Austria
TUI joined the 20th European Tourism Forum meeting this week, a prestigious annual event organized by the European Commission together with the country holding the EU Presidency, currently Slovenia.
As a recognized leader in sustainable tourism, TUI was asked to present at the meeting to share achievements as well as plans for the future. Charlotte Wwiebe, Group Sustainability Director, represented TUI at the meeting and took the delegates through the progress TUI has made, such as reduction in carbon emissions, removal of millions of single use plastic items and driving uptake of sustainability certification schemes for hotels (see slide below). She also talked about how TUI is entering a decade of sustainable transformation to actively shape a more sustainable future for tourism. TUI’s approach continues to be holistic covering all three areas of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. Reducing emissions is of course still a major focus, as is working closely with partners and destinations to drive the transformation.
The event was attended by a high level of representatives, including European Commissioner Thierry Breton and the UN WTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. The event followed on an informal meeting of EU Tourism Ministers where the EU's strategy to make tourism more sustainable, digital and resilient were discussed. This strategy is currently being co-created together with the industry and TUI is involved.
Through the TUI Group Corporate Office EU in Brussels, TUI keeps close ties with EU policymakers to help build a more sustainable future for tourism and highlight some of our important initiatives, such as a lighthouse project to shape the sustainable holiday destination of the future and an inclusive approach on sharing knowledge on sustainable tourism.
