Sustainability strategy

Travel and tourism is the world’s largest industry. The growth and employment it creates makes it of critical importance to the world economy and sustainable strategies are needed more than ever.

The World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts that travel and tourism will account for 9% of global GDP in 2011. It expects the industry will continue to be one of the world’s fastest growing sectors, with emerging economies in particular seen as the engines of growth. Travel and tourism today is responsible for 9% of global employment but also for 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. From a sustainable development perspective this poses a challenge – the growth of an industry highly dependent on fossil fuels and biodiversity in a world of finite natural resources.

At TUI Travel we have long embraced this challenge. We are actively working towards our goal of making travel experiences special while minimising environmental impact, respecting the culture and people in destinations, and bringing real economic benefit to local communities. We recognise these as issues on which the future health of our own business and of the wider industry depend.

Sustainable development strategy

TUI Travel’s sustainable development strategy is based on an analysis of the key issues affecting the Company, now and in the future. It is regularly reviewed in consultation with internal and external stakeholders. Our four strategic priorities for sustainable development align with the Group business strategy. We encourage all TUI Travel businesses to develop their own strategies, aligning with Group and Sector priorities and the related targets, where appropriate. At the end of the financial year 2009/10, 92% of TUI Travel businesses had their own sustainable development strategyⁱ (73% in 2008/09).

Our four strategic priorities for sustainable development are:

Carbon Management

Goal: To reduce TUI Travel’s airlines’ per passenger carbon emissions by 6% by 2013/14 (against a baseline of 2007/08).

Destinations

Supplier Management Goal: All suppliers in our destinations follow sustainability practices and have continuous improvement programmes in place.

Destination Projects Goal: TUI Travel, working with partners, will make measurable improvements to local livelihoods and environmental protection in our destinations.

Our Colleagues

Goal: TUI Travel colleagues are engaged and empowered to take action on sustainability for the future success of the Company.

Our Customers

Goal: TUI Travel businesses deliver quality communications designed to raise customer interest and demand for sustainable holidays.

In 2009/10 our Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to review our performance against current sustainability leaders and evaluate the Group-wide risks and opportunities presented by sustainable development. PwC made a number of recommendations in relation to regulatory preparedness, cost efficiency opportunities and customer opportunities, the majority of which have been acted upon and are outlined in our 2010 Sustainable Development Report.

Our focus in 2010/11 is to set long-term Group goals for each of our sustainability strategic priorities. Some of our Sectors have already set their own long-term targets, for example TUI UK & Ireland launched three-year sustainability commitments as part of their Holidays Forever programme in early 2011.

For references, see references PDF.