BANGKOK, 9 December 2020: A leading Asian destination management company, Khiri Travel pledges its operations will be fully carbon neutral by January 2021.
To achieve its green objectives, Khiri Travel is partnering with climate and sustainable development experts ClimateCare.
In its media statement, the inbound tour specialist says it will completely offset carbon emissions for Khiri guests’ during their holidays along with the company’s operations. This includes CO2 emissions generated by all of Khiri’s offices in seven Asian destinations, staff commuting, and all business travel by Khiri employees.
Once travellers arrive in Southeast Asia, Khiri Travel will offset carbon emissions for guest trips by charging USD1.50 per person per day. The aim is to offset entire itineraries, including accommodation, activities and transport. Funds will go to ClimateCare’s best-in-class carbon reduction projects in the Asian region.
Khiri Travel CEO Herman Hoven said that Khiri had calculated the average carbon footprint of its itineraries and set a rate of USD1.50 per person per day that will be automatically added to each travel proposal to partners.
Hoven said that partners would have the possibility to opt-out if they had their own carbon offsetting programme in place. “Otherwise the US$1.50 fee will apply,” he said.
“Our overall aim is to do our best to improve environmental management and decrease any negative impacts on our destinations,” said Hoven.
ClimateCare’s director of partnerships, Robert Stevens, said: “We work with forward-thinking organisations such as Khiri Travel to turn their climate responsibilities into positive outcomes, which also support sustainable development.”
To further reduce CO2 emissions, Khiri Travel has introduced a new product line: “Rediscovering The Art of Slow Travel”. During these trips, there will be no regional flights. All transport will be by train, car or boat. Itineraries will typically be a minimum of 15 days. Accommodation will be vetted against Khiri’s social, cultural and environmental criteria. And excursions will benefit the host communities, mostly in less developed regions.
On climate action, Khiri’s position is to follow current advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which recommends cutting global carbon emissions to 55% of 2017 levels by 2030 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 o C (2.7 o F).
