Travel Foundation raises a record -£1m

The Travel Foundation raised a record of more than -£1 million last year.

A cut in the charity's operating costs will ensure that the organisation can continue and expand its programmes during 2008/09.

Administration costs fell to 13.5% during 2007 meaning that more than -£935,000 of the cash raised could be ploughed straight back to help the environment, local communities and visitors, it said.

The Foundation attracted support from new fundraising partners including MyTravel (now part of Thomas Cook), Cosmos, Bales Worldwide, Beat the Brochure, Lowcostgroup, P&O Cruises, P&O Ferries, Servisair and Titan Tours.

The seven new members means that there are now more than 22 industry partners undertaking fundraising activities.

People attending today-¬™s AGM will hear about a skills training project in Tobago which has meant that local women have built up a strong business in producing high quality craft items and food stuffs for sale to tourists.

The project has worked so well that The Foundation now has plans to replicate it across other Caribbean destinations.

Plans will also be unveiled for a number of future projects in energy reduction in various tourism destinations, tool-kits to help accommodation providers to make their operations more sustainable and a number of educational initiatives to improve guiding standards in places like Kenya and Mexico.

As part of the meeting, a panel of experts and attendees will be exploring the issue of water and whether there is enough of this vital natural resource to support tourism. Panellists for the debate. Moderated by TravelMole managing director GahamMcKenzie, include Jacob Tompkins, director, Waterwise; Jackie Seddon, business manager, N8 Sustainable Water Group and Andrew Forte, director of energy management & sustainability, Hilton Hotels.

Travel Foundation chief executive Sue Hurdle said: -¬---Thanks to the outstanding financial support we have received from our travel industry partners we can now look at replicating projects in other destinations and starting new ones which we have identified through our close work with tourism organisations, communities and tourists in the destinations.-¬~

by Phil Davies

Tuesday, June 17, 2008