NASHVILLE -- Travel for Better, a foundation started by the Bush family (owner of Avenue Two Travel), is working on its next iteration of sustainable tourism training for advisors and suppliers. When complete, the year-long training will be open to anyone in the industry who wants to take it.
"I have always said that sustainability is not proprietary, and while Avenue Two has been the leader in this space, we are open to sharing it with everyone who wants to be a part," Avenue Two Travel CEO Josh Bush said at the agency's Collective event at the W Nashville on April 15.
Travel for Better was established last year. Its efforts are headed by executive director Kristin Winkafee and chief program officer Annie Jones, who are also independent contractors with Avenue Two. Both have focused their own businesses on offering sustainable options to clients.
The nonprofit operates through three key pillars, said Winkaffe: "We view sustainability and travel as covering the people, the planet and the economy."
Those pillars, in turn, inform what projects Travel for Better takes on, Jones said.
For instance, the foundation supports sustainability projects like Wilderness' Diyoveya Honey Project in Botswana.
Through the project, beehives are distributed to locals, who place them around crops that elephants have been known to destroy. The bees are a natural deterrent to elephants and improve crop production. At the same time, farmers have created another product, honey.
Travel for Better is putting together educational material for people in the industry, including advisors and suppliers. Jones said the focus is giving the industry an understanding of what sustainability is and practical ways they can apply it within their businesses.
"I think that's the biggest gap that we have, is, OK, we know sustainability is a really great thing, but how do I actually action on that?" Jones said. "One of our big goals is to give people the tools to do that, make it easier for them."
Travel for Better will soon introduce a free resource kit for advisors, which will include questions to ask suppliers about sustainability and talking to clients about the topic.
Right now, Winkafee and Jones are focused on creating a training program that will take 12 months to complete.
"We'll start them at ground zero -- you know nothing, and if you think you know something, we'll walk you back to make sure that we have all our basics covered," Winkafee said. "So, what is sustainability? What is your role as an advisor in sustainability? What is the role of the travel industry in this broader space?"
The course will also help advisors find what about sustainability is important to them as individuals, she said, and how that can be incorporated into a travel business.
For instance, in her own travel agency, Winkafee chooses local suppliers to keep money in the destination. An advisor focused on environmental impact might always look to companies with good waste-reduction programs or zero carbon emissions.
"Not every company is going to do those things perfectly," she said. "So let us help you as an advisor figure out what's important to you and how you can make sure that you're doing that one part really well. Because that's what's going to make the big impact."
Practical tools will also be a big part of the training program, from marketing sustainability to identifying suppliers to talking to suppliers about their sustainability efforts.
The course will also go into business planning for the future.
There will be a cost for the course, but no specific pricing has been determined yet. Details are forthcoming in the months ahead.
Bush believes sustainability is especially important today.
"We will no longer have an industry unless all suppliers, agencies and advisors begin to address ESG head-on," he said. "Because in the current period of ever-increasing darkness, we hope that Travel for Better will be a beacon of hope to those that are yearning for a dialogue, hoping for education and wanting greater understanding."