Hall of Fame Series: Sustainable Award Winner: Travel Matters
The Sustainable Business award, sponsored by Zeero by Trees4Travel was won by the team of Travel Matters at this year’s Hall of Fame. Summing up their success is their Travel Matters 2024 B Corp Impact Report which highlights the company’s journey as a sustainable travel agency. It focuses on their achievements, sustainability initiatives like the "Make Travel Matter" campaign, and partnerships with organisations promoting ethical tourism. They emphasise reducing environmental impacts, engaging local communities, and creating responsible travel opportunities. The report also reflects their commitment to aligning travel with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring positive impacts for clients and destinations alike.
A message from the CEO of Travel Matters
Reflecting on the business performance over the past year, I am immensely proud of how we have stayed true to our mission while growing and evolving. 2024 has been a year of milestones and achievements, especially in the realm of sustainability and customer stewardship. As we celebrated 25 years in business, our turnover is steady, considering the post-pandemic recovery of the industry and whilst the final numbers for 2024 are not yet in, we’ve seen progress. This growth has been driven not just by expanding our client base but by ensuring that every journey we curate aligns with our sustainability goals. Our remote travel advisor division, which launched in late 2023, has been a significant addition. We’ve empowered our advisors to offer a luxury service while promoting responsible travel practices, helping us reach new markets. We worked closely with our charity partners, such as the Galapagos Conservation Trust and Trees for Cities, as well as me being an Associate with Equality in Tourism and a member of Tourism Management Institute, volunteering as a sustainability consultant, to ensure that sustainability is at the forefront of our overall work. Through these partnerships, we’ve helped our clients understand that travel is a powerful tool in helping communities. Our campaign to ‘Make Travel Matter’ has been a pivotal part of this effort. It integrates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into our daily operations and educates clients on responsible travel. Our online tools, such as the carbon calculator and the downloadable Responsible Global Tourist’s Guide have empowered our clients to make more informed decisions about their travel’s environmental impact.
In line with our commitment to fostering positive social change, we have also focused on addressing social challenges through our products and services. This year, our wellness retreats continued to grow, and we’ve maintained our bursary places, to make these experiences accessible to individuals who wouldn’t usually have the opportunity.
Our fundraising efforts, particularly for the Moroccan charity Education For All (EFA), have raised over £1,000 to support earthquake recovery. Additionally, our educational partnerships with institutions like the University of León and Falmouth University have allowed us to share our expertise in sustainable and ethical travel practices with future leaders in the industry. Feedback channels have been vital in improving our services. We’ve maintained a 100% 5-star rating on Google Reviews, a testament to the care and dedication we put into every client interaction. This feedback also helps us refine our offerings, ensuring that we continue to meet the evolving needs of our discerning clientele.
Looking ahead to 2025, we will continue to grow our in-house travel experiences, expand our sustainability initiatives and deepen our relationships with both clients and partners. We believe that by focusing on the wellbeing of our clients and the world around us, we can build stronger, more sustainable relationships and redefine what it means to travel responsibly. I am thrilled that our efforts in the travel industry are not going unnoticed. As a result, I was named as one of Travel Pulse’s Most Influential Women in Travel, 2024'. This, along with multiple industry awards, has marked an exceptional year for Travel Matters in terms of industry recognition. The award for sustainability at the Global Resilience Awards in November has been a significant highlight.
- Karen Simmonds, CEO Travel Matters
Karen Simmonds is CEO of Travel Matters and the founder of the Make Travel Matter campaign. Travel Matters is an award winning travel company founded on the principle of service. www.travelmatters.co.uk, www.maketravelmatter.co.uk