The winning student team who helped develop the company’s Sustainable Tourism policies (L-R): Angela Leung, Ashley Zimmer, Adam Hodge.

First Choice Canada has made a commitment to sustainable development with the creation of their Sustainable Tourism committee.

“I cannot overemphasize how important Sustainable Development is for our business, our customers and the world in general.  The employees of First Choice Canada are very engaged and committed to this project, and we hope to lead by example,” stated Mike Price, President of First Choice Canada.

The company just completed a project with a class from the Hospitality and Tourism Management program at Ryerson University.  Ten groups of students worked to develop our sustainable tourism corporate policy and implementation plan.  The winning team each received a $1000 Signature Vacations gift certificate for their efforts.

In existence since September 2006, the Sustainable Tourism committee meets monthly to review and improve upon current practices and policies. As a result of this focus, the committee has already implemented the following initiatives: carpooling incentives, a shuttle service, migration to e-documentation from paper tickets, migration to e-mail blasts and electronic invoices from faxes, and switching photocopiers to a double-sided default.

First Choice Canada’s airline partner, Skyservice, has a program in place called ‘SAFE’, which helps to reduce fuel consumption. The acronym stands for ‘Satellite Communication & Fuel Efficiency,’ originally developed in Austria. Skyservice is one of the first airlines in Canada to use this program, which will translate into a reduction of over 7,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the environment this year.

Similarly, Signature Vacations is committed to working with environmentally accredited hotel partners. The company also monitors destination tours to ensure they meet specific social and environmental standards, as well as health and safety requirements.