easyJet holidays has become the latest addition and first major UK tour operator to sign up to The Future of Tourism Coalition which has a global mission to place destinations at the centre of recovery strategies. 

 

The holiday operator recently became the first major UK tour operator to offset the carbon emissions from its package holidays – comprising the fuel used for flights and in-destination transfers, as well as the energy used from hotel stays. easyJet holidays does this without any cost being passed on to its customers.

 

Signing up to The Future of Tourism Coalition builds on this commitment, and aligning to the coalition’s 13 Guiding Principles which focus on the wellbeing of destinations and communities is the latest step in easyJet holidays’ sustainability journey, with more to be revealed soon on its strategy, long-term commitments and actions. 

 

Garry Wilson, CEO at easyJet holidays, commented: “It’s with great pride that we have signed up to The Future of Tourism Coalition. As a young business we set out to put sustainability at the heart of what we do and, given the challenging circumstances the whole industry has faced over the last year and a half or so, we think it’s even more important that we all do everything we can to support a positive future for tourism and the places we love and need to look after. We’re really looking forward to getting involved and playing our part in working together to build an even stronger and more sustainable industry.” 

 

Jeremy Sampson, CEO, The Travel Foundation and one of the six founding organisations of The Future of Tourism Coalition added: ”As easyJet holidays continues its sustainability journey, it can take on a significant global leadership role, reimagining tourism and optimising its benefits for holiday destinations. By adopting the Coalition’s principles, easyJet holidays is showing its intent, and will be a valuable member of a 600-strong community of organisations across the world that share this collective vision.”

 

The Guiding Principles, as set out below, provide a clear moral and business imperative for building a healthier tourism industry while protecting the places and people on which it depends: 

• See the whole picture
• Use sustainability standards
• Collaborate in destination management
• Choose quality over quantity
• Demand fair income distribution
• Reduce tourism’s burden
• Redefine economic success
• Mitigate climate impacts
• Close the loop on resources
• Contain tourism’s land use
• Diversify source markets
• Protect sense of place
• Operate business responsibly

The foundation of these principles was built on a firm belief that taking a holistic approach toresponsible and sustainable tourism is the only way to secure the future the Coalition stands for. The path to change is a journey and lasting solutions take time. The Coalition will support theindustry by providing the tools, guidance and collaboration to ensure a stronger path forward and encourage a diverse and inclusive set of signatories to sign on and share their perspectivesand experiences to collectively work toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

For more information, interview requests or imagery, please contact the team on holidays.pressoffice@easyjet.com / 01582 280508

About easyJet holidays:

easyJet holidays offers great-value beach, city and lakes holidays to more than 100 destinations across Europe, directly through its website and through over 3000 travel agent partners. The ATOL-protected holidays company combines easyJet’s flexible flight programme, with handpicked hotels and best-in-class technology to provide hassle-free personalised holiday experiences which can be secured with a deposit of just £60 per person. The holidays operator is an ABTA member too, providing additional reassurance to customers under the UK’s most trusted travel scheme. With a range of holiday types, from adult and family to luxury and undiscovered, transfers included on beach holidays, 23kg hold luggage included on all bookings, and over 5,000 hotels, across over 500 resorts, customers can holiday the way they want.

Customers booking through trade partners can enjoy flexible booking options, such as the freedom to change their holiday up to 28 days before departure. The holiday firm has also further enhanced its Covid commitments for travel this summer to offer extra flexibility and allow fee free changes to be made to holidays where the destination is on the ‘amber’ list up to 24 hours before travel.

In 2021 easyJet holidays became the first major UK tour operator to offset the carbon emissions from its package holidays, comprising the fuel used for flights and in-destination transfers, as well as the energy used from hotel stays without any cost being passed to customers.

About the Future of Tourism Coalition

The Future of Tourism Coalition is a collaborative effort to chart a new, more sustainable direction for tourism and shift the status quo. The Coalition is comprised of six non-governmental organisations:

• the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST),
• Destination Stewardship Center,
• Green Destinations,
• Sustainable Travel International,
• Tourism Cares, and
• the Travel Foundation,

with the guidance of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The Coalition is pursuing a shared global mission: to place destination needs at the centre of tourism’s new future. Through commitment to their 13 Guiding Principles, the greater travel industry and destination agencies can align around a path forward for a more sustainable future for tourism. Since June 2020, around 600 organisations from around the world have joined.