This week's Analysis is not for once about a topic in the business travel industry. We look instead at what seems to be a growing movement in the travel industry, a concern for sustainability.
According to one website, it is defined as “industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism which is both ecologically and culturally sensitive.”
Nordic countries have been concerned on this issue for several years. ITB Berlin was sufficiently aware to hold a seminar on the subject last March. More recently, easyJet's ceo Ray Webster has agreed to meet “Green” associations to discuss the rapid growth of flying, caused in part by the rise of the low cost carriers, and its effect on the environment.
At the Association of Corporate Travel Executives' (ACTE) Forum in London last week, Marc Hildebrand, president and ceo of TQ3 Travel Solutions, referred to it as the new “buzz word.”
He told delegates: “You and I represent corporates and the impact we have on our society and the environment is not necessarily a positive one. We are corporate citizens and ethics demand that we put something back.”
There were obvious negative elements like the 12.3m people, more than half children, in forced labour who made a $32bn profit for their exploiters, the fast food companies which included “obnoxious” ingredients in their products, the supermarkets which paid local farmers the lowest price and banks which closed branches in isolated communities.
But Mr Hildebrand said sustainability was “not just moaning about capitalism” but about “creating a better world using the tools available today and making them available to as many people as possible but in a responsible manner.”
He said business was not divorced from a responsible society and business's role in building a better future must be recognised.
It was about the extent to which decisions could be taken in the wider sense rather than just in the interests of the company. The benefits ranged from protecting a company's image to making savings through more efficient use of energy.
“Unless businesses buy into sustainability, they will continue to lump costs with charity and it will remain on the periphery,” he said.
TQ3 had started to get involved about 12 months ago when it was “confronted with demands from our customers who wanted to know are sustainability policy was.” The company now has three specific areas care: TQ3 Environmental Care!, TQ3 Social Care! and TQ3 Staff Care!
The first was a conscious effort to control resources, including simple re-cycling, the second was making contributions in both time and money towards alleviating poverty or damage from natural disasters and the third was creating foreign exchange programmes and university opportunities for staff to help their personal development.
The second has involved helping to re-build a school in an Indian village after it had been destroyed in the December tsunami. “Visiting that village was a wake-up call for me,” Mr Hildebrand said. “They really needed help.”
TQ3 got involved through an organisation called Plan International, through which it channels its financial contributions.
The village is on the outskirts of Chennai and is home to more than 1200 families who lost their homes, livelihoods and many relatives in the disaster. Currently, TQ3 is helping the village get allocations of land needed for re-building.
Mr Hildebrand called on ACTE delegates to “assess where your company stands on sustainability and if there is no policy, motivate and plan as to why your ceo should get involved. Discuss the issues surrounding this value chain and make sure it becomes a fundamental part of your company's strategy. I promise you only good, profitable things will come of it.”