Destination communities

In 2008, our UK & Ireland business made sustainable tourism a part of the annual training programme for overseas administrative staff. Using a Travel Foundation training tool, maketravelgreener.com, to provide a basic understanding of sustainable tourism, we also updated them on new initiatives and sought their feedback and suggestions.

Our monthly magazines for UK employees at home and overseas both have dedicated sustainability sections to help share ideas and good practice: overseas teams are particularly keen to have their achievements featured in this way. And the Overseas Survival Guide for UK representatives includes a spread on what they can do to be more sustainable.

In response to the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO)’s request to put responsible tourism on overseas resort committee agendas, Thomas Cook developed a training and information pack to help those involved to implement this. Now all FTO resort committee meetings include it on their agenda.

In Northern Europe we supplement training and communication on sustainability with regular campaigns to focus individuals’ attention on, for example, their own energy consumption.

And we congratulate all the staff of Thomas Cook Belgium, who won the national Sustainable Tour Operator of 2008 award, judged by independent experts.

We have worked with the Travel Foundation and some of our suppliers to develop Hotel Makeover Packs to help hoteliers run their businesses more sustainably. These have been produced in English, Spanish, Greek and Turkish and we have distributed them widely to our accommodation suppliers.

Following a roadshow, jointly staged with the FTO and its members in Andorra, the Travel Foundation developed a series of sustainability leaflets and a website www.makesnowsportsgreener.com targeting ski destinations. Neilson overseas staff have helped to promote these to resort-based suppliers.

In 2008 we also worked with the Travel Foundation as part of a water conservation project in Cyprus – see Supply chain management.

• For information on other projects, visit the Travel Foundation website

Case study: Gambia is Good: engaging the community

Gambia is Good (GiG) is a Travel Foundation funded project supporting local subsistence farmers who do not produce enough to supply the tourism industry individually. The GiG training farm teaches them new agricultural methods and crop rotation to increase their production. Trained farmers take these lessons back to their villages and train others. GiG has enabled them to form a cooperative sharing a van which collects produce from individual farmers to deliver the quantities that hotels require. The farmers receive a fair price and have increased their incomes by some 300%, while the hotels import less and receive fresher produce.

Particularly in Northern Europe we pay close attention to compliance with relevant ecological standards in destination countries, especially in hotel contracting. We require potential partners planning new properties to meet appropriate standards on, for example, use of solar energy, low-energy air conditioning, renewable raw materials (so no illegally logged tropical timber) and connections to public water supply and drainage. Buyers and agents working for us are in constant contact with architects and building contractors specialising in environmentally-friendly hotel construction. And we stay closely in touch with local authorities to keep up to date with developments in their area.

When contracting for existing properties we insist on compliance with environmental standards on issues such as minimisation of packaging, conscientious handling of resources such as water, establishment of no-smoking zones and preferential use of local, seasonal produce. In new contracts, these form the basis of the partnership. We also make sure suppliers stick to their agreements – for example on workers’ rights to join unions.

To help spread the economic benefits of tourism more widely in destination communities, our Scandinavian business is also promoting self-catering apartments and hotels that are not all-inclusive. Today only about 5% of its volume is all-inclusive.

Case study: Saving water in Cyprus

We’re active members of the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI), and our staff attend monthly meetings to help support its objectives by contributing an industry and commercial perspective.

In Summer 2008 Cyprus suffered a prolonged drought. While locals had their water cut off for up to four days a week, tourists could use as much as they wanted. Although tourism takes a lower share of water supplies than other industries such as agriculture, a tourist uses about four times as much water as a resident. In July 2008 we took a team to Cyprus to help CSTI promote water saving initiatives. The aim was to show hoteliers simple ways to cut water consumption and save money. They were encouraged to use the Travel Foundation’s Hotel Makeover Pack, which includes a training DVD and posters to engage staff to save water and energy and also shows hotels how to get more involved with local communities. Over 100 hotels took part and the Sunbeach Hotel in Famagusta took top honours with cuts of 9% on energy and 15% on water per bed night.

Travelife Sustainability System

The Travelife Sustainability System is a one-stop online resource for worldwide tourism businesses, supported by the EU and tourism trade associations. It links businesses with providers of specific advice and solutions to help them improve their sustainability performance, and contains downloadable guidelines and information for all suppliers.

Linked to it are the Travelife Awards, which we’ve helped to develop and promote with the FTO. Travelife Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards are based on independent audits across a wide range of sustainability criteria in areas such as environmental management, employment issues and involvement with local communities. We encourage suppliers to subscribe to the Travelife system and awards scheme because this enables us to audit them against a ‘triple bottom line’ covering environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts.

Our customers can now look out for the Travelife Award logos in brochures and on websites, so the scheme offers transparency for all our stakeholders as well as real recognition of sustainable suppliers. We feature some 75 Travelife awarded hotels in our UK brochures.

We have now trained 55 staff in the UK and overseas to audit our properties and support hoteliers who want to be more sustainable. To date we’ve audited 285 properties of which 42 achieved Bronze, Silver or Gold awards. Our in-house Hi! Hotels chain has subscribed to the Travelife System and we are currently working with an environmental consultant on one hotel to set the standards for the others in the chain.

At the start of each season our UK & Ireland business sends all accommodation suppliers an ‘Introduction to Travelife’ letter which also directs them to the Travel Foundation website for information on Hotel Makeover Packs. Our overseas staff frequently visit our accommodation suppliers and regularly talk to them about the Travelife system and the tools available from the Travel Foundation to help them become more sustainable.

Case study: A world first in Mallorca

In Mallorca we’ve been working closely with a local authority, Calvia Council, to encourage interest in the Travelife System. A conference for hoteliers was organised jointly with the council, including a presentation on the benefits of joining the Travelife System and audits for interested suppliers. This resulted in Calvia Council becoming the world's first local authority to sign up to the Travelife System. We hope it will set a precedent for other destinations.

Case study: On the road in the Caribbean

In 2008 we supported the FTO Sustainability Roadshow in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and St. Lucia. Over 50 delegates from hotels in the Dominican Republic saw a full presentation on Travelife and the team visited individual hotels in Jamaica and St. Lucia – generating considerable interest and signing up several new subscribers on the spot.

The EU Flower rating

We conduct environmental audits on hotels and follow up their findings. In Northern Europe we also support the rigorous EU Flower rating scheme: a 50-point plan enabling hotels to become more sustainable one step at a time. Compliance with all 50 criteria enables a hotel to apply for the EU Flower. To help consumers recognise hotels’ progress towards this demanding level, our Scandinavian business has developed its own 1-2-3-leaf grading system – the top 3-leaf rating is equivalent to an EU Flower – and publishes the results online. Its own hotel chain, Sunwing Resorts, was the first in Europe to earn an EU Flower, and in Autumn 2008 its resort in Side, Turkey, became the first hotel outside the EU to receive the award. That left only two of its nine hotels without it – and they expect to qualify by Summer 2009.

This work started in Thailand, Dominican Republic and Cuba – and now includes all destinations in South America, Africa and Asia. All hotel owners must comply with the Code of Conduct. Support for children and ECPAT is described in hotel information folders, brochures, price lists and websites. Overseas staff and everyone who attends one of our guidance schools receive special training. Read our policy on commercial sexual exploitation of children.

In many destinations – including Mexico, The Gambia, Egypt and Vietnam – we collect clothes from our guests before they go home, which we give to children’s homes.

Case study: Caring for tsunami orphans

In Thailand we’re supporting the construction of a children’s village in Tamaprao, Phuket, where 100 children aged 5-15 who lost their parents in the 2004 tsunami are housed, schooled and cared for. We’ve funded construction of one of its buildings, while the company’s employees are raising funds for another. Additional finance will go towards the village’s operating costs.

Case study: Educating children in Luxor

Thomas Cook Airlines is sponsoring the Life is Beautiful project which is setting out to build a school for poor children in Luxor, Egypt. The airline provides free transport of passengers and goods from Europe to Egypt.

Case study: Dancing to succeed in life

In Recife, Brazil, we and our guests support the Projeto Pixote, which helps poor children develop self-respect and improve their chances of employment. It teaches them capoeira, a combination of dance and combat sport which is hugely popular in Brazil, and the best students may eventually become professional capoeira performers. The instructors perform at our welcome meeting and our Brazilian evening, and we sell their T-shirts to our guests. We also buy food, hygiene articles and writing materials for the children.

In response to this, we have been working closely with the FTO, other industry partners, NGOs and experts to look at animal welfare issues in tourism destinations. This has resulted in the Travelife Animal Attractions Handbook for suppliers of excursions involving animals, a checklist to help tour operators assess suppliers, and additional guidelines for aquatic animals and dolphinaria.

In September 2008, in partnership with the Born Free Foundation, we piloted a training package to enable Thomas Cook staff to audit animal attractions using the Travelife criteria. To date we’ve trained 27 staff.

In December 2008, Thomas Cook UK sent a letter to all attractions featuring captive dolphins and whales (cetaceans), asking them to comply with international conventions on wild caught cetaceans to ensure that trade in these animals does not harm natural populations. Suppliers must produce paperwork, on request, to confirm their compliance with CITES/IUCN requirements on wild-caught cetaceans. We hope our work with industry partners will help to influence the quality of care and conditions for these animals. We are working with a recognised NGO to develop further ways to train staff and educate customers who are visiting dolphin experiences.

We want to stop tourists buying products such as ivory or coral. Our customer guides to responsible travel include information and warnings about the slaughter of animals and exploitation of nature to provide 'souvenirs'.

Thomas Cook Northern Europe sells Max Havelaar coffee, tea and juice on all its flights. Max Havelaar is an international fair trade labelling organisation which supports positive development in some of the world’s poorest countries. It guarantees that farmers receive fair prices, workers are assured of proper work conditions and consideration is shown for the environment.

We also give customers information specific to their destination. For example, on the coach transfers for guests arriving in Cyprus, we ask them to use water sparingly as water shortage is a particularly serious problem there. Our in-resort information books have two pages of tips on sustainability, ranging from buying local products to turning off lights in hotel rooms. News items on sustainability topics regularly feature in our in-flight magazine. And sustainability training is a part of our programmes for local representatives.

In 2008 we piloted a children’s activity booklet in KidsWORLD clubs in 10 destinations. Hatch the Turtle is a hawksbill turtle cartoon character who shows children how to look after destination environments. Games, puzzles and colouring competitions encourage children to keep the environment clean and tidy, learn some of the local language and understand how different life can be for local children. Feedback from children and staff was so positive that Hatch becomes a permanent member of our destination teams this year, joining our other marine mascots Dizzy the Dolphin and Shades the Shark.

We support a wide range of local social or environmental projects, and aim to create opportunities for our guests to contribute – perhaps by donating spare currency or buying project-related goods. These are just a few examples:

Case study Cyprus: Driving support to rural areas

Our Cyprus Self Drive Village Routes booklets for car hire customers include maps, easy-to-follow instructions and interesting local information. By encouraging tourists to get out into rural areas they bring economic benefit to communities that would not normally derive an income from tourism, while allowing visitors to discover traditional Cyprus life.

Case study Thailand: Aid for AIDS

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, our guests are helping Buddhist monks and nuns to care for HIV/AIDs victims. A share of our sales income from a two-day trip to the River Kwai goes to the Sangha Metta project, which teaches local people how to avoid HIV/AIDS, visits those who are infected and gives poor families financial support – including for burial when someone dies of AIDS. The project also cares for orphaned children, who are given tasks in the temples.

Case study Gambia is Good: engaging our customers

The Gambia is Good training farm mentioned above helps local farmers compete more effectively with imported produce. To help make it self-supporting, it’s now also part of a tourist excursion. Visitors can see novel farming methods such as the aerobic water pump and learn about the work the farm is doing to provide sustainable livelihoods for local farmers. Lunch is served on the farm and local women sell embroidered items and food products.
For more on Gambia is Good, see Our work with the Travel Foundation.

Case study Dominican Republic: A round for children

In recent years, our UK guests in the Dominican Republic have raised funds for our UK children’s hospital project. But when our local manager visited the Ricardo Limardo Children’s Hospital and saw first-hand the lack of facilities for babies and children, it was clear we should split the funds between both hospitals. Guests responded magnificently, donating almost $20,000 through charity evenings and a golf day.