NEWS 130 delegates at Google’s central London office. Andrew McQuarrie and Juliet Dennis report


‘Ensure your staff can talk intelligently on eco issues’


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ravel businesses were urged to work collectively on sustainability to get the right messages to customers and to ensure staff understand the issues.


Kuoni communications director Rachel O’Reilly


said sustainability should not be regarded as a strategy to gain a competitive edge. Her plea followed a warning by Competition and


Markets Authority’s Mike Coates of “huge competition” among travel companies to promote sustainability to win consumers’ trust. Speaking in a panel discussion about communicating


sustainability, O’Reilly said: “We need healthy competition but this [sustainability] is a ‘non-compete’ issue.” She said Kuoni was aware of customers’ growing


interest in sustainability, adding: “We need a framework; we need to navigate a path. Educating customers is super- important and we need to make sure our staff get it. “We [Kuoni] have a role to play as a tour operator and


retailer. Increasingly, we are seeing the topic come up, and staff need to be able to talk intelligently about what holiday firms are doing in terms of their impact on communities.” O’Reilly said travel companies were still grappling with


how to communicate what action the industry has taken on sustainability. “We need to find a way to tell that story proactively,” she said. “We all need to learn from each other where we


damages local communities


to spread is in dire risk of destroying its community.” Heapy claimed Airbnb is “very


damaging” as it pushes up house prices. He said accommodation costs in


Ibiza had gone “through the roof”, meaning crucial workers cannot afford to live there. “We support the hotel industry and


take people to hotels,” said Heapy. Skjeldam added: “Travel is a force for


good if done right – I think it can lead to fewer wars in the world and less hostility. But we need to do it in the right way.”


see something good being done and copy it. I’d like to see us working positively, collectively as an industry. “I want sustainability to be a naturally integrated part of


how we do business.” Travalyst head of strategy Polly Lomas said the not-for-


profit collection of travel and technology brands was set up in 2019 to bring information to the public and travel companies to help them “make more-sustainable choices”. She said: “We recognised the value travel could


have and the growing awareness of consumers around sustainability. We have been focusing on aviation and accommodation. The buck doesn’t stop with providing information. We are working with nine leading travel and technology brands – and they have a responsibility as well.”


‘Don’t wait for consumer demand to make simple changes’


Travel companies can make “very simple” changes to improve on sustainability and should not wait for consumer demand, according to Travelife managing director Carolyn Wincer. She urged businesses to take


the lead on environmental issues, arguing “it’s not about consumers”. “We need to do it because it’s the


right thing to do for the long-term viability of our industry,” said Wincer. “We’ll never get to the point where 80% of


your customers say, ‘I’ll stop travelling unless you have a sustainable holiday for me’.


travelweekly.co.uk Carolyn Wincer “You can go home tonight


and think about [ideas] and come back and implement them in your office tomorrow. “Somehow, there is a perception


that being sustainable is something complicated or difficult, but it can just be about reducing your consumption of energy and water, and stopping throwing things away that you can reuse. “It’s also about treating your staff fairly and treating people in


your community fairly.” Travelife is the Abta-owned sustainability accreditation programme for hotels.


7 DECEMBER 2023 13


Rachel O’Reilly


PICTURES: Steve Dunlop


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