Removing nearly nine tonnes of excess weight from aircraft and cutting over 300 million pages from brochures are just two of the green achievements Thomson and First Choice highlighted today with the release of TUI Travel PLC’s 2010 Sustainable Development Report.
The report outlines a number of sustainable steps that TUI Travel PLC, of which Thomson and First Choice are part, has taken to reduce its environmental impact.
Thomson Airways, the airline for Thomson and First Choice, is one of the most efficient airlines in the UK, delivering carbon emissions per Revenue Passenger Kilometre (RPK) of only 75g in 2010, which is a reduction of 0.5g from the previous year.
Thomson Airways will also become the first airline in the UK to use biofuels to fly a commercial aircraft on 28 July, with plans in place to introduce the new fuel efficient and more sustainable Boeing 787 Dreamliner into its fleet of aircraft in 2012.
Further to these revolutionary plans, the airline has also been awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 standard for its Environmental Management System across its engineering activities. The highly respected Carbon Trust Standard was also awarded to the company for its dedication to carbon management.
In holiday resorts, Thomson and First Choice have introduced a number of energy saving and carbon cutting initiatives and hundreds of hotels available to Thomson and First Choice customers are now Travelife awarded.
Almost a third of customers stayed in a Travelife awarded hotel in 2010 and the company is dedicated to encouraging them to get involved by taking simple steps such as: packing lightly and saving water by having shorter showers when on holiday. Taking care of the environment and learning about local cultures is now well established as part of Kids’ Clubs activities in Thomson and First Choice resorts.
Overseas, the company has also introduced a number of community projects aimed at ensuring sustainable development and employee and customer engagement with local people. For example, Thomson worked closely with the Travel Foundation on a project which helped local Mayan women produce and sell traditional jams in the Mexico Sensatori hotel.
Working with experts to measure and improve the socio-economic benefits that all inclusive hotels bring to communities, beginning with the First Choice Holiday Village in Turkey, is also a key priority for the company.
In shops, head offices and at aircraft hangars Thomson and First Choice are making significant headway in increasing recycling, reducing energy and water waste by implementing new water saving taps, new automatic PC shutdown software and infrared motion sensors to help stop lights being left on unnecessarily.
Thomson and First Choice also raised over £1.3million for charities dedicated to sustainable tourism and environmental issues. Examples of such charities include the Travel Foundation, the Born Free Foundation, the Family Holiday Association and Pump Aid. Further investment from the company combined with customer donations has also gone into renewable energy projects through the World Care Fund.
Jane Ashton, Director of Group Sustainable Development, said: “Driving sustainability supports the long term success of our tourism business – it’s as simple as that.
“Whilst we have made progress we certainly recognise that we still have a long way to go and that there are challenges involved. But the potential benefits are significant – for our business, destinations, customers, colleagues and the environment.”
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