The Travel Corporation (TTC)
Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2019, 2022, 2023)
Reporting Period: 2019
Environmental Metrics
ESG Focus Areas
- Climate Change
- Sustainable Food Production
- Responsible Consumption
- Community Benefit
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Animal Welfare
- Overtourism
Environmental Achievements
- Launched Bushfire Recovery Giveback trips in Australia to support communities affected by bushfires.
- Implemented Accuvio, a carbon reporting tool, to track and manage emissions.
Social Achievements
- Provided two paid volunteer days per year to employees since 2009.
- 50%+ of executive leadership is female.
- Developing a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to address recruitment and communication to underrepresented communities.
Governance Achievements
- Established a How We Tread Right Steering Committee to oversee sustainability implementation.
- Updated Animal Welfare Policy in cooperation with World Animal Protection.
Climate Goals & Targets
- Achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 or sooner.
- Source 50% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
- Reduce food waste by 50% across hotels and ships by 2025.
- Increase use of local & organic food products by 2025.
- Include at least 1 Make Travel Matter Experience on 50% of itineraries by 2025.
- Achieve a 20% increase of itineraries visiting developing regions for select brands by 2025.
- Complete 30,000 volunteer hours by 2025.
- Eliminate unnecessary single-use plastics from operations and itineraries by 2022.
- Reduce printed brochures by 50% by 2025.
- Ensure all wildlife experiences adhere to Animal Welfare Policy by 2021.
Environmental Challenges
- Climate change impacts (bushfires in Australia)
- COVID-19 pandemic impact on operations and sustainability initiatives
- Overtourism in popular destinations
- Uneven distribution of tourism benefits at destination level
- Need to improve diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Mitigation Strategies
- Bushfire Recovery Giveback trips
- Continued funding of TreadRight projects during COVID-19
- Focus on developing travel experiences that demonstrate genuine community benefit
- Development of Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
- Make Travel Matter Experiences to encourage community benefit and educate guests on Global Goals.
Supply Chain Management
Responsible Procurement
- Encouraging local and organic food production
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Physical Risks
- Extreme weather (bushfires)
Opportunities
- Investment in renewable energy
- Low-emission transportation
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- 11 Global Goals (specific goals not explicitly listed)
How We Tread Right goals are aligned with the 11 prioritized Global Goals.
Reporting Period: 2022
Environmental Metrics
ESG Focus Areas
- Climate Change
- Sustainable Food Production
- Responsible Consumption
- Overtourism
- Culture
- Animal Welfare
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Environmental Achievements
- Reduced Scope 1 emissions by 27%, Scope 2 emissions by 42% and Scope 3 emissions by 45% in 2022, from 2019 baseline.
- Sourced 44% of total global electricity needs from renewable sources (up 20% from the previous year).
- Reduced food waste by 36% at 13 Red Carnation Hotels and 34% across 6 Uniworld ships.
- Reduced printed brochures by 64% from 2019.
Social Achievements
- Included at least one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience on 62% of TTC itineraries.
- Increased TTC itineraries visiting developing regions by 50% from 2021 baseline.
- Completed 7,471 volunteer hours in 2022 (46% of 2025 goal).
Governance Achievements
- Became the first global tour operator with all three validated near-term, long-term and net zero targets.
- Established an industry-first Carbon Fund.
Climate Goals & Targets
- Reach net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2050 from a 2019 baseline year.
- Reduce absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2019 base year.
- Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 46.2% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.
- Reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, business travel, and use of sold products 27.5% by 2030.
- Reduce energy use across London Red Carnation Hotels by 25% by 2030.
- Reduce food waste by 50% across all hotels & ships by 2025.
- Source 50% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
- Reduce printed brochures by 50% by 2025.
- Eliminate unnecessary single-use plastics by 2025.
- Include at least one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience on 50% of TTC itineraries by 2025.
- Achieve a 20% increase in itineraries visiting developing regions by 2025.
- Complete 30,000 volunteer hours by 2025.
Environmental Challenges
- Engaging supply chain and destination partners on sustainability journey.
- Supply chain disruptions impacting local and organic food sourcing.
- Increased brochure printing due to post-pandemic travel recovery.
Mitigation Strategies
- Expanded team of Sustainability Officers to ten.
- Launched Impact Hub for increased transparency and stakeholder engagement.
- Set a goal for tour brands to incorporate at least one local dining experience across 80% of itineraries by 2025.
- Focus on digital brochures and sustainable printing practices.
Supply Chain Management
Supplier Audits: Not disclosed
Responsible Procurement
- Sustainable Procurement Policy
- Sourcing sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics.
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Physical Risks
- Not disclosed
Transition Risks
- Not disclosed
Opportunities
- Development of low-carbon solutions, renewable energy generation.
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
Certifications: Null
Third-party Assurance: Lucideon CICS (limited assurance on 2022 Scope 1+2 footprint)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 15: Life on Land
MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences support these goals.
Sustainable Products & Innovation
- Not disclosed
Awards & Recognition
- World Travel Market Responsible Travel Award (Silver)
- Travel Weekly Sustainability Award
- Other awards listed in the report
Reporting Period: 2023
Environmental Metrics
ESG Focus Areas
- Climate Change
- Biodiversity
- Food Waste
- Travel Experiences
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
- Wildlife
Environmental Achievements
- Reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 31% and Scope 3 emissions by 5% in 2023, from our baseline in 2019
- 54% of our electricity was sourced from renewable sources
- 32 owned properties run on 100% renewable electricity
- Reduced food waste by 27.4% across 10 Red Carnation Hotels
- Reduced food waste by 36% across 11 Uniworld ships
- 80% reduction of printed brochures from 2019
- Completely removed single-use plastics related to Covid-19 measures
Social Achievements
- Completed 10,862 volunteer hours across TTC
- 84% of TTC itineraries have at least one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience
- Contiki New Zealand Trip Managers & Drivers began an extensive training program to strengthen crew competency in Māori history, culture, customs/Tikanga and language
- 127 Tour Managers for Contiki completed DEI training
Governance Achievements
- 100% of employees signed our Code of Conduct
Climate Goals & Targets
- Reach net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2050 from a 2019 baseline year
- Reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions 46.2% by 2030 from a 2019 base year
- Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, business travel, and use of sold products 27.5% by 2030
- Source 50% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025
- Reduce food waste by 50% across all hotels and ships by 2025
- Increase the use of local & organic food products in our supply chain by 2025
- Reduce printed brochures by 50% by 2025
- Eliminate as many unnecessary single-use plastics from our operations and itineraries by 2025
- Include at least one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience on 50% of TTC itineraries by 2025
- Achieve a 20% increase in itineraries visiting developing regions for specialist brands by 2025
Environmental Challenges
- Challenges of addressing Scope 3 emissions meaningfully given the complex nature of the tourism supply chain
Mitigation Strategies
- Developed Net Zero Trip Roadmap to guide experience design teams and contracting teams on how to meaningfully decrease the carbon footprint of trips
- Industry leading initiative to say ‘no’ to more stuff (branded merchandise)
- Investing in multiple low-carbon projects across the business through the Carbon Fund
Supply Chain Management
Supplier Audits: More than 800 partners engaged to ensure accurate data for Trip Carbon Calculators
Responsible Procurement
- Sustainable Procurement Policy
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: Greenhouse Gas Protocol – Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard – Revised Edition, Science Based Targets initiative
Third-party Assurance: Lucideon CICS Limited
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 15: Life on Land
MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences actively advance at least one of the United Nations Global Goals or UNSDGs
Awards & Recognition
- Virgin Media Business Gold Medal Awards
- Hotel Cateys
- Boutique Hotelier Awards
- USTOA Future Light of the Tour Industry
- PinkNews Award
- Skift IDEA Awards
- France 360 Awards
- Hearts of Travel
- AAA Conference for Sustainability
- International Women in Travel & Tourism Forum Awards
- TravelAge West WAVE Awards