Explora Journeys, the luxury lifestyle travel brand of the MSC Group, today announced a partnership with Travelife for Tour Operators, the internationally-leading training, management and certification programme for sustainability in tourism, the cruise line said in a statement.
Michael Ungerer, Chief Executive Officer, Explora Journeys said: “Working towards more sustainable travel experiences for our guests is an important part of our vision to become a truly defining and desired luxury lifestyle travel brand.”
“Our deep respect for the ocean is the principal component of our journey and out of a deep respect for local communities, our destination experiences are being designed to leave a positive impression and footprint.”
“We are committed in this regard to work towards building and maintaining a mutual understanding and firm commitment to sustainable tourism and so I am delighted, therefore, to partner with Travelife who can help us, our tour operators and travel advisor colleagues to achieve our ambition.” “
Explora Journeys` aim is to create a strong awareness among its partners for effective sustainability planning, maximising social and economic benefits for local communities where its ships will visit, enhancing cultural heritage and reducing environmental impact.
Naut Kusters, General Manager Travelife, added “Travelife’s sustainability management system naturally complements Explora Journeys’ commitment to create sustainable destination experiences. DMC’s, tour operators, travel advisors and ports are integral to support any sustainable implementation and they will be encouraged with education and incentives. We applaud Explora Journeys for its efforts to promote holistic sustainability.”
The partnership with Travelife allows all Explora Journeys’ tour operators and partner travel advisors with free access to the Travelife online platform to provide a range of benefits towards sustainable tourism. Additional face to face trainings are provided in European destinations in the frame of the EU supported SUSTOUR project.
These include a comprehensive learning platform with 16 on-demand sustainability modules including final exams and certification upon completion of each module; activity-specific excursion checklists that meet internationally recognised sustainability standards; practical reporting and action planning tools for the effective implementation of sustainability practices, plus best practice examples from the travel and tourism industry.
