Preferred Travel Group Signs Climate Action Declaration

Preferred Travel Group—parent company of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Beyond Green and Historic Hotels of America—announced that it has become a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism unites travel and tourism with a common set of pathways for climate action along with global commitments to the challenges facing businesses and destinations around the globe. Officially launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in November 2021, the declaration encourages the acceleration of climate action in tourism by securing commitments to reduce emissions in tourism by at least 50 percent over the next 10 years.

As a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, Preferred Travel Group commits to develop and deliver a climate action plan by September 2023. This plan will align with five pathways (Measure, Decarbonize, Regenerate, Collaborate and Finance) and include annual reporting, working in a spirit of collaboration, sharing good practices and solutions, and disseminating information.

“As a travel industry leader committed to addressing climate change, Preferred Travel Group believes in action and impact,” Nina Boys, vice president of sustainability for Preferred Travel Group, said in a statement. “Through collaborative partnerships and company-wide initiatives, we will accelerate our sustainability goals by establishing a corporate climate action plan by September 2023, guided by the five pathways of the Declaration.” Boys added “We are proud to join this inspiring network of global travel and tourism organizations to address climate change now to protect our planet for future generations.”

The declaration is hosted within the One Sustainable Tourism Program’s website whose overall objective is to enhance sustainable development impacts of the tourism sector by 2030.

As the declaration states: “A just transition to Net Zero before 2050 will only be possible if tourism’s recovery accelerates the adoption of sustainable consumption and production, and redefines our future success to consider not only economic value but rather the regeneration of ecosystems, biodiversity and communities.”

The need for a globally consistent approach for climate action in tourism has been made clear, notably through research into CO2 emissions carried out by UNWTO/ITF and released at the UNFCCC COP25 in December 2019. This research demonstrated that transport-related emissions from tourism were forecast to increase by 25 percent by 2030 from 2016 levels.