TUI gets tough with hotels over sustainability
TUI Travel UK & Ireland is stepping up its efforts to make its business sustainable by getting tougher with its hotel partners.
It plans to audit 400 more hotels under its Travelife scheme, which encourages hotels to look after the environment, their employees and local communities.
If all 400 hotels fulfill the criteria, TUI said over 50% of UK customers would be staying in a more sustainable hotel on holiday in the future.
TUI is recruiting two regional sustainability advisors to help carry out the six-day audits and assist the company’s quality co-ordinators in resorts worldwide.
The company has also introduced a new sustainable development agreement into all its hotel contracts.
The contract requires hoteliers to initiate, or continue to develop, a sustainability programme.
The auditing for Travelife only lasts a few hours, however for the new recruits they will spend up to six days auditing our biggest properties with a high number of TUI customers, a spokeswoman said.
Commercial director David Burling said: “Sustainability is a key focus for TUI Travel and we are dedicated to increasing hoteliers’ understanding of their impact on the environment. Together with our suppliers, we’re seeking to make all areas of our operations more sustainable.
“Soon, customers will know that if they book a holiday through Thomson or First Choice, their hotel will have signed a contract agreeing to initiate a sustainability programme – otherwise, they wouldn’t be featured in our brochures.”
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.
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