ABTA and the Business Case
for Sustainability
Nikki White
Head of Destinations and Sustainability
June 2011
In this session:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
About ABTA
The role of the trade association in Sustainability
The Business Case and Sustainability
What has the recession meant for sustainability
Case Studies – ABTA approach in action
ABTA – the Travel Association
• The Travel Association – 60 years this year
• Represents over 5,000 travel agencies and more than 900 tour
operators
• Main aims:
- to maintain high standards of trading practice for the benefit
of its Members, the travel industry at large, and the
consumers that they serve
- to create as favourable a business climate as possible for its
Members
Chief Executive
Mark Tanzer
Communications
Destinations &
Sustainability
Public Affairs
Member & Legal
Services
Finance
Planning,
Development &
Resources
The role of the Trade Association
The sustainability journey
Awareness/
Information
Implementation
Policy/Lobbying
Industry voice
Basic
foundations
Joint
Initiatives
Implementation
Policy/Lobbying
Industry voice
Awareness/
Information
Basic foundations
Joint
Initiatives
Effectiveness
An approach for all
Good Sustainability Baseline
Engagement
Business in general
 Driven by reporting as it’s a tangible measurement
 Retrofitting a sustainability approach into an organisation
Reporting
The vision
Recognising that sustainability is critical for the continued
success of the Tourism Industry - ABTA will provide leadership
for our members to develop sustainable businesses.
 To support our members in providing a long term sustainable tourism
industry for the benefit of holiday makers and destination communities.
Using our role to encourage our members to be socially and
economically viable whilst encouraging respect for the limitations on the
destinations we visit and the environments we work in
Business Case: why do we care?
In 2011, talking about the business case may appear to be a
backwards step
-
- Can still be a useful engagement tool
- Bottom line / project approach as a catalyst towards fully
embedded sustainability
Economics: impacting on the
bottom line:
- Sustainability is not just the ethical thing to
do – it makes excellent business sense:
-
-
TUI Travel Plc – 40 FTEs working on
sustainability
Energy saving measures = £8 million in the last 2
years
Scandic Hotels in Scandanavia: savings of £9
million on energy, £2.2 million on water and £4
million on waste over a ten year period across the
group
Climate Change
Source: Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia
Recession and the growth in demand for
Ethical Businesses
A the start of the recession, doomsday style predictions were made
for sustainability – these haven’t MATERIALISED
Sustainability reporting has grown year-on-year despite the
recession according to PWC
Risk management and legislative compliance were & still are key
engagement factors
Current trends – it’s time to get creative with sustainable tourism
Business case for sustainability engagement is stronger than ever
before
Recession in recap
2010: A challenging year
20%
18%
17%
15%
13%
12%
7%
7%
6%
6%
5%
4%
-1%
0%
1%
2%3%
2%
0%
-3%
-5%
-10%
10%
9%
-7%
-10%
-4%
-11%
-5%
-10%
-15%
Passenger
Value
-18%
Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul- AugSep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan- Feb10 10 10
10
10
10
10
10
09
09
09
09
-20%
A changed market place
Website Selection Criteria:
12%
18%
23%
27%
31%
36%
43%
51%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
A changed market place
Reasons to book offline:
8%
10%
11%
14%
16%
16%
18%
38%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
A changed market place
Consumer trends: Board Basis
19%
all inclusive
20%
13%
full board
half board
17%
-16%
-5%
Passengers
-7%
bed and breakfast
Value
-5%
-9%
room only
-4%
-19%
self catering
-20%
-16%
-15%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Current market outlook:
•Consumers – spending their holiday funds more conscientiously
•Market = price driven. Price a key motivator for on & offline bookings
•Growth of A.I board basis reflects the need for customers to control
costs
•Disposable income – not set to increase until 2014 and therefore, trends
look likely to continue for the next couple of years at least
•Exchange rates – playing a key factor in destination selection. Value for
money is key. Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and other destinations
outside the Euro-zone have seen large growth.
Recession as a sustainability
catalyst?

Corporate Outlook:




Market declines mean bottom line core area of concern
Sound sustainability management = reduced operational costs. The
business case is there
Risk aversion through sustainability & brand loyalty? (Top of the list
for online booking selection. BP Gulf of Mexico Oil crisis saw shares
drop 6.6% & 12% drop at lowest point)
Consumer Opinion:




Value for money and price are key
Sustainability can be used to ADD VALUE to the tourism product
Sustainability doesn’t have cost the consumer
Consumer – now expecting sustainable tourism (but the
responsibility rests with you / 47% on ABTA Consumer trends)
Our future focus
•
Rounding off the sustainability journey at the destination level
•
Building on our partnership approach with the supply chain =
The Travelife Sustainability System
•
•
Online system to help accommodation businesses
manage their sustainability impacts
•
Demonstrating the tangible benefits of sustainability
engagement & why this is all the more important during
times of recession
Developing ‘on-trend’ approaches to sustainability
engagement with high customer engagement factors
Case Studies – Sustainability in
action
•
Destination Partnerships – rounding off the sustainability
journey
•
•
•
•
•
•
Egypt & Dominican Republic: Government level commitment
and resourcing of sustainable development plans
Marrying destination stakeholders – removing “acting in isolation”
Scaling up impacts on a destination basis
Support implementation process at policy level e.g. renewable
energy innovation
Incentives for acting sustainably supported with appropriate
infrastructure
Embedding Sustainability into destination development plans
Case Studies
•
Retail Engagement – pulling sustainability and commercial
awareness together
1.
2.
3.
Managing internal impacts (energy, carbon, solid waste)
Generating customer demand (using sustainability as a
USP)
Businesses in the local and global community
(philanthropy)
Case Studies – Sustainability in
action
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Unique three-way partnership between accommodation providers, tour
operators and Travelife to manage and promote sustainability in the
supply chain.
Key Features
Travelife Environmental and Social audit
Centralised shared database for Tour operators
Collaboration between Tour Operators using one brand “Travelife”
Bronze, Silver, Gold Awards (Award plaques)
Continual Improvement Programme
Marketing opportunities via Hotel and Tour Operators
Brochures/Websites
Travelife Collection
Multi-stakeholder advisory and consultation process
Fully Embedded – Day to Day Business
Effectiveness
Destination
Partnerships
Retail
Strategy
Good Sustainability Baseline
Solo Activities / Project Approach
Engagement
Conclusions
-
Role of the trade association is essential for improving industry
performance – it must move all along the sustainability journey
-
The recession has changed the sustainability market place – more of
a focus now on economic costs at source of delaying action on key
sustainability issues (climate change etc.)
-
Progress needs to be made at the destination as well as supply chain
levels for sustainability to be really achieved
-
The industry has moved on from a project approach to one of fully
embedded sustainability whilst improving effectiveness of outputs
Thank you