TICOS DESTINATION CLIMATE CHANGE SERVICE
The Tourism Industry Carbon Offset Service (TICOS) offers its own custom built climate change service to tourism destinations interested in developing climate change policies. It includes managing offset funds to deliver and independently validate projects that deliver carbon savings and wider sustainable development gains.
This Service operates in the Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) market, whereby travel and tourism companies purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their own or customers' greenhouse gas emissions from travel and tourism products.
The need for this service is based upon the following assessment:
- Inbound customers are increasingly concerned about the potential climate change impacts of the holidays they take;
- Climate change will affect all destinations in terms of weather patterns, demands on natural resources and consumer awareness;
- Fuel costs are becoming ever more expensive as traditional fuel resources are depleted;
- Tourism planners need to take account of the impact of climate change and develop policies to 'climate proof' the industry; and
- Tourism suppliers and services are under growing pressure to develop adaptation and mitigation policies for climate change.
TICOS is able to help destination managers to develop programmes and policies which deal with all of these issues and respond to the global challenge of climate change. Our destination management service is available to any tourism destination.
Why Use TICOS?
We believe that it is important to develop a service which links the host community with the inbound market. We have strong links with both tour operators and carriers and have Directors and staff with many years experience of working within the tourism industry. We also have an excellent science and academic support network. In particular our service offers the following key elements:
- Advice and help for companies interested in addressing their carbon footprint and in reducing emissions;
- The use of in-country projects to produce climate change benefits through offsetting and reduction in CO2 output. All projects will also have wider sustainable development objectives;
- A new common purpose and identity for the destination in the challenges posed by climate change; and
Strong links with the inbound market through our personal contacts and wider TICOS programme which is supported by both tourism agencies and individual tour operators.
If you have a tourism destination management responsibility and would like further information about this service, please email TICOS' Policy Director, Dick Sisman, or telephone (+44) (0)1223893907.