Abta has urged agents, operators and other travel sellers, as well as hotels and tourists boards, to get involved with its 2019 Make Holidays Greener campaign.
Launched in June in partnership with Travelife for Accommodation, there’s just a month left for any travel companies that are yet to participate to make a green pledge.
This year’s Make Holidays Greener campaign, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, aims to build on last year’s “say no to plastic” theme.
So far, Abta says more than 110 travel companies have pledged their support for the campaign and shared how they have taken action to make a difference in their community and in the destinations their clients visit.
Examples range from efforts to reduce food waste, holiday clothes swap initiatives and providing clients with reusable or filter water bottles to reduce reliance on single-use plastic bottles.
Destination tourists boards have also been encouraged to promote proper disposal of items such as wet wipes and cigarette filters, reduce or ban plastic bags, and cut down waste from cultural celebrations.
Travel companies can still register for a campaign support pack by emailing sustainabletourism@abta.co.uk which features tips, case studies and best practice.
“This is a great opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their sustainability credentials to holidaymakers, and we have seen some excellent initiatives throughout the campaign highlighting what the industry is doing to reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Nikki White, Abta director of destinations and sustainability.
“There’s still time for travel companies to get involved in this year’s Make Holidays Greener campaign, and we encourage as many as possible to get involved during the final month.”
Holidaymakers can also make a pledge via makeholidaygreener.org.uk, and more than 1,000 have so far done so. Abta has promoted 15 achievable pledges, from organising a holiday clean-up to going meat-free or eating local produce and buying local goods.