BUSINESS NEWS Abta Sustainable Travel Conference: Ian Taylor reports from London event


‘Beware your eco claims in light of CMA’s new powers’


The sector faces a “newly empowered and excitable” regulator and should exercise caution in making ‘green’ claims, a leading lawyer has warned. Dominic Watkins, partner at


law firm DWF, told the conference: “We had a tsunami of sustainability regulation in the last parliament, [and] a lot is only now being enforced.” New powers have “re-energised”


the Competition and Markets Authority, he said, suggesting: “It’s empowered and excited to decide on guilt and fine people – and the fines can be substantial.” The CMA slapped a £473,000


Dominic Watkins


Inghams calls for sector shift to ‘stewardship’ of natural assets


fine on a business in February for failing to provide information. He said: “It’s a whole other world from a rap on the wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority.” Watkins added: “There is an


awful lot of guidance on green claims, mainly from the CMA, and a lot of it is contradictory.” He warned companies to


“be careful” when referring to sustainable aviation fuel, saying: “It’s potentially misleading. It sounds sustainable, [but] it’s a variant of standard aviation fuel.”


Operators need to consider the risks to winter tourism and reframe how they think about “assets”, according to Inghams head of sustainability Krissy Roe (pictured). She told the Abta


conference “extreme weather, biodiversity loss and ecosystem fragility are now top long-term risks” and called for a “reframing of risk for climate and nature”. Roe described the word “asset”


as “extractive” and said: “Assets are owned and controlled. Winter isn’t an ‘asset’, it’s a ‘borrowed’ season and every type of tourism involves ‘borrowed’ nature. Our


role needs to shift from control to stewardship.” She reported a biodiversity


risk assessment by Inghams last year looked at the impacts of climate change on local communities and risks to nature and ecosystems, and said: “We found acute physical risks, and chronic long-term risks, for example snow decline.” Inghams drew up a climate


and nature action plan following the risk assessment, established a climate emergency fund for destinations and pledged to contribute 10% of its profits to initiatives in destinations.


‘Winter sports firms must adapt’


The winter tourism season is becoming shorter and snow conditions increasingly unpredictable due to the warming climate, with Alpine temperatures rising twice as fast as the world’s average. Rachel Ducoin-Smith, head of


overseas operations at Inghams, argued tour operators “must adapt to uncertainty” when she spoke at the Abta Sustainable Travel Conference last month, presenting a stark picture of how rapidly conditions in the Alps are changing. Ducoin-Smith reported


winter tourism makes up “more than three-quarters of our programme”, saying: “For years we’ve sought the best conditions.” But she said: “Something has


shifted. Alpine temperatures are rising at double the global average. The season is shorter [and] the snow conditions are unpredictable.


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It’s affecting water security [and] producing extreme events.” She noted thawing permafrost


is leading to more rockfalls and said: “There have been at least 30 avalanche deaths this season [in the Alps], including five from Britain and four who were with a guide.” Inghams is “less vulnerable”


than some because “most of our offering is at higher altitudes”, she said, but added: “The reality is that wherever you operate or visit, there are climate and nature risks.” Ducoin-Smith argued: “In the


short term, we need to adapt for uncertainty. We’ve had a season when we had to start with insufficient snow and a winter when we had to bus guests to another resort.” This winter, she said “extremely


heavy snow in the valleys” meant Inghams decided to move 500 guests out of one resort early. She said “it wasn’t a decision taken


Snow conditions can be unpredictable


lightly”, but noted there was a risk of “dangerous and stressful” transfers and guests missing their flights. Ducoin-Smith told the conference


the normalising of uncertainty “means responsible decisions, collaboration with competitors and trust in local knowledge”. She said: “It’s important to


combine destination expertise and customer service. We can’t control


the climate, but we can control how we treat people. We should support bold and responsible decisions by operators and not criticise them.” Ducoin-Smith added that


Inghams “considers a destination’s sustainability policies” when choosing where to operate, insisting: “Destinations that are diversifying will be more resilient and we as operators will be more resilient too.”


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