TORONTO — How is The Travel Corporation working to create a better future for the places and communities which we visit? Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of The Travel Corporation and founder of The TreadRight Foundation, penned an op-ed piece exclusively for Travelweek, for World Tourism Day, Sept. 27.
“How do we make travel matter? It’s a question we’ve worked hard to address and engage among The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) family of brands and their respective teams, over the past decade and more. This is also well worth considering as we recognize World Tourism Day on Sept. 27. As a successful, responsible travel enterprise, how do we ensure what we do creates a better future for the places and communities which we visit? How can we positively affect the planet, wildlife and people that we interact with, through the actions we take today and tomorrow?
Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of The Travel Corporation and founder of The TreadRight Foundation
“There’s no doubt to us that we should be working together to ensure our industry is a leader in sustainability. As travel and hospitality providers, many of us already recognize that it is our responsibility and opportunity to lead by example.
“The critical step now is to plainly ask ourselves how we are going to ensure travel plays an elemental role in shaping a positive present and a better future. For TTC, that means continuing to look across our operations and offices, identifying the places and processes where we can make judicious changes for the better, in the ways we work and behave, to further reduce our footprint and encourage sustainability.
“For example: our Toronto office has undergone significant changes in recent years in the ways we manage climate control, dispose of waste and use energy. It’s a model we’re following at our offices around the world.
“We’ve proudly introduced our Multi-Year Plastics Elimination Strategy, which will see the removal of all avoidable single-use plastics across all our operations by 2022.
“We’ve enacted an expertly vetted animal welfare policy to guarantee the health and safety of the animals our guests encounter throughout every experience we offer.
“We’re championing artisan enterprises and heritage business around the world through the itineraries our brands offer and through the grants our not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation provides.
“These represent just a few of the practices and measures we’ve adopted with the understanding that we all must play our part to effectively turn our industry into a genuinely sustainable body.
“As we recognize World Tourism Day this year, we invite the travel agent community to consider how you too are going to make travel matter. What changes or ameliorations can you make within your sphere of influence to help build a better future, one in which travel is always an agent for positive change for all involved?
“These don’t have to be considerable adjustments to the way you work, simply considered ones. Start where you work and please don’t delay or linger any longer. Align yourself with businesses that share sustainable values. Ask the extra question when helping clients make purchase decisions. Ask yourself what straightforward yet valuable changes you can make to the way you operate.
“Ask yourself: how can I make travel matter?
“We did. And we’re a better business for it.”
10 years of The TreadRight Foundation
The TreadRight Foundation, the not-for-profit organization at the heart of TTC’s commitment to making tourism a force for positive change around the world – and born from TTC Chief Executive Tollman’s vision to make travel matter – is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The TreadRight Foundation has spent the last decade working to help support more than 50 sustainable tourism projects worldwide and that’s just the beginning, says Tollman.
TreadRight helps TTC bring this vision of sustainability to life through its three key pillars: people, wildlife, and the planet. Through these pillars, TreadRight and TTC work together to leave a positive impact as they explore.
To help celebrate 10 years of making travel matter, TreadRight and TTC have released a new #MakeTravelMatter video highlighting the initiatives as well as organization and expert partners – such as TreadRight Ambassador Céline Cousteau and Steering Committee Chair Costas Christ – while underscoring the role each pillar plays in the organization’s mission.
Among the recent social responsibility initiatives introduced by TreadRight for the TTC family of brands is an e-documents program delivered in partnership with One Tree Planted, a leading not-for-profit focused on global reforestation. Through the program, for every TTC guest that opts to receive e-documents rather than printed materials, One Tree Planted will plant a tree in a destination of their choosing. To date, the initiative has seen One Tree Planted plant more than 20,000 trees on behalf of TTC and their guests.
