2023-04-28 07:42:43
KIs it still possible to book a package tour with a clear conscience today in view of climate change? More and more people are asking that. The organizers understandably try to allay these concerns – and do something for the environment and social responsibility when traveling.
But the level of commitment varies. We asked ten travel companies what they do specifically and what sustainable holiday options their customers have.
TUI: Sustainable living at no extra charge
Europe’s largest travel group only presented a new sustainability agenda in March 2023. By 2030, their own airlines should reduce emissions by 24 percent, and hotels should be reduced to zero. A specific current project in the “Club Cala Pada” on Ibiza saved 200,000 single-use plastic bottles in one season alone by installing water dispensers.
Holidaymakers can search the TUI program for the almost 1,500 accommodations that have been awarded the Green & Fair label. Their CO₂ emissions are already ten percent below average, there is 24 percent less waste and they use 19 percent less fresh water. According to TUI spokesman Aage Dünhaupt, they are therefore not more expensive.
Even artificial intelligence is used: In the “Tui Blue Hotel Meltemi” on Santorini, for example, a pilot project to save food ran in 2022. Cameras were mounted on the garbage cans, which determined that muffins and sausages were almost always returned from the buffet – their quantity was then reduced.
DER Touristik: A whole catalog of sustainable trips
DER Touristik bundles all activities in the sustainability program “DER Welt obliges”. The aim is to increase the positive impact of tourism and reduce negative impacts. The digital travel catalog “Conscious Travel” shows how this can work. There guests will find some of the 330 hotels with sustainability certification according to the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, the hotels make up around ten percent of DER Touristik’s core portfolio.
There are also suitable excursions and tips on how guests can individually reduce the footprint of their trip. For each of these trips, the CO₂ emissions are given; Corresponding, really comparable data is currently being determined together with the KlimaLink association. Two particularly sustainable destinations from the Bewusst-Reisen program are the “Playitas Resort” on Fuerteventura, which is geared towards sporty guests, and the “Galo Resort” on Madeira, which calls itself “Portugal’s greenest hotel”.
FTI: More animal welfare and social responsibility
FTI has just summarized the numerous individual measures in a company-wide sustainability agenda. The focus is on climate protection, sustainable travel, protection of resources and social responsibility. Recently, a separate department coordinates, drives and supports these activities.
In 2022, this included the certification of all 50 of its own hotels according to the Travelife Gold standard, the 163-point catalog of which includes not only climate but also social aspects such as dealing with the workforce. The destination agencies are currently also being certified by Travelife. It’s also about animal welfare-friendly excursions – that means, for example: no elephant riding, no dolphin shows.
A women’s promotion initiative helps employees in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey to show strength in the men’s worlds there. In total, FTI offers around 2,000 hotels whose sustainability certificates are recognized by the Green Travel Index. Holidaymakers can be found at fti.de/hotel/nachhaltige-hotels.html.
Schauinsland: Plastic-free holidays with the green leaf
In 2018, the Stiftung Warentest certified Schauinsland-Reisen cheap prices, but only “low” sustainability approaches. In the meantime, the organizer is closely oriented towards the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Tourism Organization. The most exciting sustainability campaign in 2022 was the “Plastic-free holiday” project with the Futouris association. Plastic waste was significantly reduced in three hotels in the Emirates and the recycling rate increased.
Starting this year, the concept is to be extended to the hotels of the company’s own Spanish hotel chain R2. Hotels that are characterized by environmental awareness and social responsibility are marked in the Schauinsland catalogs with the sustainability certificate “The Green Leaf”. There are a total of 1166 houses, which corresponds to around 20 percent of the total offer.
Olimar: All hotels in a sustainability comparison
In its current sustainability report, the Portugal and Southern Europe specialist has dedicated itself in particular to preserving the landscape, culture and economy. In addition, Olimar has recently started some activities to make it easier for holidaymakers to book sustainable trips. The organizer is the first in Germany to implement the Fairweg score from the online portal of the same name, giving comparable information on the sustainability of each individual hotel offered in a simple number (e.g. 3.9 out of 5 points).
The KlimaLink association is working flat out on a similar system for complete trips. In addition to Olimar, Chamäleon, DER Touristik, FTI, Gebeco, Hotelplan and Studiosus are also involved in this industry association.
The particularly sustainable Olimar trips include the hiking tour on old pilgrimage paths “Walking on the Franconian Way” from Florence to Siena and the “Lisbon Ocean Experience” sailing trip on board a historic sailing ship to the last fishermen in the Arrábida marine reserve.
Vikings: More rail travel and a wildlife corridor
In 2023, the active travel specialist will be offering more train trips than ever before. Wiking Reisen is now offering trips without a flight in almost 20 countries. If you absolutely want or have to fly, the journey to the airport by train is generally included in the price. In addition, the CO₂ compensation of each flight is automatically included in the travel price.
The environmental initiative of Wikinger Reisen is being expanded with a bang in the Chilean Andes: There the organizer financed the purchase of the more than 2000 hectare wilderness area Quizapú. A protective area with a wild animal corridor for endangered animal species is being created here.
Chameleon: new hope from old tea bags
Organizer Chamäleon relies on adventure trips with a maximum of twelve guests and focuses on as much added value as possible in the travel destination. These include local tour guides and owner-managed accommodation. A separate foundation supports projects in more than 50 countries that bring people education and work.
Sustainability project at Chamäleon Reisen: Art made from old tea bags
Source: Chameleon Travel
A piece of the Amazon rainforest is placed under nature protection for each guest, which adds up to several hundred hectares each year. For example, 261 square meters of rainforest are protected by those who book the “South Africa Panorama Adventure Tour”. In addition to safaris, the participants also experience visits to social projects, including a design workshop that makes works of art out of old tea bags in a township near Cape Town. 60 percent of the price of the trip stays in the country.
Hauser: Slow trekking with garbage bags
At Hauser Excursions, all flights (via Atmosfair) are compensated 110 percent, for distances of less than 800 kilometers the slow trekking organizer does not offer any flights at all. For Managing Director Manfred Häupl, sustainability in tourism means above all: “travel less, but travel properly”. In concrete terms, this means: you stay in family-run accommodation and only eat what comes from the region.
The “Climate Treks” in Nepal are exemplary: They are almost climate-neutral, socially acceptable, help with reforestation and counteract rural exodus. Even the rubbish is taken home: each participant is given recyclable rubbish bags.
New ways to travel: yoga and rainwater
Sustainability also has to do with the long term. Neue Weg Reisen has been a member of the sustainability association Forum Anders Reisen since 1999, and the company motto “Travel Consciously” is even 32 years old. Group trips are CO₂-compensated by Atmosfair with the Yoga Ayurveda organizer, individual long-distance trips are half compensated if the vacationer pays the other half.
A typical offer is a week’s stay at the company’s own yoga finca “Son Mola Vell” on Mallorca: Not only is the vegetable garden irrigated with rainwater from the house cistern, it also determines the (vegetarian) menu. Those who are not taking part in the twice-daily 90-minute yoga sessions can also treat themselves to a massage or simply listen to the sheep bells tinkling on the terrace.
Studiosus: Biogas and human rights
Since the mid-1980s, company boss Peter Mario Kubsch has kept Germany’s largest study tour operator on course for sustainability. It’s not just about environmental protection, he focuses on human rights, for example fair working conditions or minority rights in the target countries. Encounters with people are essential in order to get to know everyday life and the otherness of culture.
Since 2021, the entire travel program including all long-distance flights has been CO₂-compensated, exclusively in biogas plants. The 14-day trip “Denmark-Norway – Impressions of the North” is an example of the Studiosus credo: the bus takes you to cliffs, to the Viking heritage and to the fjord world.
At the Oil Museum in Stavanger, guests talk to an expert about the “black gold” of the North Sea. At the end of the journey, they can look forward to the pleasant feeling of having completely offset the 813 kilograms of CO₂ per capita.
EARTH WEEK Doku-Highlights
On the occasion of EARTH WEEK 2023, the news channel WELT will be showing documentaries on renewable energies, nature and wildlife around the world.
#Sustainability #vacation #tour #operators #environment