners will also help us reach new targets to reduce noise and air pollution.