Continued from page 56


acknowledged transactions had not returned to the 2019 level, with executive director Suzanne Neufang noting travel companies “making more money on fewer trips”. Neufang suggested the


one-day business trip by air “went out the door at the beginning of Covid and hasn’t come back” and GBTA forecast corporate travel spending, adjusted for inflation, would not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027. That triggered a Financial Times


editorial (August 16) hailing “the welcome demise of ‘day return’ business air trips”, describing “many claims” for business trips to be indispensable as “self- aggrandising bluster” and arguing: “Technology, cost-cuts and climate change are at last curbing out-and-back work flights.” The latest IAG results for the


half year to June make no better reading for the sector. Despite IAG reporting “continuously strong demand”, chief executive Luis Gallego told analysts: “Business travel continues to recover at different rates across our airlines and regions. For BA, we are still around 65% in volume and revenues around 80% compared with 2019.” BA chief executive Sean Doyle


acknowledged: “What we see through corporate channels is 65% [of the 2019 level].” However, he suggested some


business bookings may have moved direct, arguing: “When we look at purpose of travel, the volumes travelling for business are probably above 70% and revenue more like 85% because we see some traffic that used to book through a business channel now booking through direct channels.” BTA members may regard


trends in the market differently.


Travelife chief criticises self-certification schemes


Ian Taylor


Too many ‘sustainability’ labels are “not robust”, according to Carolyn Wincer, managing director of the Travelife for Accommodation sustainability certification scheme owned by Abta. So she is delighted that Abta’s


Travel Convention in October will take place at the Travelife-certified Costa Navarino resort in Messenia, Greece. Wincer describes certification in the industry as “confused” and said: “It’s important the industry event is at a property that has robust sustainability certification, because there are too many labels out there that aren’t robust at all.” She noted: “There is a certification


label gaining popularity [among hotels] which is conducted by self- certification and AI checks, by hotels putting a few documents online and no inspection. We would not certify anyone without a full site inspection looking at all aspects of sustainability.”


Costa Navarino passes Travelife’s new standards


Most Travelife hotel audits, required every two years, occur in the autumn when properties are less busy or closed. But Costa Navarino was


re-certified earlier this year in line with the latest Travelife certification criteria rolled out in January. Wincer notes the resort “is


on track to reduce its single-use 54 26 SEPTEMBER 2024 She added: “Guests may think there


is no recycling because they only see one bin in a room, but housekeeping is separating the rubbish.” Wincer noted a problem with


Carolyn Wincer Wincer hopes the EU Directive


on Green Claims, due to be finalised next year, “will cut through the confusion and strengthen the robustness of certification”. In the meantime, she suggests


there is widespread misunderstanding of what sustainability certification means, saying: “It’s not about there not being a buffet or you not seeing any single-use plastics. If a hotel is newly certified, it may still have single-use plastics – we don’t want them to just throw things away. And there is nothing wrong with a buffet if you’re not wasting anything.”


plastics by 50% versus 2019 by the end of this year” and 100% of its electricity is purchased from renewable sources. She said: “Water use is high, but we require it does not impact the local water supply.” Costa Navarino is one of the


biggest employers in the area, employing 1,860 people in peak season, and she said the resort “does a lot in monitoring and protecting loggerhead turtles”. She explained: “Certified


properties must follow an annual improvement cycle – identifying areas for improvement and developing an action plan.”


schemes which rely on self-auditing and customer feedback is that “most of this is behind the scenes”. “A guest isn’t going to know if


a hotel is composting or if it’s not paying the minimum wage or not giving staff long enough breaks. The only way to judge is to get an independent expert to go and look.” She added: “The biggest


challenge is getting people to understand the value of certification. People in travel say ‘We need to wait for customers to ask for this [sustainable travel]’. Customers are not going to ask for it. But if you put a sustainability certificate in front of them, most people will go for it like they will go for Fair Trade coffee.”


Costa Navarino Wincer said the enhanced


criteria followed “feedback from auditors and from hotels”, with additional requirements on safeguarding children and anti-trafficking, “and more on labour exploitation”, including in the supply chain.


travelweekly.co.uk


Steve Dunlop


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60