Trip.biz – Sustainable Hotel News

WORLDWIDE: Trip.com Group has officially joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s (GSTC) global network as a member.

The global travel service provider which includes Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar said its mission is to ‘pursue the perfect trip for a better world’.

To fulfil this Trip.com Group announced its green tourism goals, in summer this year, covering three key areas: to launch over 10,000 low-carbon travel products; to promote sustainable travel and engage 100 million travellers in low-carbon practices; and aim to further reduce carbon emissions across its own operations.

Trip.com Group also surveyed more than 7,700 travellers from 11 markets to produce its Sustainable Travel Consumer Report 2022. The report revealed 78.7 per cent of travellers recognise the importance of sustainable travel. The responses also showed 67.7 per cent of travellers are now open to paying more for sustainable options and that travellers were more aware of their impact on the planet since the COVID-19 pandemic. It also inspired Trip.com to launch the CHOOSE carbon offsetting option for travellers to offset their flights’ Co2 emissions.

As a member of the GSTC, Trip.com Group will support the GSTC mission to promote sustainable tourism standards in the travel and tourism sector.

Jane Sun, chief executive officer of Trip.com Group said: “At Trip.com Group, we believe we can only solve big issues by working with our peers from across the industry. This is why we are very excited to become a member of the GSTC, joining their global community to collaborate on sustainable travel initiatives that contribute towards a more sustainable future.”

Randy Durband, chief executive officer of GSTC said: “We at GSTC are delighted to welcome Trip.com Group and all its powerful brands as a member of our growing community of members. Their power in the marketplace can deliver much in the way of more sustainable forms of tourism being made available to more travellers throughout the world, and we look forward to partnering in those efforts”.

WORLDWIDE: Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, has announced its long-term goal to build green tourism.

The company is working with travel partners to cover key areas across 10,000 products in the travel sector.

This includes offsetting flights, zero waste camping, eco hiking and green hotels.

As part of the push for sustainable accommodation and travel, the corporate travel brand of the group, Trip.Biz, recently campaigned for “Green Hotels” and “Green Flights” in mainland China.

Trip.Biz was awarded a Silver rating by EcoVadis, an internationally recognised corporate social responsibility (CSR) rating platform in 2022.

Jane Sun, Trip.com Group CEO said: “We have always adhered to the vision of ‘pursuing the perfect trip for a better world’ and will work with our users and partners to further reduce carbon emissions in a more holistic and systematic manner. We still have a long way to go and much more to do.”

As part of the Group’s long-term commitment to improving sustainability awareness, Trip.com sent out a survey to its customers and asked them their thoughts on sustainable travel.

The 2022 Sustainable Travel Survey revealed that travelling sustainably is essential to most respondents. Barriers to sustainable travel were discussed, with respondents highlighting that the accessibility of sustainable travel products appears to be the biggest issue. Most respondents said that sustainable travel options aren’t clearly labelled, so they aren’t easily able to locate these options when choosing a travel product; and that sustainable travel options are lacking in general.

To keep up with its sustainability goals the Trip.com Group has adopted environmental initiatives, including building intelligent energy management systems, solar hot water systems, and renewable heating systems to reduce energy consumption.

Its headquarters in Shanghai has been awarded LEED Gold certification.

In 2021, Trip.com Group announced its ESG Committee and joined the UN Global Compact, committing to create a more sustainable future for tourism and society.

Booking.com also recently released findings from its Sustainability Report, which indicated the importance of staying sustainably for UK travellers.