"Corporate Pledge Programme"

The private sector, more specifically the online travel sector, play a pivotal role when it comes to ensuring the adoption and application of some of the key principles of the tourism transition pathway. At the same time, the online travel industry can often be seen as hard to reach, engage or coordinate with.

The fact is, the online travel sector, such as online travel agents (OTAs) and meta-search platforms, dominate direct-to-consumer distribution whilst shaping and influencing consumer choice, driven by market demand and commercial objectives.

Ensuring their voice at the table is not only important but necessary in achieving dialogue with the public and private sectors as well as the online travel industry. 

Prerequisites

Engagement from the online travel industry is hard to gauge at present. However, it is also not immediately apparent if involvement and dialogue are widespread, representative or what might be defined as ‘actively engaged’.

It is hoped that through the DTTT’s Corporate Membership, we can create a channel for active dialogue between the online travel sector and European tourism policy, more specifically the priorities set out in the transition pathway.

Achieving this requires:
1. Establishing buy-in to the twin transition amongst corporate online partners in the form of alignment and recognition of sustainability standards.
2. Providing a conduit to the online travel sector to further the aims of the transition pathway alongside optional adoption and integration of coherent standards and principles.
3. Interest from corporate partners to actively engage in European tourism policy is key.
4. Incorporating policy dialogue and the representation of views as part of Corporate Membership.

Available through Corporate Membership offering both alignment on EU policy as well as the opportunity to shape and offer input.

Measuring Success

1. June 2023 - Draft and share a paper for corporate partners on the importance and opportunity of engagement on the transition pathway.
2. September 2023 - Successful canvassing of interest amongst existing corporate partners and potential future partners.
3. November 2023 - Initiate representation activities to convey interests in the online travel sector and communicate progress and opportunities related to the transition pathway.
4. January 2024 - Demonstrate positive demand generation through corporate membership growth and active engagement.
5. March 2024 - Seek buy-in to a set of principles, values or actions in the form of a corporate pledge connected with the transition pathway.