The new set of excursions – named The Collection – will be exclusive to TUI and will also have to meet certain environmental and social criteria.

Destinations available include Majorca, Cyprus, Corfu, Crete, Tenerife, Dominican Republic and Turkey for customers of Thomson and First Choice, both owned by TUI.

Jane Ashton, group director of sustainable development at the company, said, “We’re delighted to be offering a range of exclusive and exciting excursions with sustainability principles that our customers can’t get anywhere else.

“We’ve put criteria in place to make sure that all excursions which are part of either the Thomson or the First Choice Collection are exclusive to us with whilst meeting sustainability minimum criteria.

She added, “We’re very conscious about the impact of our holidays on the environment and local community and are always looking at ways of reducing this, and including our excursions in this is the next step for us.”

TUI Travel has put sustainability at the centre of its business over the past years, a move that not only is doing good to the planet, but is also helping the company save millions of pounds.

TUI cut carbon emissions from its aircraft by 15% over the last five years and reported £28 million savings thanks to environmental measures. The company is not only looking at becoming greener, but is also keeping an eye on ethics.

Its Dutch branch won last year’s World Responsible Tourism Awards because of its work against sexual exploitation of children in Brazil.

Source: Blue and Green Tomorrow