Trip.com Group's Country Retreats Featured in ESG 20 Report by UN Global Compact

SINGAPORE, Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Trip.com Group has taken significant strides in promoting sustainable travel through its innovative and responsible initiatives. Recently, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) featured the company's 'Country Retreats' project in its latest ESG 20 Report.

The initiative highlighted the alignment of Trip.com Group to UNGC's sustainability principles, showcasing a positive correlation between Trip.com Group's 'Local Focus, Global Vision' strategy and its commitment to sustainable travel practices.

Trip.com Group's Country Retreats – A Model for Sustainable Tourism

Trip.com Group's 'Country Retreats' project, launched in 2021, is an initiative that aims to create a model of villages and homestays for rural revitalisation. It has created enormous employment and economic benefits for local regions, such as creating jobs and supporting local industries across the value chain.

To date, thirty-two such retreats are now operational, resulting in a 122% surge in local B&B revenue. Additionally, locals employed by these retreats have gained an average annual income boost of over USD 5,500. The retreats have also achieved a 30.8% annual reduction in carbon emissions—equating to 80,000 kilograms—by incorporating energy-saving transformations, such as utilising a wastewater recycling system and installing photovoltaic panels.

This approach aligns with the UNGC Principles in committing to responsible business practices. It also contributes to many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ending poverty (SDG1), fostering affordable and clean energy (SDG7), promoting decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), building sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and so on.

The initiative exemplifies the Group's 'Local Focus, Global Vision' strategy, which combines local expertise with global operations, allowing the company to meet customer needs through local initiatives, while maintaining a clear, global perspective for sustainable growth and partnerships.

Travellers Increasingly Prioritise Local Communities in Sustainable Travel

The success of the 'Country Retreats' comes amid travellers' increasing appetite for trips that prioritise local economies, preserve cultural authenticity and enhance environmental protection.

This observation is reflected in Trip.com Group's latest Sustainable Travel Consumer Report. Among the most-cited motivations for practising sustainable travel, environmental protection ranked first (47.3%), followed by cultural heritage preservation (38.2%), positive economic impact (32.5%) and societal factors (24.7%). This highlights a broader trend where travellers not only aim to reduce their environmental footprint but also actively seek to benefit the communities they visit, ensuring that tourism's positive effects are felt locally.

The report also indicates travellers' growing desire to actively practise sustainable travel, with 54.7% surveyed looking for more sustainable options when booking online. Staying in eco-friendly accommodations was also the second most favoured form of practising sustainability.

Moreover, 32.5% of respondents believe that sustainable travel involves supporting local businesses and communities, underscoring a growing awareness of tourism's economic impact.

Holistic View of Sustainability

Over the years, Trip.com Group has actively integrated sustainability into its operations and offerings, from flights and accommodations to car rentals and corporate travel services.

It joined the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) and is working towards carbon neutrality by 2050. The Group also plans to introduce over 10,000 lower-carbon travel products, encouraging over 100 million travellers to adopt sustainable choices.

Recently, the Group expanded its sustainability efforts in accommodations through a strategic partnership with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), and its flagship brand Trip.com. This partnership allows Trip.com to label hotels that minimise their environmental impact and meet GSTC certification criteria for sustainability. This provides travellers key information to make informed choices easily when selecting accommodation options.

Recognising that corporate travellers wish to reduce their environmental impact, Trip.Biz, the Group's corporate travel division, offers lower-carbon transportation, including flights, trains, and car rentals. It also provides businesses with tools, such as accounts and budget quotas, to help track and manage their carbon emissions.

Guided by its sustainability ethos, Trip.com Group aims to create a transformative sustainable travel ecosystem that not only preserves the planet, but also empowers communities worldwide.

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About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group is a leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centres. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel groups in the world, with the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world". Find out more about Trip.com Group here: group.trip.com.

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** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

Trip.com Group's Country Retreats Featured in ESG 20 Report by UN Global Compact

Trip.com Group's Country Retreats Featured in ESG 20 Report by UN Global Compact

TOKYO, Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sumida-Ryogoku area of Tokyo, famous as the home of sumo, Japan's national sport, is home to many famous historical sites that give a glimpse into the country's history. In the Ryogoku area, you can experience being a ninja at Ekoin Temple, a temple famous for being the place where sumo wrestling was held about 200 years ago. This tour allows you to learn the martial arts of the ninja, who were used for intelligence activities during the Edo period when samurai roamed about with swords. Tourism Media Services spoke to the organisers to find out more about the tour.

â– Tell me the highlights of the tour

Ekoin is a temple that was founded about 360 years ago. The tour is conducted by the Musashi clan, descendants of ninjas from the Edo period, and is a highlight of the experience at this authentic ancient temple.

The Musashi clan's ancestors were ninja from the Iga area. They served the Tokugawa family for 265 years, including under Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful samurai of the Edo period, and performed intelligence missions such as guarding and secretly serving the Tokugawa family.

Genuine ninjutsu taught by a real ninja. The theme is "Shinobi damashii (Words that express the spirit of the ninja)" and there are no intense ninjutsu moves that involve flying or rolling, so it's easy to participate. 

The experience menu includes meditation and dance, ninja talk, explanation of ninja tools, walking technique, training in a grove, breathing techniques, photography, etc. The experience lasts for about 2 hours from 1:30 pm.

You can also look forward to the clan's dance performance, and after the experience, you will be able to take a commemorative photo. If you wish, you can also try tasting "Hyoryo-gan", which was a ninja's energy food. We hope you will join the tour and try it for yourself.

â– Book this tour from: https://search.mwt.co.jp/mdom/detail/BZDB03NIJA91.html
Contact information：The website is in Japanese, but you can contact them in English by Email.
Venue：2-8-10 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan  (https://ekoin.or.jp/)

â– About Tourism Media Service:
An online news platform specializing in the tourism industry. It provides the latest news on regional development and travel information, as well as feature articles on topics such as trends and observations, contributed by over 100 experts, every day.

â– CONTACT: For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact:
Meitetsu World Travel Inc. Shinjuku Branchi (in Tokyo)
Email: koichi.ito@mwt.co.jp
TEL: ＋81-3-3343-0631
Contact person: Koichi Ito

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

"Make it real ninja" Real ninja teaches martial arts at a famous temple in Tokyo-Sumida -17th January to 2th February 2025