Achieving a more sustainable travel industry is going to be a truly collaborative effort.
Recently we spoke to Ernesto Sánchez Beaumont, Managing Director, Amadeus Gulf, and Lucas Bobes, Group Environmental Officer and Head of ESG Reporting at Amadeus, the global travel technology company, about the importance of sustainability to the company and its many stakeholders.
Ernesto Sánchez Beaumont said: “We are committed to promoting sustainable travel in the Gulf region. We work with our partners to promote eco-friendly travel options and provide information to travellers about sustainable tourism practices.
“Recently we have partnered with Goumbook – a UAE based social enterprise promoting sustainable living and green practices in the UAE since 2009 and a member of the UN Global Compact to create a Mangrove Pledge initiative.
“Amadeus Mangrove Pledge represents our local commitment to focus on sustainability as it will create a more sustainable world.”
At the Arabian Travel Market earlier this year, visitors were able to write their pledges on the leaves of a model mangrove tree. By making a pledge they were entitled to be part of mangrove plantation activity that will involve the planting of 200 mangroves in Abu Dhabi on their behalf. Participants will be kept informed about the plantation activity and will have access to their plant’s details. This initiative is in line with the UAE government’s strategy to plant 100 million mangrove trees by 2030 as announced at COP26.
Lucas Bobes said, “Four years ago in 2019, our biggest data centre, located in Europe, that accounts for 50 per cent of the Amadeus energy consumption worldwide, became carbon neutral. Our short-term goal is to become carbon neutral as a company by 2025. We plan to achieve this through a combination of energy efficiency measures and by offsetting the emissions we cannot avoid.
“Our strategy has three pillars: to continuously improve the environmental performance of our operations; to help our customers improve their performance too through our IT solutions; and to work with industry peers in joint sustainability projects to, for example, create sustainability standards and facilitate environmental action at industry level.
“Taking sustainability seriously implies that we need to work together with industry peers. Sustainability is by definition a global challenge and therefore we need to address it globally and work in cooperation.”
“Ultimately, we see Amadeus has a role to play and a responsibility in making the industry more sustainable. Our technology can help accelerate action to mitigate climate change and our strategy is based on making this happen”, added Lucas Bobes.