Preferred Travel Group unveils vision for climate action plan

Preferred Travel Group, parent company of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Beyond Green, Historic Hotels of America, Historic Hotels Worldwide, PTG Consulting, and Beyond Green Travel, is reaffirming its commitment to sustainable tourism and climate action with the development of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CAP). Created in partnership with the Travel Foundation, a prominent international sustainable tourism organisation, this initiative builds on the organization’s signing of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. It underscores Preferred Travel Group’s proactive role in leading by example to drive necessary change within the travel industry.

Acknowledging the urgent need for climate leadership, scalable solutions, and collaborative efforts in the tourism sector, Preferred Travel Group is dedicated to taking real action by integrating climate action into its core priorities, supported by widespread employee engagement. By developing a corporate Climate Action Plan, the organisation also aims to integrate climate action into its broader metrics for measuring business success. Partnering with the Travel Foundation ensures that Preferred Travel Group’s climate action journey aligns with industry best practices and helps scale positive impact by empowering stakeholders to also join this journey.

“At Preferred Travel Group, we are resolute in our dedication to harnessing the power of travel as a force for positive change,” said Lindsey Ueberroth, CEO of Preferred Travel Group. “Building upon our core ‘Believe in Travel’ ideology, we are stepping up our commitment by actively investing in climate action leadership. By prioritising climate action, Preferred Travel Group is supporting efforts to build a more sustainable and resilient industry. Our commitment contributes to protecting our planet’s natural and cultural heritage for future generations, and empowering local communities to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.”

“We’ve seen very few organisations across all of travel and tourism make such an extensive and integrated commitment to climate action as Preferred Travel Group and want to shine a light on the example they are setting,” said Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation. “We’re proud to be their partner in this effort and are so pleased to see the way climate action is being meaningfully resourced, as well as the way strategic discussions on climate are engaging all employees across the organisation, no matter which team or level of leadership they serve on. We are excited to continue collaborating as PTG prioritises meaningful actions and expands its sphere of influence to generate changes on the ground, in destinations and through its growing network of high-quality boutique hotels.”

The development process for the organisation’s CAP is structured around the creation of a public-facing document that will define the company’s objectives and key actions to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero as soon as possible before 2050, bolstered by an internal cross-departmental implementation strategy with slated activities for 2025 and beyond. Aligned with the five pathways of the Glasgow Declaration, the CAP will integrate associate engagement and input from across the organisation to ensure seamless integration and support throughout every department.

To kickstart this initiative, Preferred Travel Group worked with ecollective, a carbon consultancy based in the United Kingdom, to establish a baseline for its carbon emissions through a companywide measurement process. This baseline is guiding the development of the CAP, which will ultimately outline specific strategies to reduce emissions, reach ambitious targets, and enhance accountability and transparency within the organisation. Following a detailed analysis of ecollective’s findings, Preferred Travel Group’s policies, practices, philanthropic efforts, and input from associates, the organization is working to identify opportunities to integrate climate action throughout its operations. An executive Climate Steering Committee and a Climate Action Task Force of associate volunteers have been established to prioritize actions for the plan. In addition, all-associate climate action training sessions will launch soon to build climate literacy, share best practices, and drive collective, meaningful change.

This process is expected to culminate in a condensed public-facing CAP document to be released in December 2024, outlining PTG’s climate action priorities in the coming years.