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In honour of World Oceans Day, Australian Guided Holiday expert AAT Kings and its sister brand Inspiring Journeys, along with its not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation, celebrated with local team members from Alexandria and Bondi Junction offices to make a conscious effort to give back to their local communities and #MakeTravelMatter.

The team worked together to clean the shorelines of the Kyeemagh Beach in Brighton-Le-Sands and were educated on ocean microplastics by Scott Wilson, the Director of AusMap to better understand the important changes we can make when visiting our favourite coastal locations.

Aligned with one of TreadRight’s three key pillars as the brands share a collective desire to conserve and protect the planet, wildlife and people of the local communities visited through their immersive journeys. Scott stated some alarming facts which addressed the Planet pillar to show the extent of microplastics in this once-pristine ecosystem: “Microplastics in different forms are present in almost all water systems in the world, be they streams, rivers, lakes, or oceans. These aren’t just from the types of plastics you might commonly assume like plastic bags, cups and straws, they can also be in your toothpaste, shampoo and even the fibres that wash off your synthetic clothing”

AAT Kings and Inspiring Journeys MD, Matt-Cameron Smith commented, “As an operator, we are committed to the ongoing welfare of our planet. Australia’s coast lines are some of the most treasured in the world and it is our responsibility to ensure their livelihood for generations of travellers to come.  Thanks to TTC’s commitment to providing team members two paid volunteer days every year, all our employees are able to create positive impacts for our communities.”

One year ago, The Travel Corporation’s family of brands pledged to remove all avoidable single-use plastics across all its operations and offices by the end of 2022; and that single-use plastic water bottles will no longer be made available for purchase on all TTC coaches this year. This action is expected to reduce plastic waste by over a million plastic bottles per year.

In addition, TTC brands Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, AAT Kings, Inspiring Journeys and CostSaver, will eliminate several hundred thousand pieces of additional single-use plastics from their operations this year and beyond by shifting away from the use of non-biodegradable name tags for all guests on their trips. Further, they will also replace single-use plastic luggage tags with reusable, durable tags.

Also, sister-brand Red Carnation Hotels, a long-standing supporter of the removal of single-use plastics across all of their 17 (soon to be 20) luxury hotels, has banned single use plastic water bottles in addition to more than 20 everyday plastic convenience items from all properties for some time now.  As has Uniworld onboard its ships for several years now.