By Bruce Piper
A picture paints a thousand words, so it is said, and that’s definitely been the case for iconic publication National Geographic.
The magazine earlier this year produced an amazing cover image of an iceberg morphing into a plastic bag (pictured), which is reflective of recent moves galvanising the travel industry into even more action against plastic.
While many tourism and travel businesses have had longstanding policies to reduce their consumption, it has been remarkable — and heartening — to see wider adoption of measures such as elimination of “first use” plastics amid rising awareness of the impact that bottles, straws and other packaging are having on the environment.
Leaders in this movement include The Travel Corporation, Marriott International, G Adventures, Intrepid, LUX* Hotels, Qantas and many more, demonstrating in the tourism sector just what can be done when a thoughtful approach is applied to our impact on the waste cycle.
Mainstream consumer brands are now joining the action, with fast food giant McDonald’s phasing out plastic straws and supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths becoming single-use plastic bag free.
travelBulletin’s parent company The Business Publishing Group is also doing its bit, having created some convenient reusable shopping bags for the industry that we will be giving at this month’s at the Travel Industry Exhibition.
Come and say hello on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 August at Sydney’s Dockside venue, with this year’s show focussing on the mobile agent, luxury and MICE segments.
MEANWHILE congratulations must go to the nominees, finalists and winners of Australia’s National Travel Industry Awards, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last month with another glittering success.
The rigorous judging procedures of the not-for-profit awards once again saw excellence highlighted, and we are proud of our longstanding exclusive association with the NTIAs.
