Sustainable tourism at Thomson.co.uk

05.09.2006 A new Sustainable Tourism section will be launched today by Thomson, the UK’s leading travel company, on its website www.thomson.co.uk.

In response to customer desire for more information about eco factors of their holidays and travel plans Thomson has now provided a wealth of information about Thomson and Thomsonfly initiatives to support environments and communities. Thomson will also hold a live web chat to launch the website on Wednesday 6 September from 11:30 until 12:30 to give people the opportunity to ask their own questions.

Kimberley Kay, who manages corporate responsibility for Thomson, said, “People who are busy recycling during their day to day lives, saving energy and restricting their use of water and buying local organic produce to support local farmers are increasingly wanting their travel to be built on the same principles.”

“Thomson has established conservation projects and community initiatives, many of which have been underway for many years, however what we are now seeing is a desire from our customers to know more about these activities and to feel that their holiday is supporting the destination they are travelling to. By gathering this information together and putting it online people will now be able to find this information quickly and easily.”

The information on the Thomson website covers all aspects of sustainable tourism, including information about the environmental performance of aircraft and developments in this area, environmental monitoring of hotels, information about projects to support communities and the environment both in the many holiday destinations and in the UK, and what people can do themselves to ensure that they play their part in travelling responsibly. A short survey on the website will gauge how important environmental factors are to visitors to the site, providing Thomson with customer insight that can be used to design future holiday concepts. The website also provides links to affiliated organisations where people can find out more information and advice.

Thomson predicts that 50% of its bookings will be made online this year, so the internet is believed to be the best way to provide information to customers. In addition to this Thomson is also communicating messages to customers about sustainable tourism within its inflight magazine, a video on board the aircraft and through information provided to customers in destinations. The website can be viewed at www.thomson.co.uk/sustainabletourism.