NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


“It undermined the concept of a sustainable destination next to a barrier reef. “There are occupancy taxes,


bed taxes and licensing taxes. [But] we don’t know how to allocate revenue to protect destinations. Depending on the country, money goes to the destination or to central taxation. One study found 50% of tourism taxes stay in the central treasury. A Cambridge University study found very little revenue generated by protected areas was captured by the areas. “At a municipal level there


is often a small tax base and hotelsmay not be getting recycling or composting.” Epler Wood added: “Take Honolulu. In August last year the sewage system overflowed because of a storm. Waikiki [a beachfront neighbourhood] was overwhelmed by sewage. It’s a wealthy community, but the tax structure was insufficient to pay for the $1 billion sewage system required. “We need to look at the cost of managing tourism and how to generate revenue [to pay for it] – there are way too few studies. “Tourism is growing at double


the rate of global GDP. There is a lot of discussion about sustainability and the benefits of tourism, but we have to look at the costs,” she said. “Nobody wants to pay tax,


but no one benefits if we have despoiled destinations. “So how do we share the costs? Most destinations and tourism ministries are simply not working on this. “We need to quantify


tourism’s costs and benefits. “You find most industries


invest in research. But the concept of tourism research is relatively new. I’m the only tourism expert at Harvard. “The industry is essentially operating under the radar.”


Agency joins Travelife scheme to monitor the hotels it sells, while


Flight Centre joins Abta’s sustainability programme


Flight Centre UK joined the Travelife certification programme at the start of the month, allowing the company to monitor the performance of hotels it sells.


It joined Tui, Thomas Cook,


Kuoni parent Der Touristik, Sunvil, Monarch, Virgin Holidays, Hotelplan Switzerland and Canadian tour operator Transat as members of the Abta-run sustainability scheme for hotels. Travelife now has 1,400 hotel members, with 950 certified against extensive criteria launched in 2014. Certified hotels must submit to an independent audit every two years and meet 163 criteria in areas such as environmental management, business policies, labour and human rights, and community integration. Flight Centre UK managing


director Chris Galanty said: “Travelife is a great step for us. We’re committed to ensuring the products we sell are in line with our fair trade and environmental policies.” Travelife business manager


Soren Stober said: “We’ve done 700 audits over the last 12


Abta hosts Modern Slavery Workshop to help members


Abta is to host a Modern Slavery Workshop amid concerns about the issue in travel and the tourism supply chain and following the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act last year. There are concerns relating to


62 travelweekly.co.uk 11 August 2016


months, on a mix of properties new to Travelife and hotels already in the scheme. 70% of hotels we audit achieve certification – there are hotels that are not ready.” In the past year, the scheme has added properties in 10 countries


the hotel and restaurant sectors, food suppliers and recruitment agencies. Abta has produced guidelines on


issues surrounding employment in the tourism supply chain including ground-handlers, excursion providers, excursion venues, transport providers, airport staff, airline crew, resort staff, bars and crew on ships. It points out: “It doesn’t matter if you’re an agent, operator, cruise


new to it – including Montenegro, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Burma – taking the total number of countries to 55. Spain retains the largest number


of Travelife hotels with 430. Greece is second with 210, and Turkey third with 155. The number of certified hotels


would have passed 1,000 but for the security issues in Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. The fall in demand means some properties have not renewed their membership because they are closed. About one-third of member hotels in Tunisia have failed to renew. Stober said: “We also see


Travelife as a risk management tool for companies to understand modern slavery issues.” Abta guidelines on the Modern


Slavery Act note that working with hotels certified Travelife Gold “is evidence of due diligence in seeking to combat slavery and human trafficking”.


line, online agent or ticketing agent, this law applies to you.” The workshop will define what modern slavery is and discuss areas of risk in the business, legal obligations and best practices. It takes place on October 5 and


will help members prepare their modern slavery statement. Modern slavery can include


controlling a person against their will, disregard for human rights and forced labour.


Soren Stober


“We’re committed to ensuring the products we sell are in line with our fair trade policies”


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