NEWS ROUND-UP


Intrepid recognised for its social responsibility


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


The Intrepid Travel Group has become the biggest travel company in the world to achieve ‘B Corporation’ status in recognition of its ‘purpose beyond profitability’.


‘B Corp’ status, which originated in the US, recognises ethical businesses that combine profit with purpose. To achieve it, businesses must reach standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Worldwide there are 2,564


B Corps, across 50 countries and 130 industries. There are 30 in the travel industry, four of which are in the UK. Intrepid chief executive


James Thornton is confident the achievement, following three years of assessments in 23 offices worldwide, will help it achieve significant, long-term growth. He said: “B Corp is to business


what Fairtrade is to coffee. We wanted a business with a purpose beyond profitability, and to increase the level of accountability and transparency.


G Adventures and Exodus lead way in fight on plastic waste


Tour operators, hotels and agencies have been ramping up the fight to reduce plastic waste, as the travel industry looks to boost its sustainability credentials. G Adventures is giving all of its


visitors to the Galapagos Islands reusable water bottles, following the islands’ ban on single-use plastics.


CLEAN-UP: The Columbia Beach Resort team at Pissouri Bay


10 travelweekly.co.uk 9 August 2018


FORGET ME NOT: The child protection charity, supported by The Intrepid Foundation, rescues children and reunites them with their families


“B Corp is to business what Fairtrade is to coffee. It’s been hard work…but it’s made us a better business”


“It’s been an awful lot of hard


work and we have had to change the way we do business. But it’s made us a better business.” Thornton described B Corp as a


“trust mark” for industry partners, staff and customers, which will help the group to attract employees and raise profits in the longer term by helping it stand


out as a responsible business. “There is a lot of greenwashing


out there and companies saying they are responsible,” said Thornton. “B Corp differentiates us as a business. “This will help us attract more people [employees] and customers in the UK, and enable us to do more for the environment and communities we travel to, and deliver more sales and higher profits.” Thornton said 2018 was on


target to “smash” 2017, in terms of the bottom line. Intrepid’s total transaction value for the UK and Europe was up 25.7% for 2017 compared with the previous year.


Brian Young, G Adventures’ managing director for EMEA, said: “As a responsible tour operator, we have more responsibility to protect our planet than ever before.” Exodus said its customers used


65,000 fewer plastic bottles in Costa Rica and 90,000 fewer in India last year, and is aiming to be 100% plastic-bottle-free on all its trips by the end of this year. River cruise line Uniworld has


also pledged to stop using single- use plastics by 2022.


NEWS IN BRIEF


Kenyan camp Mahali Mzuri joins Pack for a Purpose


Kenyan safari camp Mahali Mzuri, part of Virgin Limited Edition, has become a member of Pack for a Purpose, which asks travellers to make meaningful contributions to destinations they visit. Guests are asked to bring books, pens, pencils, maps dictionaries and beads for the nearby Enkenju- Enkoirien Primary School.


Uganda mountain gorillas population hits 1,000 mark


The population of mountain gorillas in Uganda has passed the 1,000 mark. Tourism Uganda said it was the only species of great ape to be increasing in number. They are found only in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga Massif.


Finnair to ask passengers to combat its CO2 emissions


As part of its carbon-reduction initiative, from 2019, Finnair will invite customers to pay a voluntary contribution on top of their ticket price.


Grand Cayman blue iguana saved from extinction


The National Trust for the Cayman Islands says the Grand Cayman blue iguana has been saved from extinction, following the release of the 1,000th endangered animal into the wild.


Marriott hopes to remove more


than a billion plastic straws and a quarter of a billion plastic stirrers across 6,500 hotels. Columbia Beach Resort, in


Cyprus, recently replaced plastic straws with paper ones, and last month sent a team to remove plastic waste from nearby Pissouri Bay beach. Staff at Blue Bay Travel, in Stoke,


are urging holidaymakers to pack bamboo toothbrushes, and reusable coffee cups and water bottles.


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