As market leader in the Dutch travel industry, TUI Nederland feels jointly-responsible for the future of our holiday destinations. For that reason, TUI Nederland has a proactive strategy and policy on sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibility.
Sustainable strategy and sustainability reports
In November 2012 TUI Nederland launched its three year sustainable development strategy: Sustainable Tourism Plan 2012-2015. The strategy consists of the pillars Embedding, Destinations, Carbon, Customers and Colleagues and consists of seven main ambitions and 18 smaller ambitions.
TUI Nederland is part of the largest European travel organisation TUI Travel PLC. Extensive sustainability information on the policy, the strategy and the accomplished goals of mother company TUI Travel PLC and grandmother company TUI AG can be found in the most recent financial annual reports and sustainability reports.
In November, 2012 TUI Nederland published its 2012 Sustainable Tourism Annual Report, which is only available in Dutch. The English abstract is stated below. The reports of TUI Travel can be downloaded from www.tuitravelplc.com/investors-media/reports-results-presentations, www.tuitravel.com/sustainabledevelopment and www.tuitravelplc.com/sustainability/reporting; those of TUI AG from www.tui-group.com/en/sustainability. This information is available in English.
Abstract 2011 Sustainable Tourism Annual Report
This is the abstract for the 2012 Sustainable Tourism Annual Report for TUI Nederland Holding N.V., where the organisation reports data and targets in the area of sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibility relating to the financial year 2011/12, which runs from 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012.
TUI Travel PLC
TUI Travel PLC is one of the world’s leading leisure travel companies and plays an important role in the global tourism industry. The organisation acknowledges that the group can make an important contribution to the sustainable development of holiday destinations. The group’s sustainable development strategy is based on the key issues affecting the company.
In 2012 TUI Travel launched a new three year strategy ‘Sustainable Holidays Plan 2012-2014’. The strategy sets out four ambitious goals underpinned by twenty commitments in four strategic areas - taking care in destinations, reducing carbon emissions, and engaging our colleagues and customers in sustainability. The strategic priorities create the framework within which TUI Nederland creates its own sustainable tourism strategy. The TUI Nederland strategy consisted for financial year 2011/12 of the pillars: Sustainable tourism management, Buy green, Fly green, Sell green, Share green, Be green and Be good. This has now been changed to new pillars.
Sustainable tourism management
TUI Nederland mission statement is to be the frontrunner in sustainable tourism in the Dutch travel industry. In order to embed sustainable tourism the company has formulated a strategy, a policy and targets, which are run by the Sustainable Tourism department, the Sustainable Tourism Team, several (project) teams and champions. Annually TUI Nederland evaluates the sustainable tourism performance and communicates the results to employees and other stakeholders.
Main developments:
- TUI Nederland developed a new three year sustainability strategy Sustainable Tourism Plan 2012-2015 which is aligned with the TUI Travel Sustainable Holidays Plan 2012-2014. The Plan is launched together with this sustainability report.
- TUI ranked 47th place in the Transparency benchmark 2012 of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The benchmark ranks the top 500 largest Dutch companies on transparency in relation to corporate social responsibility.
- TUI Nederland was nominated for the Award Sustainable Architecture 2012 and won the TUI Travel Green Ideas Factory award for the idea of creating a Fly Green programme, which is a central location to store, filter, evaluate and implement sustainability ideas for the airlines.
Buy green
TUI Nederland aims at improving the holiday product for holidaymakers and focuses on the sustainability performances of its main suppliers, namely accommodation providers, local agents, tour providers and airlines. Therefore the company integrates sustainability in the procurement processes and procedures.
Main developments:
- The number of certified accommodations decreased by 0.2 percent to 424 accommodations in comparison to 2011. The decrease is due to a new Travelife protocol, which states that every hotel should have a subscription. Not all awarded accommodations joined the system.
- The number of sustainable and environmentally friendly excursions offered to customers has increased by 55.9 percent. Almost every long haul roundtrip has such an excursion included.
- Almost 92,000 guests stayed in 2012 in a certified accommodation; this is an increase of 8.6 to 8.7 percent compared to 2011.
- TUI Nederland organised together with blueContec and Travelife three sustainable business conferences for all accommodations in Aruba, Bonaire en Curacao to promote Travelife.
- TUI Nederland was the first major travel company in The Netherlands to develop a Fair Trade Tourism holiday package. All accommodations and activities during this holiday are Fair Trade Tourism certified by Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa. This means fair wages and good working conditions for owners and employees.
Fly green
The airline ArkeFly undertakes all kinds of measures in the area of fleet renewal, weight reductions and adjustments in flight procedures to reduce fuel consumption and thereby to reduce costs and their environmental impact. The airline also takes several other measures in the area of sustainable development.
Main developments:
- Average CO2 emissions per kilometre per passenger has reduced by 9.2 percent since 2008.
- TUI Nederland started a three year partnership with Platform Sustainable Aviation to facilitate the research for the development of sustainable biofuel.
- A central system is created to collect and investigate new sustainability ideas for the airline. In 2012 this system saved 443.000 kg fuel and 1.395 tonnes of CO2.
- Disposable containers are introduced on board instead of the reusable dishware. Research shows this is more environmentally friendly than rotable equipment.
Sell green
TUI Nederland informs holidaymakers of responsible holiday choices and responsible behaviour at the destination throughout the holiday process, from holiday orientation to the return back home.
Main developments:
- All bookable websites have sustainable tourism under the heading ‘Responsible Travel’. In 2012 the website Sunplugged was launched with sustainability information.
- The majority of the travel vouchers are digital. The digital travel documentation contains sustainable tourism tips and was created together with NGO partners..
- The sustainable development policy for the retail has been renewed for the shops of Arke and Holland International Reisbureau, and extended to the new retail chain Holland International Reisbureau at Home.
- The travel agency group set itself the goal to achieve a minimum of three Green Palms (‘sufficient sustainable business’) according to an internally developed scoring system. In 2012 45 percent of the shops obtained this minimum level.
Share green
TUI Nederland works together with various national and international organisations in the area of corporate social responsibility and sustainable tourism.
Main developments:
- The four-year cooperation with the child focused organisations Plan Netherlands and ECPAT for the vocational training for Brazilian girls is well on track. More than hundred hotels and tourism organizations signed the Child Protection Code, seventeen hotel associations signed a public statement, more than 250 hotel employees and more than three hundred government officials were trained, 110 students were trained as youth mobilizers, 150 youngsters followed successfully vocational training and eight of them obtained a job.
- Within the framework of the tourism programme, IDH organised a Travelife training for incoming agents in Tanzania en Thailand.
- In 2012 almost € 81.000 was donated to charities. Projects which received support are for example youngsters in Brazil, stray animals in Curacao, elephants in Thailand and TUI Care Foundation.
Be green
TUI Nederland strives to set the good example with the head offices and retail shops. The company’s internal environmental policy focuses on the themes of procurement, energy, water, waste, paper, mobility and construction.
Main developments:
- The carbon footprint of TUI Nederland is 7.115 tonnes of CO2. This is a decrease of 18.0 percent compared to 2011. The largest CO2 emissions are accounted for by business travel and commuting and the paper production of brochures, price booklets, magazines and the personnel magazine.
- In August 2011 TUI Nederland moved to a new office in Enschede. In 2012 the property received the BREEAM Excellent certificate, which makes it one of the most sustainable office buildings in the Netherlands.
Be good
TUI Nederland wants to be the 'employer of choice' in the Netherlands. The company is involved with employees and society and strives for a respectful, safe, healthy and stimulating working environment for the employees.
Main developments:
- The share of women within TUI Nederland is approximately seventy percent; ten percent lower than the national travel industry average. The number of women in (senior) management positions has increased by 7.5 percent in two years time.
- Employees have the possibility to join corporate fitness and obtain a discount in recognised fitness centres throughout the country.
- TUI Nederland received the title ‘Most attractive Dutch employer’ together with KLM and Schiphol. This is based on a research conducted by recruitment agency Randstad under 12,000 Dutch people.
- TUI Nederland was part of the innovative contest #Whatyoudontseeinthebrochure. Around a hundred students of three schools had to develop a sustainable trip and promote it via social media.
