We know that a healthy environment makes for a better holiday, and that happy colleagues and prosperous local communities enhance the holiday experience. We also know that we have an impact on the environment and people, through our operations in our source markets and destinations.

Climate Change

Climate change is one of our biggest challenges as a sector. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, travel and tourism contributes around 5% of total global carbon emissions. Along with many other industries, the leisure travel sector is feeling the effects of climate change, and in the future we expect to see an increase in the intensity of tropical storms and rainfall, and more severe droughts.

Water

Tourism is known as a ‘thirsty industry’, due to the amount of water required for tourism activities such as golf courses, swimming pools and washing of linen. Water scarcity is likely to be an issue for our business in the medium to long-term, with pressure on water resources set to increase in some of our destinations.

Economic Impacts

However, our sector also has a significant positive impact on the people who live and work in our destinations. Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries, contributing around 11% to global GDP. It is particularly important for developing economies, and is a top five export in 80% of developing countries.

Our challenge is to maximise the positive impacts of our business on people in developing countries while minimising the negative environmental impacts of our flights and operations in our destinations.