Include messages on your website and in brochures about your focus on sustainability and the benefit it brings to the people and environment at destinations. Talk about your partnership with The Travel Foundation and let them know if you are raising funds for us to help keep holidays special for generations to come.
Most holidaymakers are conducive to being targeted for fundraising at the time of holiday purchase, and so this is the time to tell them again about the benefits of sustainable tourism. You could use our changing lives stories (available in our communications tool) that highlight individuals benefiting from our projects in destination – they really help bring sustainable tourism to life and simply explain what it’s all about.
Tourists are often unaware of the impacts they may cause while they are on holiday and so sending pre departure information to your clients can help them to understand the region they are going to visit and encourage them to behave in a more responsible way while they are away. The Travel Foundation has developed a range of insider guides which feature travel tips that can be sent to customers to help them make a difference when they travel.
If you sell currency, this is an ideal opportunity to give guidance on buying local souvenirs and putting money in to the local economy. Customers are also interested in receiving advice on haggling and bargaining. Again, such tips are included in our Insider Guide – make a difference when you travel.
For most customers, the flight is the least exciting part of their holiday, so you have a captive audience to get your green messages across. We’ve developed a series of Hatch Play & Puzzle booklets to help educate kids on green issues and what they can do, in a fun way! These would be great to send to clients for children to do in flight.
Customers really welcome localised information relevant to holiday destinations - where to go to experience the local heritage and culture and how to really enjoy the country they’ve come to visit. Check out our range of destination-specific insider guides or if you are feeling creative try writing your own. Consider featuring topics such as; dress codes, language tips, local food and drink to try, festivals and events, and information on locally produced goods to buy.
All of our Insider Guides can either be printed in black and white from the site, ordered from us as printed stock, or you could use the messaging contained within them to develop copy for your own brochures, website and intranet / staff communications.
Communications
Sustainable tourism is a positive message for travel, so do make the most of it in your internal and external communications.
Good communications can help engage and motivate staff, as well as build brand loyalty and add value to customer messaging.
Customer communication points...
Use the tabs on the right to discover communication opportunities at each point in the customer journey.
Staff...
As well as communicating with your customers it is important to increase staff awareness and understanding. Your employees are your greatest asset in promoting your focus on all things green. Make sure they understand what sustainable tourism is all about and what you’re doing as a company, so they can talk confidently to customers. Encourage them to be proactive with customers and use sustainability as a way to differentiate your business and offer greater value to clients.
If they need to brush up on the basics, get them to take our on-line quiz, www.maketravelgreener.com, which will give them a good level of knowledge in just 30 minutes! We also have a Managers Training Toolkit, which targets training at key areas of the business, to allow individuals to incorporate sustainability effectively within their role.
Media...
Get the media onside and use them to help reach your audiences. The trade press can help you raise your profile as a business which is committed to sustainability and the consumer media can help you reach new customers – work out a good angle and use them to get your brand free publicity.
As with all good communications, plan ahead and ensure you get consistent, regular messages out to ensure you are effective – and make sure you put a system in place to get ‘green’ feedback from customers, for example, by including appropriate questions in any customer satisfaction questionnaires.
Case Study: The Adventure Travel Company
One way that The Adventure Company engages its customers is by developing products that give their customers the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of projects they support. For instance, their ‘Hands on Adventures’ offer all the adventure and variety of their usual trips but also dedicates a few days to helping local communities or wildlife and environmental projects.