Ask the Expert – How do I promote the sustainability credentials of my suppliers/holidays?
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dhewitt@abta.co.uk Thu, 02/08/2024 - 14:12
We are proud to use overseas hotel suppliers in our packages who have taken steps to reduce waste and to be environmentally friendly. When we advertise our holidays, we’d really like to promote them as green because we use ethical suppliers. Do you have any tips on how we can do this?
It’s great that you use hotel suppliers that have taken steps to reduce certain aspects of their environmental impact – and that you want to talk about it. But you do need to be aware that there are various rules and regulations around communicating or marketing sustainability credentials.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which is enforceable by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Trading Standards, prohibit businesses from providing false or incomplete information to consumers or misleading them about their business or services – this applies to information about sustainability. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) can also sanction businesses if their websites, brochures, posters, social media accounts (or TV and radio adverts) do not contain honest and truthful information about a business or the services provided by them.
So if you want to talk about the environmental credentials of a holiday – you just need to make sure you do so within the laws and regulations. The CMA’s guidance “Green Claims Code: making Environmental Claims on Goods and Services” (known as the Green Claims Code) helps businesses understand and comply with their obligations under the 2008 Regulations when making environmental claims. The Green Claims Code requires that any information about, or the marketing or advertising of your packages in terms of environmental impact must:
The regulators will also expect you to consider the whole life cycle of a product. For example, as most packages involve transport to and from the destination which results in carbon emissions, you shouldn’t say that your package holidays as a whole have a positive impact on the environment whether or not you sell the transport element. You should also avoid making general claims about the environmental benefits of your hotel packages unless this is true and you have clear evidence of this. We’d also recommend that you avoid using terms such as “ethical”, “sustainable”, “ environmentally friendly” or “green” as the regulators say it which can be interpreted by consumers in different ways.
To help members understand ‘green claims’ we have a full guidance note available in the member zone.
Meera Tharmarajah, Solicitor, ABTA
Continue reading...
Full Page image
dhewitt@abta.co.uk Thu, 02/08/2024 - 14:12
We are proud to use overseas hotel suppliers in our packages who have taken steps to reduce waste and to be environmentally friendly. When we advertise our holidays, we’d really like to promote them as green because we use ethical suppliers. Do you have any tips on how we can do this?
It’s great that you use hotel suppliers that have taken steps to reduce certain aspects of their environmental impact – and that you want to talk about it. But you do need to be aware that there are various rules and regulations around communicating or marketing sustainability credentials.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which is enforceable by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Trading Standards, prohibit businesses from providing false or incomplete information to consumers or misleading them about their business or services – this applies to information about sustainability. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) can also sanction businesses if their websites, brochures, posters, social media accounts (or TV and radio adverts) do not contain honest and truthful information about a business or the services provided by them.
So if you want to talk about the environmental credentials of a holiday – you just need to make sure you do so within the laws and regulations. The CMA’s guidance “Green Claims Code: making Environmental Claims on Goods and Services” (known as the Green Claims Code) helps businesses understand and comply with their obligations under the 2008 Regulations when making environmental claims. The Green Claims Code requires that any information about, or the marketing or advertising of your packages in terms of environmental impact must:
- be truthful and accurate;
- be clear and unambiguous;
- not omit or hide important relevant information;
- make comparisons fair and meaningful;
- consider the full life cycle of the product or service and
- be substantiated.
The regulators will also expect you to consider the whole life cycle of a product. For example, as most packages involve transport to and from the destination which results in carbon emissions, you shouldn’t say that your package holidays as a whole have a positive impact on the environment whether or not you sell the transport element. You should also avoid making general claims about the environmental benefits of your hotel packages unless this is true and you have clear evidence of this. We’d also recommend that you avoid using terms such as “ethical”, “sustainable”, “ environmentally friendly” or “green” as the regulators say it which can be interpreted by consumers in different ways.
To help members understand ‘green claims’ we have a full guidance note available in the member zone.
Meera Tharmarajah, Solicitor, ABTA
Continue reading...
