JEFF GLUECK, Chief Marketing Officer, Travelocity.com
Several years ago, in light of the consumer attention on global warming, Travelocity employees began asking what their company would do in relation to global warming. With Jeff Glueck, Travelocity’s chief marketing officer, leading the charge, the company soon set up a task force to determine what should be done at the corporal level.
That team developed the Travel for Good program, which is focused on carbon offsets and volunteerism. It has also been extended to include programs affecting families.
CONSERVING CARBONS, DRIVING CHANGE
Under Glueck’s leadership, Travelocity was the first online travel agency to offer the purchase of carbon offsets when booking a vacation package. The program, dubbed Go Zero, allows customers to “zero out” or offset the carbon emissions generated by their flight, hotel or car usage through a donation to The Conservation Fund, which then plants trees that absorb carbon dioxide.
Travelocity also buys carbon offsets for its own North American employees to travel with a donation to the Go Zero program. Offsets for the second half of 2007 were 50% higher as compared to the first half of that same year.
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
Another important component of the Travel for Good program is volunteerism. Recognizing that not everyone can take an extended vacation to volunteer, Glueck and his team began working with partners to find one- to two-day opportunities that customers could add onto an existing vacation. One example: Travel for Good with partner Hands On New Orleans. This allowed customers to spend one or two days giving back by helping to rebuild or renovate homes that suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina.
AWARD FOR A JOB WELL DONE
Thanks to Glueck’s commendable leadership, Travelocity joined the Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria in October 2008. The criteria will help ensure consumers make sound green choices they know they can trust.