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Since 2008, Trafalgar, as part of The Travel Corporation (TTC), has been on a mission to MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® across three pillars of planet, people and wildlife through its longstanding not-for-profit foundation, TreadRight. In September 2020, Trafalgar launched its 5-year sustainability strategy How We Tread Right (HWTR) supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is proud to release the first annual TTC Impact Report. Comprising of 11 sustainability goals, this inaugural annual report provides insight into the progress to date as the brand works to achieve its goals addressing climate action, sustainable food production, responsible consumption, travel experiences, diversity, equity and inclusion, and animal welfare.
The 2022 World Environment Day campaign #OnlyOneEarth calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet, and today, Trafalgar is proud to share updates on the HWTR strategy across a number of key goals that align with this vision.
GOAL 1: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE
OUR MISSION: ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2030 OR SOONER
As a global travel provider, Trafalgar and the TTC family recognise the climate crisis and their responsibility to address it. In 2021 TTC developed a 5-point Climate Action Plan, focused on building a low-carbon future and achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 or sooner, as well as becoming a launch partner for the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism and joining Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency. In 2022 TTC’s family of brands announced the next step in its collective net zero journey: the formal commitment to science-based targets, currently under review by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
GOAL 5: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION
OUR MISSION: TO REDUCE PRINTED BROCHURES BY 50% BY 2025
TTC’s sustainability strategy goals 5 and 6 address Responsible Consumption, one of the most immediate ways to reduce its footprint. In the first 15 months of launching the HWTR 5-year strategy, Trafalgar reduced their printed brochures by 49% against goal 5, a 50% reduction by 2025.
GOAL 7: OVERTOURISM
OUR MISSION: INCLUDE 1 OR MORE MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® EXPERIENCES ON
50% OF TTC ITINERARIES BY 2025 MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences are chosen for the positive social or environmental impact they bring to the destinations and communities visited. The qualifying criteria is their ability to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and influence the way teams select and develop new travel experiences for guests. As industry pioneers, TTC have made the qualifying criteria public as a resource available to the industry to encourage others to act and it has also been endorsed by leading travel industry and sustainable development experts, including the UNWTO.
To date Trafalgar’s impact includes 107 MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences in 2021, across 63% of
itineraries, including 100% of itineraries across Asia and Africa and 86% in the Americas and is well on the way of reaching this global goal by 2025.
GOAL 8: OVERTOURISM
OUR MISSION: ACHIEVE A 20% INCREASE OF ITINERARIES VISITING DEVELOPING
REGIONS FOR SELECT SPECIALIST BRANDS BY 2025
To address overtourism as the world emerges and repairs post-pandemic, and create a more even
distribution of tourism dollars across local economies, Trafalgar and their TTC sister brands are developing more itineraries in developing regions that will benefit greatly from the visitor economy.
GOAL 9: OUR CULTURE
OUR MISSION: INCREASE EMPLOYEE AND MARKET SENTIMENT REGARDING
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ACROSS OUR BRANDS
TTC’s 41 brandssupport and believe in a diverse work environment that encourages their team to be their true selves. Known as TTC IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action), it is made up of multiple identity circles, giving teams dedicated time and space to engage in and learn from their colleagues to broaden their understanding of the lived experience of historically underrepresented communities.
In 2021, TTC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy was launched, to guide action across the
organization for the long term. Publicly available as a resource for the industry at large, the strategy
comprises of specific and actionable goals across three core business functions, People and Culture, Travel Experiences and Marketing and Communications.
In 2021 TreadRight partnered with Tourism Cares, TRIP School and the Media Arts Institute of Alabama to develop the Pathways Project, which aims to increase representation of Black, Indigenous and other historically underrepresented individuals in travel and tourism, with a focus on the guided tour space.
In 2021 Trafalgar was proud to launch the ‘Journey Along the Civil Rights Trail’ 9-day tour starting in
Memphis and ending in Atlanta, giving travellers an in-depth experience across the American South
exploring the sights and hearing moving first-hand stories from the Civil Rights Movement. The brand is deeply committed to expanding their product, with more exciting product releases with a culture and heritage focus being released in the coming months.
GOAL 10: OUR CULTURE
OUR MISSION: COMPLETE 30,000 VOLUNTEER HOURS BY 2025
Every Trafalgar employee alongside all TTC brands is given two paid volunteer days per year. Employees are encouraged to use these days towards volunteering efforts aligned to their personal passions and causes, with a shared goal of 6,000 hours per year to reach a total of 30,000 hours by 2025. Employees can choose to do this as a group or individual, with causes chosen including volunteering at soup kitchens, animal shelters, participating in local clean ups and walks/runs for charity to name a few. In 2021 our TTC teams surpassed our annual goal, reaching a total of 6,517 hours for the year.
GOAL 11: ANIMAL WELFARE
OUR MISSION: ENSURE ALL WILDLIFE EXPERIENCES ACROSS TTC BRANDS ADHERE
TO OUR ANIMAL WELFARE POLICY BY 2021
In 2021 100% of Trafalgar’s and TTC’s wildlife experiences are free of animal cruelty and are reviewed annually to ensure they meet stringent criterial. Protecting wildlife populations worldwide, especially those endangered and needing advocacy the most, is something TTC and Trafalgar continuously work towards both through the TreadRight Foundation’s philanthropic efforts and the travel experiences provided to guests.
In 2020, TTC updated its Animal Welfare Policy to incorporate the Five Domains of Animal Welfare, the most up-to-date and globally recognized framework for animal welfare.
To read The Travel Corporation’s full Impact Report and learn more about the progress TTC and Trafalgar have made against the How We Tread Right sustainability strategy, please visit
https://impact.treadright.org/progress/ We have #OnlyOneEarth. Let’s take care of it.