I RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
I RESPONSIBLE TOURISM IADVERTORIALMore climatefriendlyflyingwith “SustainableAviation Fuel ”James ThorntonCEO, Intrepid GroupUsing Sustainable Aviation Fuel - one way to mitigate carbon footprintThe term “SAF” (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) often cropsup in the climate debate. Many people think of the fuelsused in road transport, such as biodiesel, which is not afull substitute for diesel due to its chemical compositionand is only added in small proportions. SAF is different:it does not contain any substances that are not alsofound in conventional kerosene; it only lacks certaincomponents such as aromatic compounds. As a result,the maximum admixture rate is high, at 50%.Each process for the production ofSAF is subject to a comprehensiveapproval procedure, which ensuresthat no aviation risks arise from theuse of these fuels. Lufthansa hasbeen a pioneer in SAF testing for adecade.So far, SAF has mainly beenproduced from biomass. Oneobjection to the use of biofuelsis the competition with foodproduction, since fuels such asbiodiesel are mainly producedfrom crop plants (e.g. rapeseed).With alternative kerosene, theuse of such plants has beenavoided from the beginning. It ismanufactured using materials suchas waste grease from agriculturalproduction. This also applies to thekerosene purchased by LufthansaGroup. On a global scale, however,this is nowhere near enough tocover demand.Aside from fuels made frombiomass that does not competewith food production, SAF alsoincludes electricity-based fuels,which use electricity generatedfrom renewable resources to reenergiseatmospheric carbondioxide and convert it into fuel.However, these methods are alsostill under development.So far, industry-wide use isconstrained by availability, sinceonly a few refineries worldwideproduce SAF. An additionalobstacle is the price, whichis several times higher thanthat of conventional kerosene.Lufthansa offers passengers theoption of voluntarily offsettingcarbon emissions by purchasingSAF through the websitehttps://compensaid.comIntrepiddeclares climateemergencyIntrepid, a carbon-neutral adventure company, calls formore travel and tourism businesses to commit to climateaction.The world’s largest adventuretravel company, Intrepid, isdeclaring a climate emergency.By doing so, the company, whichoffers 2,700 trips to more than120 countries, acknowledges thescience stating we have one decadeto address the climate crisis.Intrepid is a founding member ofTourism Declares, an industrycollective of travel businesseswho are committed to take actionon climate change by rethinkingtheir businesses including carbonneutrality. Intrepid has been carbonneutral since 2010.“A healthy planet means ahealthy industry,” says JamesThornton, Intrepid Group CEO.“The devastating bushfires inAustralia and other climate relatedevents around the globe are astark reminder of the climateemergency."“We truly believe travel is a forcefor good – we hope that by usdeclaring a climate emergencymany more travel and tourismbusinesses will rally to the cause.We don’t have all the answers but itis the moment for us to accelerateour action on climate change.”Intrepid wants to become climatepositive in 2020 by offsetting morecarbon than it emits – even doubleoffsetting for polar expeditions –and by reducing emissions acrossits itineraries; it also sets a goalfor 100% renewable energy until203012 • ITB BERLIN NEWS • THURSDAY 26 TH MARCH 2020www.itb-berlin-news.com
I RESPONSIBLE TOURISM ITrip.com CEO takessustainability to heartJane Sun, CEO of Trip.com, says as more and more peoplesee the world, it's her company’s responsibility to ensurethat the business continues to have positive impact ontheir experience, to communities, and to the world.A long-standing advocate forpeople-to-people diplomacythrough travel, Sun says hercompany's mission from day onehas been make travel accessible,seamless and safe for as manypeople as possible.Speaking at the recent WorldEconomic Forum, Ms Sun said,"Travel has the unique abilityto bring people from differentcountries and backgroundstogether, to educate one another,breakdown barriers, and avoidmisunderstandings. We strive tomake this possible, pleasant andsafe, but at the same time, as moreand more people see the world, it'sour responsibility to ensure thatour business continues to havepositive impact on their experience,to communities, and to the world."Around a year ago, Trip.combecame a founding memberof the Travalyst initiative led bythe Duke of Sussex, and led 75%of its partners to adhere to its 4R(“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle andRegenerate”) initiative.Under Sun's leadership, in 2017,Trip.com Group also launched aGlobal SOS system, providing 24/7emergency response services tousers worldwide. Since the launch,the company has partneredwith local and internationalorganizations to expand coverage.Over the past year, Trip.comhas partnered with destinationsin Croatia, Italy, and Japan, amongothers, to increase consumerawareness of attractions “off-thebeatenpath”.As part of this process, Sun saysthe company has favoured mutuallybeneficial partnerships with localbusinesses, at once contributing tothe local economy while also givingits users access to well-establishedin-destination resourcesJane SunCEO, Trip.com at ITB China 2019B'n'Tree turnstravellers intoenvironmentalheroesB'n'Tree Reforesting the planet with BedAndTree solo manStarted by Chris Kaiser, a German who moved to a National Parkin South Thailand and felt deeply concerned by deforestationand the vanishing of animals, B'n'Tree has the goal of turningtravellers' bookings into a tree planting.The rate of global deforestation stillexceeds the reforestation rate by far, andevery day thousands of acres of animalhabitat are lost – and with it, unnoticed,quite regularly, plant and animal specieswe never had the chance to discover."In spite of all the damage being done,giving in to desperation would be theworst possible solution", says Kaiser."Despite having lost a great deal ofbiodiversity without us noticing, therestill is an astonishing myriad of flora andfauna left, which desperately needs ourhelp."B'n'Tree has been successful in attractinga number of important bookingplatforms to reverse to the associationa per-booking fee. These includebooking.com, Best Western, KonceptHotels, Urlaubsguru or the "I love Sushi"restaurant chain, among others.Travellers can thus simply log into theirfavourite booking engine through thebedandtree.com website. They are ableto take their first step by subscribing tothe organisation's newsletter - resultingin one tree being planted. Booking aswell as subscription to the newsletter onB'n'Tree are totally free of charge.Over 104,000 trees have already beenplanted in 12 countries turning eachtraveller into a true environmental herothrough his or her bookingITB BERLIN NEWS • THURSDAY 26 TH MARCH 2020 • 13
