Global guided vacation company, Trafalgar, which is part of The Travel Corporation (TTC), has released its 2024 Impact Report as a culmination of its efforts against its a five-year sustainability strategy for addressing overtourism and reaching net zero, responsible consumption and production, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The report stated that the company has achieved seven of its sustainability goals.
Key findings include having 85 per cent of itineraries featuring at least one local dining experience. By prioritising local and organic dining experiences, Trafalgar supports sustainable agriculture, preserves local food systems, and promotes local businesses. On many of Trafalgar’s itineraries, travellers will participate in a Be My Guest Experience and meet with locals to break bread while learning about traditional cuisine and gaining new perspectives. On the Classic Japan tour, for example, guests have lunch with a local farmer and their family on a traditional tea plantation in the Nara area, to gain insights into their way of life.
The company has also achieved emissions reductions while actively engaging the tourism supply chain, moving closer to its net zero GHG emissions target by 2050 from a 2019 baseline year. As TTC’s largest brand, Trafalgar has led the way in the group’s efforts to curb carbon emissions. Specifically, TTC has reduced Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 23 per cent and Scope 3 emissions by 20 per cent from a 2019 baseline year.
Through its net zero roadmap, the business is prioritising biofuels and actively engaging its supply chain to enable the sector to tackle tourism emissions through collaboration. Trafalgar and sister brands in 2024 launched the Partner Sustainability Hub, showcasing guidance and tools designed to enable a more sustainable supply chain. Further proof of the group’s commitment is its investment of US$353,307 in decarbonisation projects across its business via the industry-first Carbon Fund in 2024, for a total of US$2.23 million invested since the Carbon Fund began implementation in 2023.
The report also highlighted that 98 per cent of Trafalgar itineraries include at least one Make Travel Matter experience. These immersive and impactful experiences are selected for the positive social or environmental benefits they have for the people and places that Trafalgar takes its guests. They are identified for how they actively advance at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Examples of these experiences include visiting the award-winning organic vineyard Vale da Capucha and sampling its organic and biodynamic wines, which support the UNSDG of Responsible Consumption and Production.
Shannon Guihan, chief sustainability officer of TTC and head of its TreadRight Foundation, said: “As travellers return in greater numbers, the conversation must shift from growth to balance, a change we have been advocating for at TTC. That is why, across our brands, we are taking meaningful steps to reduce pressure on overcrowded destinations and to ensure our trips bring benefit, not burden.”
Guihan also emphasised the importance of destination-led approaches. “We believe that thoughtful, community-informed policies are essential to preserving the very qualities that draw travellers in the first place,” he said.
“I understand the value that tourism can bring to communities when managed in partnership with key stakeholders. Ultimately, tourism shouldn’t happen to a community; it should happen with them. And so, we not only welcome collaboration with governments, destination management organisations, and local leaders to build smart frameworks that ensure tourism delivers real value, limits harm and supports communities, we are seeking it out. If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that tourism must evolve proactively, transparently, and together.”
