Evaluating Thomas Cook's Strategy for Climate Change in Tourism

This essay examines the tourism industry's significant contribution to climate change, focusing on the initiatives taken by Thomas Cook Group to mitigate its environmental impact. It highlights Thomas Cook's efforts, such as achieving ISO 14001 certification for its airlines, partnering with the Sustainable Aviation Initiative, implementing onboard recycling programs, and launching the Water Footprint Project to reduce water wastage. The essay also emphasizes the importance of business actions within the tourism sector to reduce carbon footprints and promote sustainable practices, ultimately contributing to the reduction of toxic emissions and pollutants. The conclusion underscores that the initiatives taken by Thomas Cook can motivate other businesses to adopt sustainable engagements, addressing the critical need for environmental responsibility within the tourism industry. Desklib offers a variety of resources, including similar essays and study tools, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running Head: TRAVEL & TOURISM
The impact of Tourism industry on
Climate Change
Steps taken by Thomas Cook addressing the climate change

TRAVEL & TOURISM
Introduction
The tourism industry is considered as one of the major contributors of CO2 and other
toxic emissions in the environment, being responsible for climate changes. The Paper
appraises the actions taken by Thomas Cook addressing the climate change caused by the
tourism industry. The paper also highlights the importance of business actions in the industry
to reduce their contributions in the global climate change.
About Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook Group is one of the leading British International travel company which
owns a number of operatives in the industry and the company also owns airlines grounded in
Germany, U.K, Balearics, & Scandinavia. The company has more than 2,900 stores, 33,000
personnel, 97 aircraft and over 20 million yearly clienteles making it the third largest tour
operator in Europe and the United Kingdom.
The subject of climate change
Tourism is accountable for contributing 8 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas
secretions (Gabbatiss, 2018). The tourism industry is accountable for contributing a major
part of CO2 emissions, and the transportation segment which includes car, bus and rail
contributes the largest proportion of air pollution. Air travel is considered as one of the major
contributors to global warming; it is accountable for more than 40% of carbon emissions
(Lenzen, et.al., 2018).
Most of the businesses in the travel & tourism industry are taking initiatives to uphold
sustainable methods, and apart from this, they are taking steps to measure the carbon
footprints and taking actions to reduce the environmental impacts (Higham, et. al., 2016).
Actions that were taken by Thomas Cook Group to address the climate change
According to the report given by Thomas Cook (2019a), Thomas Cook Airlines come
to be the first airlines in the United Kingdom to accomplish the ISO 14001 certification; the
certification was the result of the efficient Environment Management System upheld in
Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook is allied with the Sustainable Aviation Initiative, through which
the company focuses to reduce the emissions and noise caused by airlines. The company took
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TRAVEL & TOURISM
initiatives for Onboard recycling, in which cabin crew will gather the waste and then it is sent
to recycling on landing (Thomas Cook, 2019a).
The company has come up with a project which could moderate the force that the
tourism industry is laying on limited water resources. The company has established a project
to reduce water wastage by monitoring water usage and wastage to drive endorsements. This
project is called Water Footprint Project (response & ability, 2019).
Apart from these steps, Thomas Cook Group is adopting sustainable methods in all of
their resources; such as the use of solar panels in offices and hotels. Encouraging customers
for the use of disposable items is also one of the esteemed actions Thomas Cook has adapted.
These are some of the imperative initiatives taken by Thomas Cook to reduce the
environmental impact caused to the environment; the businesses in the tourism sector are also
taking actions to reduce their contribution to the environmental pollution (Thomas Cook,
2019b).
Importance of business actions in the industry to reduce the impact of climate change
If every business in the industry part their role to monitor their contribution to the
climate change and take necessary steps to reduce their part, then the major contributions of
emissions of toxic gases and other pollutants could be moderated. This would reduce climate
change and other environmental impacts caused by the industry. Setting a benchmark to work
upon reducing the carbon footprint or any other environmental effect would be a good step to
make sure that the business is not gravely influencing the environment (Higham, et. al.,
2016).
Conclusion
The initiatives taken by Thomas Cook will reduce the carbon footprints and other
environmental impacts as well. The actions taken by the company will motivate and influence
other businesses in the organization to follow sustainable business engagements. Through this
paper, the fact has been comprehended that tourism industry is one of the major contributors
of air pollution in the world; therefore, businesses in this industry should take necessary
actions to address the climate change.
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References
Gabbatiss, J. (2018). Tourism is responsible for nearly one-tenth of the world’s carbon
emissions. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/tourism-
climate-change-carbon-emissions-global-warming-flying-cars-transport-
a8338946.html
Higham, J., Cohen, S. A., Cavaliere, C. T., Reis, A., & Finkler, W. (2016). Climate change,
tourist air travel and radical emissions reduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111,
336-347.
Lenzen, M., Sun, Y. Y., Faturay, F., Ting, Y. P., Geschke, A., & Malik, A. (2018). The
carbon footprint of global tourism. Nature Climate Change, 8(6), 522-528
response & ability. (2019). Water Management Manual. Retrieved from
https://www.responseandability.com/images/projekte/ThomasCook_Futouris_Water_
Management_Manual_Mai2015.pdf
Thomas Cook. (2019a). Looking after the environment. Retrieved from
https://www.thomascook.com/sustainable-tourism/looking-after-the-environment/
Thomas Cook. (2019b). Sustainable Tourism. Retrieved from
https://www.thomascook.com/sustainable-tourism/
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