Thomas Cook Profitable and sustainable excursion success story

Operator reports positive impact on local communities and positive impact on balance sheet

Successful initiative results in 18% increase in excursion profits, 65,000 passengers and £660,000 into destination economies. Holidaymakers really do want to experience local culture on holiday says T Cook!

Launched in March 2013, Thomas Cook’s ‘Local Label’ initiative identified excursions on offer to holidaymakers that had a marked positive impact on local communities and promoted this to holidaymakers from the UK & Ireland and Continental Europe using the ‘Local Label’ logo. 

Based on the Travel Foundation’s ‘Greener Excursions Checklist’, the initiative was led by Thomas Cook’s team in Greece and Cyprus and was based on anecdotal requests from holidaymakers looking for something more from their holiday.

The Local Label was officially launched in April 2013 and by the end of October, included 40 excursions in 23 destinations 

By promoting Local Labels based on their authenticity and added value to the customer experience, over 65,000 customers have taken part in these excursions during the summer, representing an average increase of 17 per cent, with some individual trips reporting an increase of up to 280% year on year, showing that holidaymakers really do want to have a positive impact on the destinations they visit.  Additionally, Thomas Cook collected feedback from customers about their overall satisfaction of the events but also to understand their discretional spend in local economies.  On average, TC estimates that the ‘Local Label’ excursions generated over £660,000 for destination economies.

Customer feedback is positive, with 78% of customers happy to recommend a ‘Local Label’ to a friend.

 Says Thomas Cook: "The results demonstrate that our Local Labels campaign isn’t just highlighting those excursions that feature local activities; it’s having an economic impact too.  It is a great example of using sustainability to attract new customers and it demonstrates that our customers really do want an authentic, local and value added experience that traditional food, drinks, culture and heritage can provide."

"Working with excursion providers, we’re now planning to have at least one ‘Local Label’ in each of our staffed charter destinations in 2014 – representing one in ten of our excursions world-wide, and our Local Labels logo will be seen on our website as holidaymakers look to book their holiday ."  Jo Hendrickx, Sustainable Destinations Manager

 A Local Label is given to those excursions who really go the extra mile to contribute to the upkeep of the local environment or the local community, sometimes they’ll be doing things behind the scenes that you might not see, like making sure they buy all of their food from local, free range suppliers, or providing additional services within their own communities.

Salli Felton, acting Chief Executive of the Travel Foundation, said:

"Thomas Cook’s customers offer yet more proof that, marketed in the right way, sustainable tourism sells. It often takes just a few small changes to your product to make a big difference to both your customers and your host community. Our free checklist and factsheets are a good way to identify those opportunities, and our staff can also support those who, like Cook’s, want to go further and change their business practices."

Valere Tjolle

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