At Expedia Group, we consider journey is a drive for good. On the similar time, we additionally acknowledge the environmental toll that right this moment’s journey trade typically has on the planet. Local weather motion is important to preserving the numerous locations our vacationers need to expertise. Sustainability is greater than an accelerating pattern for journey — it’s elementary for the way forward for our trade.
Accountable journey is a key enterprise crucial for Expedia Group. Amongst different motivations, our vacationers are clearly demanding extra sustainable choices. In truth, phrases associated to sustainability and eco-friendliness had been talked about in traveler suggestions twice as typically final yr as in earlier years 1.
To fulfill our vacationers’ demand and as a part of our long-term sustainability efforts, final April, Expedia Group signed the Glasgow Declaration on Local weather Motion in Journey and Tourism as one sign of our dedication. And in September, we launched our Open World™ social affect and sustainability technique with the precise mission of advancing a journey ecosystem that’s open, accessible, and liable for all.
We’re excited to share an replace on our progress during the last yr and description our imaginative and prescient for what’s forward.
BUILDING A PROSPEROUS PLANET
Our Open World framework locations environmental sustainability alongside two different pillars of social affect — inclusive entry and financial mobility — with all three driving towards a accountable future for tourism and for the individuals, locations, and communities that make up world journey.
The Affluent Planet pillar of our technique is grounded in two commitments:
- Aligning with a Web Zero Future – We’ll decarbonize our operations and take motion to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of local weather change on our enterprise.
- Powering Sustainable Journeys – We’ll innovate sustainable options for the way forward for journey, empowering vacationers to behave extra sustainably and supporting companions in providing extra sustainable journey choices.
Expedia Group is dedicated to mobilizing its huge community of vacationers, companions, and friends to empower extra accountable decisions.
SETTING A VISION
Over the previous yr, we’ve collected information and had crucial conversations with many stakeholders as we create our first Local weather Motion Plan, set to be launched later this yr. Outlining our general local weather imaginative and prescient and technique, the Local weather Motion Plan articulates six core components that can information our motion over the approaching years:
- Cut back: Set and ship science-aligned targets and decarbonization methods for our operations.
- Put together: Consider and combine local weather danger and alternative to our enterprise, together with the outcomes of a situation evaluation, which describes how the bodily and transition dangers of local weather change would possibly affect our enterprise.
- Adapt: Assist neighborhood catastrophe response and local weather adaptation to construct resilience within the locations the place we work, and the locations the place we journey.
- Align: Advance trade requirements to help clear, genuine, and constant info on the sustainability of journey merchandise.
- Acknowledge: Promote extra sustainable journey choices throughout our platforms and incentivize vacationers to decide on them.
- Speed up: Assist suppliers in offering extra sustainable choices, with a concentrate on the intersection of local weather and fairness.
GREENER OPTIONS FOR A GREENER TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Collaboration is crucial to our progress as an trade, and we should work collectively to innovate and speed up significant change. Expedia Group is dedicated to empowering each vacationers and companions to make extra accountable and sustainable journey decisions by offering wanted insights, instruments, and assets.
DESTINATION COMMUNITIES
Journey is inherently place-based. That’s why our Open World technique places vacation spot communities alongside vacationers at its heart – excellent journey experiences require vibrant and resilient locations. We’re subsequently proud to be partnering with the Journey Basis to launch a first-of-its-kind capacity-building program for vacation spot advertising and marketing and administration organizations (DMOs), enabling them to prepared the ground on local weather motion in tourism and catalyze significant change at an area degree. DMOs bridge the hole between the worldwide and the native throughout the journey trade, and Expedia Group sees them as a key node for accelerating sustainable journey.
This system will provide sensible coaching to DMO employees, creating “local weather champions” that may apply a sustainability lens to strategic planning and decision-making. It should additionally help DMOs in creating their very own local weather motion plans and provide peer-to-peer studying alternatives for locations to share information and insights with each other.
This system’s pilot cohort will launch over the summer season. We’re excited to call Vacation spot Vancouver as the primary DMO to signal on as a participant and look ahead to scaling this work within the years to return.
TRAVELERS
With operations in 70+ international locations and throughout 200+ journey websites, we work together with hundreds of thousands of vacationers. We wish to present credible and clear info, together with on sustainability, whether or not they be carbon estimates or indications of different eco-friendly attributes and practices of journey suppliers.
Tendencies in journey evolve, and we all know that vacationers are looking for experiences which might be extra than simply about rest or exploration. We more and more hear that vacationers count on choices according to their values, with extra details about the environmental and neighborhood impacts of their decisions.
A report by our Expedia Group Media Options staff highlighted that 90% of customers search for sustainable choices when touring, although 70% really feel overwhelmed navigating out there choices and on beginning the method of changing into a extra sustainable traveler 2.
Expedia Group is working to construct trusted sustainability info for vacationers into our merchandise that align with trade finest practices, together with methodologies developed collaboratively between our friends throughout the Travalyst Coalition.
Product options being examined embody displaying estimates of flight emissions, the sustainability practices of accommodations, and electrical and hybrid automobile filters for automotive leases. A few of these options have by no means earlier than been out there on our websites, and we’re excited to proceed innovating, evolving, and enhancing the sustainability info we offer to vacationers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Expedia Group is charting a course for a extra sustainable journey trade. Our Open World social affect and sustainability technique outlines our dedication, and our forthcoming Local weather Motion Plan will deepen our imaginative and prescient and roadmap for achievement. We’ll proceed to collaborate with our friends, companions, vacationers, and locations throughout the trade to make sure accountable journey on a very affluent planet for generations to return.
Discover extra particulars on our plans and progress right here.
Information Sources
1 Expedia Group, traveler opinions information, January 2021-January 2022
2 Expedia Group Media Options, Sustainable Journey Research, 2022
