Based less than half a mile from Clapham South tube station, Travel Matters has become a staple for the conscious travellers of south-west London, as the agency has always focused on promoting meaningful and sustainable travel – years before it was fashionable.
According to Simmonds, Travel Matters’ ethos stems from her passion for travel and nature, which she’s had since childhood.
“It was my attitude to travelling,” she adds. “I have always believed travel can have such an important influence on people as individuals, as people can immerse themselves into local cultures and become more educated.”
This focus on travel becoming a force for good led Simmonds to become one of the first in the industry to launch a sustainability campaign, Make Travel Matter, with these efforts culminating in the agency becoming B Corp Certified in May 2023.
Set up in 2009 and still ongoing, the Make Travel Matter campaign advocates both consumers and other businesses to promote responsible and sustainable travel practices.
“It was quite pioneering because there weren’t many people trying to get that message across back in the day,” Simmonds says.
The agency achieved B Corp certification after going through a 16-month process in which the business was scrutinised to make sure it was meeting the highest environmental and social standards.
Simmonds tells TTG that getting accredited was a pivotal moment because it allowed Travel Matters to “walk the walk as well as talk the talk”.
“You can say a lot of things but it’s important to get verified by an external auditor,” she adds. “It gave us a great deal of pride because it’s not greenwashing; it’s been independently verified by a third party and that speaks volumes.”
Things haven’t always been smooth sailing for the agency. Travel Matters suffered significantly during the pandemic when revenue streams dried up and the business was only keeping afloat because of its existing cash reserves.
But Simmonds says that despite not being back to pre-pandemic levels, the business is doing well, with several busy days recorded over the past few weeks.
Simmonds is looking to celebrate Travel Matters’ 25th anniversary with a series of activities, including a monthly engagement campaign with clients as well as “celebratory bash” in September. When asked about a possible 50th anniversary for Travel Matters, she says it’s way too early to start thinking about that – she doesn’t know where she’ll be in 25 years’ time.
“Who knows? The business might not belong to me by then but that’s too far ahead for me to think about,” she concludes.
