As the tourism industry looks to rebuild in a post pandemic world, touring category-leader Trafalgar and its sister brand Costsaver have today announced their plans to increase their sustainable travel and tourism initiatives by offering a minimum of one MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience on every land tour by 2023.
Since the launch of MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences in 2020, both brands have been contributing directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by offering guests rich, meaningful travel opportunities that have a positive impact on the places they visit. Using a proprietary assessment tool endorsed by industry experts and developed exclusively for Trafalgar and TTC’s family of brands, MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences are assessed against a robust set of criteria directly tied to these UN Global Goals.
Already available on 100% of trips through Asia and with a total of 98 experiences across the globe, the brands are committing to extend the offering to one on every tour. This comes at a crucial time as the industry looks to rebuild after more than 62 million jobs were lost last year* with local communities and small businesses that rely in tourism amongst the hardest hit. This is just one of the many initiatives the brands are making to ensure they do their part to support the rebound of travel after the after the devastating impact of COVID-19.
When speaking about today’s announcement, Gavin Tollman, CEO said: “As a company with sustainable and responsible travel ingrained in our DNA, we are taking every step possible to secure the future for our industry. In the wake of the pandemic, every travel organisation should be reviewing and assessing their operations in line with the UN Global Goals and this is just one way we are securing a more inclusive future for the people and places we visit and our guests”.
The brands Sustainability Officer Gemma Myhill also reinforced how this positive shift to their strategy will benefit guests:
“With this change, not only will our guests continue to have incredibly rich experiences when they tour with us, but they will also know their travels will meaningfully give back to local communities, wildlife and the planet, no matter the destination they choose”.
Travellers can identify these experiences by looking out for the MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience seal on trafalgar.com and costsavertour.com. Download the brands’ full commitment to responsible travel in their How We Tread Right strategy.
*Economic Impact Report (EIR) from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for 2020
