Agents fail to support First Choice carbon offset scheme
Travel agents are failing to encourage customers booking First Choice holidays to pay the optional £1.50 carbon offset charge.
The tour operator´s managing director Dermot Blastland said considerably more customers agreed to pay the charge when booking through its own website than through agents.
“The take-up is highest on the web, followed by our own shops, and then by other agents,” he said.
Speaking at the Institute of Travel & Tourism conference in Gran Canaria, he said the overall take up by customers was only 40% , but was as high as 75% for online bookings.
“I might be exaggerating those figures slightly. I´ll have to check, but they are definitely significantly lower through agents,” he said later.
“I guess it´s because agents are trying to keep their customers within budget and it´s easier just to leave it out, but it´s only £1.50 per person and we think many customers would be happy to pay it.”
First Choice contributes one pound for every pound spend and the other 50p goes to the Travel Foundation.
On the First Choice website, customers booking online have to click a box if they want to opt-out of the charge.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season