AIDA Cruises hosts Futouris strategy conference
Cruise line meets with members of the
sustainability initiative to discuss new strategies in tourism
From October 8-9, 2015, AIDA Cruises
hosted the Futouris e.V. strategy conference. The sustainability initiative is
sponsored by the German Travel Association (DRV). Germany’s leading cruise line,
AIDA Cruises, joined Futouris e.V. in 2012 with the aim of promoting
sustainable development of tourism destinations in the areas of ecology, biodiversity,
and sociocultural responsibility.
A focal subject at the Futouris strategy conference was exchange on organizing
and promoting sustainable excursions. A trailblazer in this respect, AIDA
Cruises shared its experiences with conference members and presented the
results of the project “sustainable land excursions,” which was successfully
completed in 2015.
In 2014, AIDA Cruises developed a standardized
catalog of criteria for sustainable land excursions in partnership with
Futouris e.V., the State Chancellery Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and the
Leuphana University in Lüneburg. Whether a city stroll through Barcelona, hiking
in Norway, or a bike tour through Athens – all AIDA excursions that fulfill the
social, ecological, and cultural criteria are marked with a tree symbol. On MyAIDA,
guests can inform themselves and book these excursions. AIDA Cruises currently
offers 138 sustainable land excursions along with 230 bike and pedelec trips at
160 destinations. These excursions were assessed and developed based on the
catalog of criteria. Starting now, the catalog of criteria is available to all
Futouris members.
“Our goal was to create a transparent
basis of comparison for the sustainability of the individual excursion offers
and to base the evaluation on measurable and scientific criteria. Marking our
sustainable excursions helps guests make eco-friendly choices,” says Monika
Griefahn, Chief Sustainability Officer at AIDA Cruises.
“AIDA and Futouris have successfully
demonstrated how sustainable land excursions can be organized and implemented.
Other members and destinations can benefit from this expertise as well,” says
Hasso von Düring, chairman of Futouris e.V.
Further topics at the strategy conference included the exchange of best practices for saving water on cruise ships and at hotels, measuring and reducing the tourism industry’s contribution to climate change, and marking and promoting sustainable products. The Futouris members also discussed challenges and opportunities for sustainable nutrition and responsible management of food in tourism.
About AIDA Cruises
AIDA Cruises is one of Germany’s fastest growing and most financially successful tourism businesses and currently employs around 7,000 people from 40 countries. Of these employees, 6,000 work on board and 1,000 work at the company headquarters in Rostock and Hamburg. With its 10 cruise ships, AIDA operates and markets one of the most state-of-the-art fleets in the world. The ships are operated in compliance with the highest international quality, environmental, and safety standards. By 2020, the AIDA fleet will expand to 14 ships.
www.aida.de
About Futouris e.V.
Futouris was founded in 2009. The shared objective of its board and members, who work on a voluntary basis, is long-term, sustainable development of tourist destinations with targeted support of projects in the areas of ecology, biodiversity, and sociocultural responsibility. To ensure the highest standards for qualification of worldwide projects, Futouris is backed by an international, seven-member scientific advisory committee that provides advisory support for project development and is responsible for project accreditation.
In 2014, Futouris was awarded the “Green Palm” by GEO SAISON. The German Travel Association (DRV) and the Austrian Travel Association (ÖRV) support the objectives of Futouris and are actively involved in its work as patrons.
www.futouris.org
Rostock, October 9, 2015
