Sustainability requires the travel industry to join forces

The United Nations has outlined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for member states and businesses to strive towards by 2030. Climate change and preserving the environment are keys aspects of the SDGs.

Amadeus is fully committed to supporting the UN's vision of sustainability. We have embraced sustainability as an important part of who we are, not only because it makes business sense, but also because it's the right thing to do.

I was delighted to be invited by our tour operator partner, Joker, to talk about the potential of tourism to contribute to the SDGs. The event, held in Brussels, connected the present and the future of tourism as well as academics and business professionals to talk about all things sustainability in travel. One underlying message was clear: transformation is needed in travel and tourism so we can all contribute as much as possible to the SDGs by 2030.

To do this, we need to join forces across the travel industry and share different perspectives.The travel industry is growing, so it only makes sense to address this growth by finding ways to travel more sustainably. Technological innovation can play a tremendous part in helping us do this. At Amadeus, we are pushing this innovation forward with R&D investments of about 16€ for every 100€ that we earn as revenue. And over the last 10 years, Amadeus has invested more than 5.4€ billion in R&D. This investment is helping us develop IT solutions that contribute to make the industry more sustainable over the long run. For example, our tech is improving the operational and environmental efficiency of airports and airlines.
Looking towards the future, we need to continue to foster technology that contributes to the sustainability of the travel industry. We also need to work together with other industry stakeholders on sustainability projects.

This event was a great example of the industry joining forces to come up with concrete ways to address sustainability. I'd like to congratulate the organizers of this meeting for bringing together members of academic institutions and the corporate world in the travel industry to collaborate towards the UN's SDGs.

Source: Amadeus blog

Author: Lucas Bobes