ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

In addition to our People, Places & Planet goals for 2020 and 2021, we set ourselves some general goals in relation to engagement, fundraising and communications. Here we report on progress against these goals.

GOAL

BETTER ENGAGE OUR EXTERNAL AUDIENCE IN OUR SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITY.

PROGRESS >> We have now fully integrated our sustainability engagement activity into our general marketing plan and processes, to ensure regular communications across emails, social media, events (in person and virtual) and PR. We have established a quarterly Exodus Travels Foundation news email to update supporters on our Foundation activity in particular, and published our first Impact Report in 2021. However, we still have a way to go – in our latest customer survey in 2021, respondents scored us on average 7.6 out of 10 for how socially and environmentally responsible they felt we were as a company, down from 7.7 out of 10 in 2019. The ‘open responses’ on this survey suggest much of this score is due to a growing awareness of the carbon footprint of travel in general against a backdrop of climate crisis, but it also demonstrates that we need to work harder – through our communications and through our tour leaders – at engaging with customers on our sustainability ethos and activity, and on how they can play their part, as well as continuing to benefit from their feedback.

NEXT STEPS >>>> We are currently in the process of rolling out new sustainable travel information across the web pages for every single trip. This will be a lot more comprehensive and consistent than previous information, giving customers a good picture of how their trip impacts people, places and planet. We also intend to better equip our Tour Leaders to do just this, through our supplier engagement work (see page 36). Additionally, we are revising the sustainability related question on our Holiday Evaluation Form, to get a better understanding of how much customers know and engage in our sustainability activity.

EXODUS TRAVELS Foundation

BETTER ENGAGE AND EDUCATE STAFF ON OUR SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITY, POLICIES AND MESSAGING.

PROGRESS >> In our 2021 staff survey, 87% of staff said they had a clear understanding of the business’s vision, values and purpose, an improvement on 2019, when only 72% of staff said they felt the vision was clear and 80% said they fully supported the values for which the business stood. Frequent all-staff communications and a monthly sustainability section in our monthly all staff meeting enables us to keep staff updated on our sustainability activity, and we developed a sustainability crib sheet for all customer-facing staff, to give them an easy reference for any conversations with customers. A number of staff actively engage in pursuing our sustainability goals, for example, building and leading global fundraising campaigns (see below).

NEXT STEPS >>>> We are currently designing a programme that will enable many more staff to proactively engage with our sustainability agenda, either by identifying ways in which their ‘business as usual’ remit can help deliver on our goals, or by taking on additional tasks or workstreams in areas they’re passionate about.

EXODUS TRAVELS Foundation

SPOTLIGHT ON

Exodus to Kathmandu

The word ‘exodus’ means a collective movement of people. Collectively, in support of our COVID Emergency Relief Appeal, our staff walked, ran, and cycled the distance between our London office and Kathmandu - no less than 4,557 miles! The group effort included more than just our staff - a dog named Max and a pony named Lottie also participated, adding an extra 26 miles to the journey. The final distance covered was 5,831 miles, taking us as far as the Myanmar and Laos border which was a fantastic achievement. Overall, the challenge raised £3,153 which provided essential food aid and health kits for our trekking colleagues in Nepal and India.

FIND OUT MORE:

WWW.EXODUS.CO.UK/FOUNDATION/EXODUS-TO-KATHMANDU

GOAL

BETTER COMMUNICATE SUSTAINABILITY-RELATED EXPECTATIONS TO SUPPLIERS AND BETTER ENGAGE THEM IN HELPING TO ACHIEVE OUR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS.

PROGRESS >> Our progress against this goal was heavily delayed by COVID-19’s pause to global tourism. However, in 2020, we updated our supplier contract with sustainable travel minimum standards aligned to our People, Places & Planet goals, and at the end of 2021, we launched our quarterly supplier sustainability news and set up our Destination Community Council [see page 38]. Both have helped create further communications channels with our supplier network, in order to both engage and activate them around our sustainability goals, but also, crucially, to seek their input and expertise in building and implementing these.

NEXT STEPS >>>> We will soon be updating our operator and tour leader handbooks and training to better reflect our latest sustainability policies and goals. Having only just started to expand our supplier sustainability engagement in earnest, we look forward to better establishing our Destination Community Council, inviting their input on how we can work more effectively with our suppliers on ensuring our adventures are as sustainable as possible. We have a lot to learn from the many initiatives they are already driving across our destinations (see examples of this on page 24).

GOAL

COLLABORATE WITH OTHER BRANDS ACROSS EXODUS TRAVELS’ PARENT COMPANY (TRAVELOPIA) IN IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY ACROSS THE GROUP.

PROGRESS >> In mid-2021, Exodus Travels’ Managing Director, Sam Seward, took on the role of Chief Sustainability Officer for Travelopia. He and Exodus’ Head of Sustainability have been working to set and implement a strategy across Travelopia’s 27 travel brands, already rolling out sustainable travel minimum standards, an animal welfare policy and a carbon reporting process across the group.

NEXT STEPS >>>> Exodus Travels will continue to support the development of this group-wide strategy, assisting and collaborating with the sustainability leads across the other brands in developing their own brands’ sustainability activity.

GOAL

FURTHER DEFINE THE EXODUS TRAVELS FOUNDATION’S MISSION AND FOCUS, AND APPOINT TWO NEW TRUSTEES.

PROGRESS >> Working with Trustees to develop the Foundation’s ‘Theory of Change’, we defined more clearly the three focus areas of our funding, and the outcomes we would want to see as a result (see page 40). This has helped streamline and focus our grant-making decisions significantly. The process of identifying and appointing two new trustees was significantly delayed by the impacts of COVID-19 on both Foundation income from Exodus and ETF management capacity. We finally started the recruitment process towards the end of 2021, advertising the role spec across social channels and in communications to particularly our more loyal customers.

NEXT STEPS >>>> The next step in extending the effectiveness and impact of our grant-making will be to develop both Foundation income and management capacity. We are delighted to be welcoming on board two new Trustees (see page 42) who will not only help us develop this aspect of our Foundation’s activity, but will also apply their expertise to development of our governance, fundraising and communications.

EXODUS TRAVELS Foundation

GOAL

INCREASE EXODUS TRAVELS FOUNDATION INCOME FROM CUSTOMERS AND STAFF.

PROGRESS >> Donations to our Foundation (excluding Exodus Travels’ corporate donations) increased by 80% between 2020 and 2021, primarily due to a generous response from Exodus’ clients to our COVID-19 Emergency Response Appeals (see page 13), as well as Paul Goldstein’s fantastic fundraising efforts for tiger conservation (see page 20). For similar reasons, the number of new donors increased by 74% between 2020 and 2021, significantly growing the community of Foundation supporters.

NEXT STEPS >>>> We have set ourselves a target to triple our donor income by 2025, from 2020 levels, to £100,000 per year. A big part of this increase is projected to come from a better integration of the opportunity to give to the Foundation into Exodus Travels’ customer journey. Building capacity to support the Foundation’s work, both on the Exodus Travels team and the Trustee board, will help enable more regular engagement and fundraising activity with existing and potential donors, both in Exodus’ staff and customer networks.

EXODUS TRAVELS Foundation

INTRODUCING

Our Destination Community Council

At the end of last year, we established our Destination Community Council. It aims to convene a group of global partners (operators, tour leaders or suppliers) who can broadly represent our destination communities. All council members have been involved in transformative social and environmental initiatives across different regions, and their voice, insight and unrivalled expertise will be invaluable as we continue to implement our sustainability goals.

KARMA LAMA Nepal

One initiative Karma has been actively involved in is ‘Karma’s Food Packages’. During lockdown, he and his staff worked diligently to distribute baked bread parcels to people in need across the community in Kathmandu. Passionate about plastic reduction and organic farming, Karma helped to empower local staff living in remote villages by teaching them how to grow their own vegetables and crops to sell at farmers’ markets in Kathmandu.

FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ Peru

With a passion for gender equality and protection of vulnerable groups including women, LGBT and native communities, Fernando was one of the driving forces for educating trip leaders in gender equality. Doubling the number of female trip leaders during his time as operations manager, Fernando also extended educational training in sexual misconduct. Currently launching a recycling partnership with Cusco City Hall, Fernando and his team are actively looking for ways to reduce plastic waste.

FOUNDING COUNCIL MEMBERS:

MOHAN TICKOO India

Taking a pivotal role in the Exodus Tiger Conservation Project in Tala, Bhandavgarh, from 2005 to 2016, Mohan collaborated with contacts to provide locals with the tools they needed for effective park management and spent time empowering local communities to find alternative, sustainable sources of income. Showing a keen interest on the social and environmental impact of tourism, Mohan also worked with us to provide a local school in Tala with better infrastructure. RUTH FRANKLIN Maldives

Co-Founder of the communitybased tour company, Secret Paradise, Ruth’s passion lies in supporting the local Maldives community through employment and training opportunities. Coordinating with NGOs, she educates her guides on sustainable practices so they can provide guest presentations on topics like coral reef preservation and waste management. The company also regularly supports clean up events, tree planting and educational events within the community. MIKE STEWART Thailand

Operator and partner, Mike has collaborated on a number of social and environmental initiatives over the years including working with networks on the ground to develop community-based tourism in Myanmar, improving elephant welfare with World Animal Protection in Northern Thailand and Laos, and helping to train locals on midwifery in remote villages in Indonesia. He is particularly passionate about animal welfare and social welfare for marginalised groups.

PAULO LAIZER Tanzania

Paulo, Land Operator for African Safari Trails, is actively involved in recruiting female crew and helping to empower and encourage their transition from porters to guides on Kilimanjaro. Guide roles on Kilimanjaro are still seen as a predominantly male profession, so Paulo is working together with his team and female porters to break down these social stigmas. He is also passionate about their recycling programme, Leave no Trace, where porters collect litter on the mountain. THIERRY JOUBERT Balkans

Managing partner of responsible tourism company, Green Visions, Thierry, has been at the forefront of sustainable tourism development throughout the Via Dinarica. He has also been involved with the creation of Eko Akcija, a citizens mobilisation organisation for the protection of the environment, and establishing Balkan Green, a regional sustainable tourism organisation that coaches and audits businesses to ensure they comply with the GSTC’s global standards for sustainability in travel and tourism. PEDRO PEDROSA Portugal

Pedro, Operator Partner for Portugal, has been actively involved in building reforestation partnerships with local companies and government authorities since Portugal’s devastating forest fires in 2017. Introducing company staff volunteering days, Pedro and his team have participated in volunteer reforestation work on a regular basis and aim to invite like-minded travellers to help in the effort of reforesting the former Atlantic pine forests in the centre of Portugal. JOHNNY VILLALOBOS Costa Rica

Renowned naturalist and Exodus tour leader, Johnny Villalobos, has been guiding travellers since 1995. Taking a keen interest in educating younger generations about the importance of conservation, he’s played a pivotal role in the Exodus Travels Inspiration Project. Teaching conservation and nature activity workshops to primary school children, he leads groups to places in the rainforests that they wouldn’t have access to, so they can get a deeper understanding of the country’s unique biodiversity.

ANDY MCKEE

UK, Morocco, Zambia & Laos

Andy is Exodus tour leader and founder of Baraka, an NGO that provides essential emergency relief to rural and suburban communities in Zambia. Working for over a decade on social and environmental initiatives across Morocco, Laos and Zambia, Andy has been involved in building classrooms, sanitation facilities and developing water provision projects. His most recent initiative was collaborating with Exodus Travels on organising an education and food distribution programme in Zambia.