Doing Travel Better
Travel has an impact. Thoughtful choices can make a difference, at home and around the world.
Travel is about discovering new places, meeting different people and experiencing more of the world. It also supports communities, creates jobs and brings valuable income into destinations across the globe.
But travel has an impact too.
As part of Travel Village Group, the Holiday Village is committed to Doing Travel Better. It’s our way of thinking more carefully about that impact and making informed, thoughtful decisions wherever we can.
It isn’t about telling you how you should travel, or suggesting there’s one “right” way to holiday.
It’s about being more conscious of the choices we all make and recognising where, together, we can make a positive difference.
What is Doing Travel Better?
Doing Travel Better is a Travel Village Group initiative designed to help us continually improve the way we think about the holidays and experiences we offer.
For Holiday Village, an important part of that happens through our independent Business Owners.
Our Business Owners run their own travel businesses in communities across the UK. They know their customers, build long-standing relationships and use their experience and knowledge to help people find holidays that are right for them.
Doing Travel Better gives them additional knowledge, guidance and resources to consider some of the wider impacts of travel too.
It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about asking better questions, continuing to learn and making considered choices where we can.
Your holiday.
Your choices.
We believe holidays should still be holidays.
We’re not here to give you a list of things you should or shouldn’t do when you’re away. But if you’d like to travel a little more consciously, there are plenty of simple choices you can make.
That might mean eating in a family-run restaurant, shopping locally, carrying a reusable water bottle, using public transport to explore a destination or taking a little more time to understand a wildlife experience before booking.
Our Conscious Travel Tips are simply ideas to consider. Pick the ones that work for you and your holiday.
Helping our Business Owners make informed choices.
Great travel advice comes from great knowledge.
As part of Doing Travel Better, Travel Village Group is developing training, guidance and resources to help Holiday Village Business Owners understand some of the environmental, social and animal welfare considerations associated with the holidays and experiences we sell.
That means our Business Owners can have better informed conversations with their customers and suppliers, while continuing to recommend holidays based on each customer’s individual needs, preferences and budget.
Because Doing Travel Better isn’t about telling people what to book.
It’s about having the knowledge to help people make informed choices.
Looking more closely at animal experiences
Wildlife encounters can create some incredible holiday memories, but we believe animal welfare should be considered when choosing these experiences.
Travel Village Group is developing its approach using recognised ABTA animal welfare guidance and has created practical guidance to help our Business Owners consider the experiences they are asked to book.
We encourage experiences centred around observing wildlife naturally, conservation and education, while asking our Business Owners to think carefully about activities involving direct contact, animal performances or practices that could compromise an animal’s welfare.
We cannot independently inspect every experience around the world, and conditions can vary between operators and destinations. What we can do is give our Business Owners better information and encourage them to ask questions when something doesn’t feel right.
Part of something bigger
The Holiday Village is part of the fourth-generation family-owned Travel Village Group, established in 1959.
Doing Travel Better is a Group-wide commitment covering our people, customers, supplier relationships, products and experiences, business operations and the way we measure our progress.
The Group’s approach is informed by recognised industry guidance, including ABTA’s Sustainability Guidance, and will continue to develop as our knowledge and the wider travel industry evolve.
Doing Travel Better, Together
We’re not claiming travel can be impact-free, and we’re certainly not claiming to have solved every challenge facing our industry.
Doing Travel Better is about progress.
It’s Travel Village Group continuing to improve how we operate. It’s our Business Owners developing their knowledge. It’s our supplier partners considering their own impact. And it’s giving our customers useful information if they want to make more conscious choices while travelling.
We all have a part to play.
And lots of thoughtful choices, made by lots of people, can add up to something worthwhile.