Supporting members with sustainability ‘top priority’, says Advantage chief

Chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership said helping members to achieve their sustainability targets is a “top priority” for the consortium.

Speaking at Advantage’s annual conference in Benidorm today (May 22), Julia Lo Bue-Said told delegates the company has formed a sustainability member steering group which will help agents with their ESG strategies by providing them with information and resources.

In addition, a group of employees in Advantage’s head office have been made sustainability ambassadors to help “keep the business focused [on its environmental efforts] and embed sustainability across the business,” said Lo Bue-Said.

She added: “Our members have been focused on rebuilding their business following the pandemic and now the next crisis faces our businesses – the impact of climate change.

“We know many of our members are at the start of their sustainability journey and are unsure of where to begin.

“We are committed to providing them with the tools to start taking their first steps now and we are confident that Advantage is in the best possible position to support our members in developing their own ESG frameworks.”

Lo Bue-Said went on to say that the staff in the consortium’s head office tasked with monitoring the consortium’s green practices will “hold us to account and ensure we continue to make strong progress in this important area”.

The motto ‘travel for good’ will be at the heart of Advantage’s future conferences, Lo Bue-Said told delegates, with the consortium pledging to work to ensure its annual event has a “positive impact on the people and places we visit”.

She also confirmed that through its partnership with Trees4Travel, Advantage is offsetting all emissions from this year’s conference, as well as delegates’ travel to Benidorm, and made a commitment going forward to offset all emissions for future Advantage business events.