Communicating with stakeholders
Talking and listening
Good communication is two-way. We recognise that we don’t have all the answers, and we welcome feedback from all our stakeholders. So we’ve set up two contact email addresses to encourage feedback and ideas: csr@thomascook.com and responsiblebusiness@thomascook.com.
You’ll find more on communication below, under the following headings:
- Who are our stakeholders?
- Customers
- Employees
Who are our stakeholders?
Our stakeholders include:
- Customers
- Employees
- Investors
- Suppliers
- Local communities – in our source countries and in the destinations where we operate
- Industry partners
- Governments – in our source countries and in the destinations where we operate
- Non Governmental Organisations
- Experts in responsible travel
Customers
We need the support of our customers in all that we do: often it’s their actions that can make the real differences, especially in the destinations we visit. So we need to tell them about the issues in a straightforward way, let them know what we’re doing to address them, and enlist their help where we know they can make a difference.
We achieve this by giving them information on sustainable travel and the Travel Foundation:
- In brochures – all our brochures now feature information about the Travel Foundation and tips on how to be a responsible traveller
- On our websites – our Group CSR policy is available on our websites, as well as information on the Travel Foundation and tips for travelling responsibly
- On our aircraft – our inflight magazines contain pages dedicated to sustainable tourism
- In resort – our information folders contain tips for responsible travellers plus a colour poster supplied by the Travel Foundation.
- In guidebooks – our guidebooks contain a page about the work of The Travel Foundation.
We want to continue expanding this information, and in 2008 we’ll be developing our customer communications further – in particular our websites.
Employees
To achieve our goals we need to put CSR at the heart of our business – and the heart of our business is our employees. We need them to understand what CSR is and why it’s important for the company and for them. We also value their input and ideas to help us enhance our CSR performance.
To stimulate the two-way flow of ideas and information we’ve formed the Thomas Cook Responsible Business Forum, which regularly brings together participants from departments across the business.
We also update our employees through:
- Internal communications – emails and staff newsletters, both printed and electronic
- Employee magazines – both printed and electronic
- Employee intranet – for UK and overseas employees
- Inductions – information is included in the joining handbook
- Training courses – for different departments throughout the company
- Distribution of Travel Foundation communications
In 2008 we intend to:
- Increase point of sale materials and material to help customer-facing employees tell customers more about sustainable tourism and the Travel Foundation
- Increase internal communications to all employees to ensure they understand the role of CSR and the team within the business
- Conduct staff surveys to gather opinion and ideas
- Share best practice on communications between all source markets within the Group.
Suppliers
Our supply chain is a key part of our CSR programme. We work with businesses around the world. Because many are also suppliers to other tour operators, we work with our industry partners on many of our strategies to improve suppliers’ sustainability. By working together, we can achieve greater and faster change.
We communicate with suppliers on sustainability through the development of the Travelife Sustainability System, a one-stop resource for Europe’s tourism businesses developed with the Federation of Tour Operators. It links businesses with providers of specific advice and solutions to help them improve their sustainability performance, and offers downloadable guidelines and information for all suppliers.
We are promoting the Sustainability Store and the associated Travelife sustainability awards to all our suppliers. In 2007:
- We wrote to hoteliers worldwide to tell them about the service and encourage them to register on the site and start assessing their sustainability.
- Our trained Travelife award auditors visited more than 150 hotels
- We sent ‘hotel makeover’ packs to hotels across the world
- Our staff helped organise and took part in FTO roadshows in Egypt and Turkey to promote sustainability and tell suppliers about the benefits of improved environmental and social performance. These were attended by large numbers of suppliers.
In 2008 we intend to:
- Follow-up the hotel makeover packs
- Continue visiting hotels for auditing
- Keep encouraging suppliers to use the Travelife Sustainability System
- Take part in planned roadshows in other destinations.