http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/RSS.ashxKuoni PagesMon, 06 Apr 2009 10:03:15 +0200http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=1http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=1corporate responsibility report 2008/20092009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=2http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=222009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=3http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=32009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4Travel means dreams. And our goal is to keep those dreams alive.2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=5http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=52009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=6http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=6Content PUBLISHED BY: Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd., Corporate Responsibility March 2009 TEXT: Kuoni Corporate Responsibility and Kuoni Corporate Communications IMAGES: Kuoni Corporate Responsibility and Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann LAYOUT: Büroecco CONTACT: Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. Matthias Leisinger Head of Corporate Responsibility Neue Hard 7, CH-8010 Zurich, Switzerland P +41 44 277 52 44, cr@kuoni.com This report can be downloaded from www.kuoni-group.com/corporate+responsibility PRINT RUN: 4000 k uoni cor por at e r esponsibilit y (cr) at a gl a nce About this report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 World map of all Corporate Responsibility Projects and Initiatives 2008/2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ou r cr st r at egy Our stakeholders – partners in sustainability . . . . . . . . 24 Developing a comprehensive CR strategy . . . . . . . . . . . 24 An interview with the Head of Kuoni CR. . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ou r ou t r each From the chairman of the board of directors and the group CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sustainability at Kuoni – an external view . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Kuoni Facts & Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 in volv em en ts w i t h ou r sta k eholder s Our employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Our partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Our customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Our suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Our destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 ou r pr inciples The new Kuoni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Corporate governance: helping to create sustainable added value . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Kuoni Code of Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ou r goa ls The challenges and the roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Key goals for the 2009/2010 reporting period . . . . . . . 61 Indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) . . 622009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=7http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=7cor por ate r esponsibilit y r eport 2008/2009 7 Corporate Responsibility at a glance About this report Our 2008/2009 Corporate Responsibility Report is the second such publication (the first appeared in 2007). In this report, we brief our stakeholders and interested members of the public on our activities and investments in ensuring and improving sustainability, especially in social and environmental terms, of our business. This report informs about our philosophy, our progress in CR to date, our current projects and initiatives and our goals to further implement CR within the whole Kuoni Group. We aim at informing and involving different stakeholders about our work towards sustainable tourism. It is geared to our own employees, who have great potential to make our business more sustainable in their daily work. Further key stakeholders we want to inform include our customers, analysts and investors, the media, NGOs, our suppliers and our various partners working in the public and the private sector, both in source countries and tourism destinations. The broader aim of our CR is to minimise the adverse impact of tourist travel and maximise its positive effects in the long term. The scale of our outreach and the principles and values we take as guidelines to operate, are further elaborated in the first and second chapter of the report. We focus on four priority areas: protecting children from sexual abuse in tourism, promoting fair working conditions, finding solutions for water scarcity in destinations and mitigating the consequences of climate change. The strategy-finding process is explained in detail in the third chapter. We bear our CR together with our prime stakeholders – our employees, our partners, our customers, our suppliers and our destinations. The following sections of this report are structured around these key stakeholder groups: ou r em ploy ees: The Kuoni Group employs 9 797 (full-timeequivalent) people around the world. We show in this chapter how we work with them and what actions we are currently taking to ensure that CR is firmly rooted in the Kuoni culture. ou r pa rtner s: Kuoni continues to build on its collaborations with various partners in the international community such as the Tour Operator Initiative (TOI). And we do so because we are convinced that all sustainability endeavours throw up global problems that can only be tackled globally and through close coordination among all the players involved. ou r custom er s: Customers are becoming more and more sensitive to issues such as child labour, pollution and climate change, and they expect us to take these concerns seriously, too. We want Kuoni to be a byword for ethical values. At the same time, we strive to motivate our customers to play their part, too, in achieving our objectives. ou r supplier s: We endeavour with our suppliers (such as hotel partners) to integrate social and environmental standards into the value-adding chain. We illustrate in this chapter how these collaborations work and how we are committing our suppliers to assume their own responsibilities, too. ou r dest inat ions: As the foundations of all our products, our holiday destinations must be protected, and their precious resources must be developed with care. We show here how we initiate and support projects in various countries. Finally, we have a closer look at the roadmap for the next reporting period and the challenges we face – how we intend to address these is elaborated in the last chapter of the report. This report is based on the latest internationallyrecognised good-reporting recommendations of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Kuoni Group will continue to issue regular Corporate Responsibility Reports. The date of our next report will be announced well in advance on our www.kuoni-group.com/corporate+responsibility webpage, which also offers further information on our ongoing sustainability activities and our progress therein.2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=8http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=88 cor por ate r esponsibilit y r eport 2008/2009 woRld MaP oF all CoRPoRaTe ResPonsibiliTy PRojECTS anD InITIaTIvES 2008/2009 PRoJeCT all core issues woRldwide The Kuoni CR network Imparting knowledge The Kuoni Code: implementation of ethical principles human Resources: investment in the quality of our employees active involvement in the Tour operators' initiative sustainable tourism training Providing information for analysts and investors incorporating ethical requirements into our contractual terms Travelife loCal 1 2 3 4 Stakeholder Page 3 4 5 6 PRoJeCT The Kuoni academy, india and China Grants for underprivileged, India Tourism training, Dominican Republic Training future hosts, Kenya Vocational training, Cambodia a helping hand to local communities, Sri Lanka Siyabonga: our project in South africa Stakeholder destinations destinations destinations destinations destinations destinations destinations Page 53 53 54 54 55 55 55 employees employees employees employees partners partners partners suppliers suppliers 30 30 21, 31 32,33 36 37 37 46 47 7 8 9 water woRldwide Protecting the seas: the World ocean Council loCal 1 2 partners 37 Energy and water efficiency: training workshops, Thailand and Sri Lanka water dams, Kenya suppliers destinations 48 55 employee initiative: Procurement at asian Trails, asia ananea, switzerland green! by apollo, scandinavia The green Planet award: a waterborne seal of eco-approval, switzerland employees customers suppliers suppliers 31 40 49 49 climate change woRldwide Carbon offsets for our business air travel Carbon offsets for air travel emissions a film to explain the carbon neutral ticket loCal employees customers customers 31 42 43 child protection woRldwide Protecting children: upholding The Code Flyer child protection: never turn a blind eye! loCal 1 2 partners customers 36 42 1 2 3 employee initiative: novair an inhouse environmental management system, switzerland and netherlands Energy and water efficiency: training workshops in Thailand and Sri Lanka Renewable energy and waste disposal: key issues for hotels in Mexico Protecting coral reefs in Egypt Protecting coral reefs in the Maldives myclimate: valuable compost for bali GreenSeat: composting in Egypt employees employees suppliers suppliers destinations destinations destinations destinations 31 31 48 49 56 56 57 57 Establishing a network to combat child sex tourism, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Kenya "Children at risk", Kenya suppliers destinations 47 4 52 5 6 7 8 working conditions loCal 1 2 Hotels in Bulgaria: planning social and environmental progress Professional training, Myanmar suppliers destinations 48 522009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=9http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=9cor por ate r esponsibilit y at a gl a nce 9 1 3 2 2 2 4 euRoPe 1 asia 1 noRTh aMeRiCa 8 5 4 1 5 1 3 4 1 8 3 1 6 2 6 2 7 2 1 3 1 7 3 aFRiCa souTh aMeRiCa & CaRibbean 9 ausTRalia2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=10http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=102009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=11http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=11r esponsibilit y . r eliabilit y . vision2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=12http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=1212 r esponsibilit y . r eli a bilit y . vision . Our outreach FRoM The ChaiRMan oF The boaRd oF diReCToRs and The gRouP Ceo For over a hundred years, Kuoni has been privileged – and dedicated – to take people’s most prized possession, their leisure time, and make their dreams come true . We don’t just sell holidays – we provide unique and unforgettable moments of travel – moments that last . Yet the very thing that renders our business so rewarding presents us with our greatest challenge: that of sustaining our economic, ecological and social resources for today’s and future generations . While Kuoni is committed to creating economic value, we’re far from indifferent to how we do it . The well-being of the entire natural world and the people in it are also inextricably linked to a responsible approach . We are committed to the highest Corporate Responsibility (CR) standards attainable and we empower people to protect the natural environment . It’s a challenge and a responsibility which we willingly accept . As one of the world’s leading travel organisations, Kuoni has been renowned for its innovations for many years . Our journeys are created with the same dedication and inspiration as a work of art . We demonstrated this talent in 2008 to particular effect . With our new product lines, and our modernised and global brand alignment, we have again shown a keen awareness of today’s sensitivities to develop a new travel culture . It’s the unique combination of tradition, experience and innovation that sets Kuoni apart . Since 1906 we have always looked to the future of travel; and we will continue to do so . Today, no company can afford to act irresponsibly . Customers are becoming more and more sensitive . Investors want to know where their money is going and the media and financial analysts are keen to learn about our sustainability strategy . Our own employees also expect us to act responsibly and are fully prepared to play their part . CR is our way of maintaining an open dialogue with all our stakeholders and involving them to ensure the sustainability of our business . We see this collaboration as crucial to our continued success . We want to work with our stakeholders to create and maintain an ethical brand that people admire . Our objective is to be a responsible corporate citizen and mitigate the existing or anticipated adverse impacts of our business . That’s why CR is such a cornerstone of our corporate strategy . By integrating it into everything we do, we aim to achieve an optimum balance between our business activities and our social, economic and environmental responsibilities . But CR isn’t only an investment in Kuoni’s long-term future; it’s also a key element in our differentiation strategy . We believe that by maintaining our responsibility to our partners and the environment we operate in, we can constantly enhance our reputation and performance and create added value in both the short and the long term, in our source markets and at our destinations . Ultimately, we are convinced that our sustain-2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=13http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=13our ou tr each 13 ability endeavours will increase our shareholder value, making us a more competitive company in an increasingly challenging market, and will give our customers an even more inspiring travel experience and our employees an even more rewarding place to work . Our CR strategy is about doing things differently, in ways that better serve broader stakeholder needs . By doing good, we can do well for our shareholders, too . CR is also a source of innovation and opportunities, and is perceived, practised and promoted at all levels throughout the Kuoni Group . It is an essential element in our corporate culture, too . After all, responsibility is a vital facet of our “reliability” core value: Kuoni maintains high moral and ethical standards, from the Board of Directors to the youngest trainee . Every one of our employees can assume responsibility; and we expect them to do so, too . You’ll find full details of our CR philosophy, our commitment and their practical application here in our second Corporate Responsibility Report . You’ll read about our overall CR strategy and our four primary focuses: preventing child sex tourism, ensuring fair working conditions, providing good water at our destinations and helping to combat climate change . Kuoni is firmly set on a solution-based course of sustainable change . It’s still early days, though, and we have much more to do . One of our main challenges will be to leverage the environmental and social performance along the value chain – including our suppliers . A further challenge will be to enhance the monitoring of our CR endeavours, to help better predict trends and future risks . To reassess, refine and extend our programmes and initiatives remains a further priority . Provided we all work together, and provided we build on the values, knowledge and experience of our employees and our partners, we have the resources, the talent and the creativity we need to succeed . By investing now, we have everything to gain: new markets, lower operat- ing costs and stable and prosperous societies . It’s this higher purpose that binds us together at Kuoni – both as a company and as a responsible corporate citizen . PeTeR RoThwell Chief Executive officer henning boysen Chairman of the board of directors2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=14http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=1414 r esponsibilit y . r eli a bilit y . vision . SuSTaInaBILITy aT KuonI – an exTeRnal View Corporations are facing a challenge unlike ever before to balance corporate and community interests and meeting the needs and expectations of all stakeholders has become an essential role of corporate responsibility . In order to do this, several issues must be recognised, as they will challenge corporations to think differently about the scope of societal impacts: h Corporate responsibility will continue to be a key business issue . Recent collapses of travel companies, as well as issues surrounding accountability and governance, have led to distrust in the market . This has also undermined shareholders’ trust in corporate leadership . Companies will not be able to operate without giving consideration to the impact on society of their operations . Linking policies with performance will help to address stakeholder concerns that CR is little more than public relations . h Current and future economic pressure may redefine the scope of corporate sustainability and challenge competitiveness . Increased movement, however, towards a global criterion for sustainable tourism will push the industry toward compliance, reporting and transparency, as well as continue to raise consumer awareness and expectations . h Outbound tourism is being increasingly driven by emerging source markets such as the Middle East and Asia Pacific . With global travel expected to rise to one billion a year by 2010, key outbound markets will start to shift to address these changes . h Recent and future effects of climate change such as coral reef damage and a potential sealevel rise will have a catastrophic effect on tourism product . Not only will extreme weather patterns affect tourism; water issues will soon become a political topic, too . h As tourism is one industry that brings its consumers to the point of consumption, the new shift in the way energy is priced, produced and consumed will mean a fundamental shift in business . h Supply chain management will become more focused at the destination level as human rights issues and social equity increasingly gain public attention . h Consumer awareness about sustainability will continue to increase, with a concomitant rise in people’s expectations that their travel provider doesn’t just offer value for money but acts responsibly, too . Kuoni is the largest travel company in Switzerland and one of the leading travel organisations in the world . Active in over 40 countries, Kuoni is moving towards ensuring that CR becomes part of its core business operations . The company has made good attempts to reduce negative social and environmental impacts, with its efforts in 2008 focused on increasing supplier accountability, training, education and environmental projects . One of the positive initiatives has been to introduce a new product line called ananea, a sustainable product line including volunteering2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=15http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=15our ou tr each 15 packages . Providing alternative travel arrangements that demonstrate social and environmental consciousness, addresses both the need for diversification of product in the mainstream market, as well as meeting increasing demand among travellers for authentic and educational experiences . Possibly one of the most influential movements towards responsible business is Kuoni’s movement towards certification and labeling through an audit process of their suppliers . Although only in its infancy, contractual clauses for ethical adherence are a good start . Working with the supply chain can be difficult due to lack of direct control over suppliers and ensuring that good practice actually trickles down to the destination level must be measured . Water, waste and energy reduction projects have been started and will be replicated elsewhere . Working with suppliers to provide incentives for compliance to such measures would help move this initiative forward and Kuoni could then publicly promote these achievements to celebrate their success . Kuoni has started to sensitize customers and provide training to hotels to decrease the increasing evidence of sex tourism . To ensure that this exploitation stops, Kuoni now must include not just hotels but also all the other relevant stakeholders such as suppliers and partners and ensure that they become part of the training sessions . The company is also implementing multiple programmes to mitigate the negative impact of climate change . Composting projects in Egypt and Bali reduce waste and at the same time generate carbon credits to offset Kuoni’s business air travel emissions . Customers also have the option to voluntarily offset their flight emissions . And carbon reduction goals should soon be adopted at all Kuoni offices worldwide . Another good Kuoni initiative is the company’s support of people at its destinations worldwide through training academies . These schools are providing skills and work experience to underprivileged children, and graduate numbers are increasing yearly . Kuoni’s work with The Travel Foundation to help youths in Sri Lanka gain alternative forms of livelihood is also a positive step in the right direction to providing sustainable tourism offerings . The initiatives described in this report demonstrate an encouraging start to addressing social and environmental issues . Kuoni has a wide range of partners and projects to help it achieve its goals . There is still much work to be done, however . Key performance indicators, as well as measuring goals and objectives for all projects, need to be outlined and reported on . Tying manager’s performance to link social and environmental measures alongside profit and loss is imperative for accountability and could be a proposed next step . Global pressures are challenging corporations to think differently about the scope of societal impacts . And Kuoni needs to ensure that all the dimensions of its performance reflect the val- ues, interests and expectations of society . This requires the company to take steps to proactively manage its reputation and performance, by integrating stakeholder values and interests into all levels of decision-making and accountability . The following document outlines some of the advances that the Kuoni Group is making to increase adaptability and move towards longterm sustainability . RaChel dodds, Phd director, sustaining Tourism With over 18 years of experience in the industry, Dr. Rachel Dodds is an established expert in the field of sustainable tourism. she is the director of sustaining Tourism, a boutique consultancy as well as an assistant Professor at Ryerson university in the Ted Rogers school of hospitality and Tourism Management.2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=16http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=1616 r esponsibilit y . r eli a bilit y . vision . a bRieF PoRTRaiT oF The KuonI GRouP – aCTIvE SInCE 1906 The Kuoni Group is one of Europe’s leading tourist travel companies, and generated consolidated turnover of CHF 4 855 million in 2008 with a worldwide workforce of 9 797 (full-timeequivalent) employees . The company’s activities are focused on its Leisure Travel and Destination Management businesses . Head Office is in Zurich, Switzerland, where Alfred Kuoni founded the company back in 1906 . The Kuoni Group has steadily and systematically developed its position in the world travel market over the years, and has branch operations today in more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America . Kuoni aims to be the world’s best and most successful tourist travel company in the premium and specialist segment . The Kuoni Group was named “World’s Leading Tour Operator” at the World Travel Awards in 2008, the eleventh time it has earned this distinction . business Model Business activities at the Kuoni Group focus on two business areas: leisure travel and destination management . Leisure travel is categorised into premium, specialist and mainstream segments . This business area accounted for 78% of the Kuoni Group’s total turnover in 2008 . In destination management, Kuoni is number one in the USA, India and East Africa, as well as being one of the leading providers in Europe, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and now also the United Arab Emirates and Australia too . Destination management activities generated 22% of the Group’s turnover for the reporting period . The two business areas are integrated according to a business strategy of low vertical integration . This means Kuoni owns practically no fixed assets such as aircraft, ships and hotels . Variable costs account for 78% of the total . Thus, the Kuoni business model has proven itself to be both very flexible and crisis-resistant in the past . More information about Kuoni, including Executive Board and Board members’ CVs, can be found on the Group’s website at www .kuoni-group .com/About+Us/ .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=17http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=17our ou tr each 17 KuonI GRouP – faCTS anD fIGuRES ChF Million 2008 2007 Turnover by strategic business unit switzerland scandinavia europe united Kingdom asia & destination Management Corporate Turnover by activity leisure Travel destination Management Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by Strategic Business unit switzerland scandinavia europe united Kingdom asia & destination Management Corporate net result Cash flow investments in tangible and intangible assets Total assets Kuoni Economic Profit (KEP) Return on invested capital (RoIC) average number of employees (full-time equivalents) 4 855 1 028 1 179 699 661 1 373 14 4 855 3 880 1 100 151.5 39.6 35.1 20.7 31.5 60.6 –36.0 152.1 108.7 59.5 1 729 72.9 18.9 % 9 797 4 699 1 001 992 752 770 1 273 13 4 699 3 825 1 009 139.5 19.8 44.6 21.4 43.9 48.2 –38.4 135.7 256.9 53.2 1 937 60.4 17.00 % 8 8262009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=18http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=182009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=19http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=19values . mission . contex t .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=20http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=2020 va lues . mission . con tex t Our principles The new Kuoni The Kuoni Group is undergoing one of the most comprehensive transformations in its history since last year . This exciting process saw Kuoni totally reposition its brand, endowing it with new corporate values, new products and services and a new visual identity . And at the heart of all these endeavours was a redefinition of what Kuoni essentially stands for which now serves as our prime guideline in all our work and activities . In its over 100 years of existence, Kuoni has developed an unmistakable brand personality that is marked as much by its past achievements as by its visions of the future for the travel world . The Kuoni brand personality is based on the three values of “reliability”, “authenticity” and “passion”, which combine to create “perfect moments” for the customer . So on the one hand, Kuoni stands for such solid and timeless values as reliability, responsibility and uncompromising quality; and on the other it stands for genuine and intensive travel experiences, together with creativity, passion and innovative flair . Kuoni strives to offer its customers the same reliability and precision that would be provided by a quality timepiece and the same professional assistance and advice that would be given by a top-notch wine dealer who guides and inspires their customers time and time again . At the same time, though, the customer should also feel the strong emotional appeal of Kuoni’s unique blend of its proud tradition, its feel for future trends and its promise of an unforgettable travel experience . It’s a promise that Kuoni is well able to deliver on, too, thanks to its employees’ passionate commitment to making “perfect moments” out of their customers’ invaluable leisure time . And in doing so, Kuoni is also fully aware of its responsibility as a tour operator to the countries it is active in, and adopts the highest ethical and moral standards in all its dealings with the people who live there and towards the local natural environment . As well as redefining its values, Kuoni has been giving long and careful thought to the future of our society and the travel sector in general . Our aim here is to truly understand the 21st-Century travellers and their dreams, desires and needs . To this end, we are engaged in regular exchanges of views with leading individuals from various fields; and these encounters have given us input and inspirations that are helping us refine our own ideas and develop genuine visions for the future of the travel business . To take just one example, we have come to appreciate that new values have now established themselves among the more affluent customers, the trendsetters and the leaders of our times: they are becoming more selective and demanding, they are coming to seek a deeper meaning to what they do (including how they spend their holidays) and they are putting an ever-growing emphasis on personal values such as responsibility, fairness, knowledge, confidence, sustainability, closeness and time . The shifts in these key values are prompting Kuoni, too, to focus on such concerns and respond accordingly by devising new forms of travel, offering carefully-differentiated products and providing a unique service that can continue to fulfil the dreams and expectations of the world’s most discerning customers . Our new Concierge Service, for instance, takes Kuoni’s service principles to new highs; and our new cultimo and ananea product lines address key needs and priorities of travellers today, be they the desire for a truly authentic experience or a heightened awareness of the greatest challenges of our times . Kuoni not only offers its guests the chance to spend their holidays in true harmony with nature and other cultures, though; it is also closely involved in these issues itself, through various social programmes and environmental protection projects throughout its supply chain . Its responsible behaviour in so many of these2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=21http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=21our pr inciples 21 language that is high-quality and authentic and appeals with a confident elegance to discerning customers who strive to follow the zeitgeist in their travel activities, too . With its new corporate identity, Kuoni has laid the foundations to turn itself, for the first time in its history, into a truly global brand that communicates the same values, strengths and promises all over the world . CoRPoRaTe goVeRnanCe: helPing To CReaTe susTainable added Value Kuoni’s corporate governance is based extensively on the Swiss Code of Best Practice for Corporate Governance issued by economiesuisse, and the standards it prescribes are applied to the company’s organisation, management and business processes worldwide . Its aim is to create sustainable added value for the company’s shareholders, promote transparency in its actions and activities, reconcile the interests of its management and its shareholders and enable decisions to be made efficiently and in the best interests of its long-term success . Further details of Kuoni’s corporate governance are provided in the 2008 anual report . This information is also available as a download at www .kuoni-group .com/Investor+Relations/ Reports+and+Presentations/Financial+ Information/ . The Kuoni Code oF ConduCT One key element in Kuoni’s corporate governance is the company’s Code of Conduct, which was approved by the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board at the beginning of 2007 . “The Kuoni Code”, as it is more commonly known, lays down clear groupwide guidelines on the correct and ethical behaviour which Kuoni expects and demands of all its employees . The Kuoni Code serves as a checklist for all Kuoni Group employees . It describes the general minimal standards of integrity and respect which Kuoni expects of its employees all over the world; and, in doing so, it helps them assess their own actions or intentions and/or encourages them to consult their superior, Human Resources or the Kuoni Group Compliance Officer in cases of doubt or conflict of interest . In more serious cases, such as gross violations of the law or of binding internal directives, the Kuoni Code also enables an employee to act as a “whistleblower” and report the matter to the Kuoni Group Compliance Officer in the knowledge that it will be treated in the strictest of confidence . The Kuoni Code also expressly protects any genuine whistleblower from subsequent reprisals . The Kuoni Code is binding for all the company’s employees, and is distributed to every employee who joins the Kuoni Group anywhere in the world . It is also available from any HR unit, on the company intranet and on the Kuoni Group website at www .kuoni-group .com/ Corporate+Responsibility/Strategy .htm . The specific local application of the Kuoni Code and its principles and provisions has been entrusted to the individual subsidiary companies or country organisations . And the corresponding Human Resources units help them do so by conducting regular training sessions demonstrating how the Kuoni Code can be applied in local situations and thus further anchoring it within the Kuoni corporate culture . In taking these actions, Kuoni is showing both its own employees and the outside world that, as a leading global tour operator, it is keenly committed to sustainable ethical behaviour that fully complies with all legal provisions . After all, responsibility is a key element in Kuoni’s “reliability” value, and Kuoni has always striven to apply the highest moral and ethical standards to all its actions and activities .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=22http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=222009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=23http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=23stak eholders . m ater ialit y . focus .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=24http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=2424 sta k eholder s . m ater i alit y . focus . competitors investors suppliers employees ngo k uoni destinations industry partners customers regulators media shareholders Our CR strategy ouR STaKEHoLDERS – PaRTneRs in susTainabiliTy In performing its business activities, Kuoni must pay due regard to the wishes, needs and concerns of various stakeholder groups . Maintaining an active and constructive dialogue with all these parties helps us ensure that our Corporate Responsibility strategy is aligned to society’s needs and is adopted and pursued accordingly . We work together with our stakeholders to identify external expectations and pressures and transform these risks into opportunities, innovations and competitive advantages . We benefit from working with our stakeholders by considering their interests . This is an investment in the sustainability of our business and our own continued success . Kuoni wants to be seen and felt by its stakeholders to be a ”good citizen“ and a diligent and responsible player on ethical issues . We accept and appreciate how important it is to engage our stakeholders and identify and understand their interests and concerns . After all, we depend on them all over the world; and we have a strong interest in ensuring their prosperous future, too . Our involvement with our stakeholders is focused on the following key groups: Our collaborations with our customers, our employees, our suppliers and various partners at destinations and elsewhere all play a vital role in implementing Kuoni’s CR strategy . The present report illustrates how we work with these various Kuoni's key stakeholders groups and what projects we undertook in 2008 together with our stakeholders within and beyond the Kuoni Group . deVeloPing a CoMPRehensiVe CoRPoRaTe ResPonsibiliTy sTRaTegy Our CR strategy provides a clear vision of how we can continue our business transformation in a way that benefits our employees, our customers, society, the environment and Kuoni as a company .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=25http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=25our cr str ategy 25 The strategy is founded on a set of clear and consistent priorities mapping of CR topics priority setting of CR topics definition of core CR areas projects and initiatives for each CR area review of projects and initiatives long list of CR topics Perceived relative importance in eye of stakeholders h Comparison with competitors h h Ranking and clustering of topics h Prioritisation of areas that have strong business link h h Definition of a consistent set of priority areas Prioritisation and implementation of projects and activities which have strong links to Kuoni‘s business h Involvement of stakeholders and organisation h CR Cockpit (project; targets; fulfilment) h Continous review and reprioritisation of projects and activities h Priorities are set based on relevance of CR topics to our business and external stakeholders CliMaTe Change suPPly Chain ManageMenT susTainable waTeR suPPly woRKing CondiTions environmental issues (waste, wastewater etc.) The impact of the issue on Kuoni’s business biodiVeRsiTy Child PRoTeCTion huMan RighTs Our Corporate Responsibility strategy has been systematically developed and based closely on the above “phase” model . In adopting and pursuing it, we aim to manage and monitor the ecological, social and economic effects of our actions and activities to secure the sustainable development of our company and its business and thereby ensure that Kuoni makes a positive contribution to the sustainable development of society as a whole . This report covers Kuoni's most material issues – those that we have identified as relevant and significant for our business . We do this by looking at the following criteria: h h high investment in developing countries issue destinations The impact of the issue on Kuoni’s business The perceived degree of stakeholder interest in the issue low high The perceived degree of stakeholder interest in the issue CR core topics2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=26http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=2626 sta k eholder s . m ater i alit y . focus . an inTeRView wiTh MaTThias leisingeR, head oF CoRPoRaTe ResPonsibiliTy oF The Kuoni gRouP MaTThias leisingeR, Kuoni’s Head of Corporate Responsibility (CR), on sustainable tourism, the role of CR within the Kuoni group and the CR challenges ahead Aren’t tourist travel and CR simply incompatible? Or, to put it another way, can Kuoni really achieve anything with its CR programme, or is it all just damage limitation? I’m convinced that our efforts to protect the people and the natural world are worthwhile . By working with our customers, our employees, our hotel partners and the people who live and work at our destinations, we can help ensure that tourism is practised and developed in a sustainable way . Together with our stakeholders, we can make a tangible contribution to the value-adding process in many of these countries . In other words: we assume responsibility for what we do, within our range of influence and our possibilities . If we want to be viewed as a responsible company today, we need to do more than comply with the law . We need to play an active and a substantial part in ensuring a better tourist product and a fair tourist sector . Many CR programmes seem to be little more than window-dressing. What makes Kuoni’s different? We try to remain realistic, and we’re well aware of what we can and can’t do . We don’t see CR as “saving the world” . But we do see it as part of our broader efforts to look into the future of the travel sector . It’s not just our product that relies on the world’s resources being used in a sustainable way, though; it’s the whole well-being of the natural environment and the people within it that’s at stake here . And if we don’t help preserve and protect that, we’ll be seriously jeopardising our own core business . That leads us on to your CR strategy. Could you describe it in a few words? In a nutshell, CR is an active component in Kuoni’s corporate and differentiation strat- egy . We play our part in ensuring responsible tourist travel by conducting and supporting various projects and initiatives that are all clearly related to our core business activities . And how do you do this in concrete terms? We aim to make travel as responsible and meaningful as possible in social, ecological and economic terms . What’s important here is that as well as the social and the ecological aspects, a travel company’s activities must be economically sustainable, too . It’s only by ensuring our own business stability that we can maintain a long-term commitment to ecological and social concerns; and, conversely, social and ecological stability are essential if we are to enjoy long-term business success . We also attach great value to open communications on all the issues involved, and to actively involving all our various stakeholder groups in our CR activities, from our customers and our employees to our hotel partners at our destinations . So what kind of focus have you set in your CR activities? When we devised our CR strategy, we set ourselves clear priorities . And we did so by asking: What are the issues that CR generally concerns itself with? Where should we place our own focus? And what actions can we undertake to make a meaningful contribution there? That’s how we settled on our core CR themes of climate change, human rights and supply chain management . Those are pretty broad topics. Is Kuoni concentrating its CR on particular aspects of them? Yes, we are focusing on four key issues within these broader topic areas . We help to protect children and adolescents from sexual exploita- Matthias Leisinger, what do you want “CR at Kuoni” to mean? That we’re living up to our responsibilities, not just in the countries where our people work, but at our vacation destinations, too . Our product offers our customers unique and enriching encounters with other peoples, cultures and worlds . We are well aware, though, that these activities don’t just have a positive 2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=27http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=27our cr str ategy 27 tion in the tourist sector; we strive to ensure fair work conditions within the tourism industry; we help improve the water at our destinations; and we defined a comprehensive strategy to help prevent climate change . We’ve taken numerous actions in all four areas in the past few years . To give just a few examples, we facilitate various training and educational projects within the tourism sector, we support an exemplary climate protection project on Bali, and we conduct workshops with our suppliers to improve social and environmental standards . Can you really measure the progress and successes of projects like these? Yes, at least to some extent . We can say how many hotels we’ve trained to be more energy and water-efficient, how much energy we’ve saved at our head office or how many training places we sponsor . The question is: how much does that tell us? What we really want is the hotels applying what they learn in our workshops . Or young people from the training courses we fund being able to stand up for fair working conditions . Or just that our suppliers meet the ethical requirements that we write into our contracts . In the end, it’s higher quality that we’re interested in most . That’s very difficult to measure; but it does pay off in the longer term . No company or research institute has yet managed to calculate the value of CR in monetary terms . But if you look at what investors and analysts are focusing on today, it’s clear that social responsibility is becoming more and more of a corporate credential . And any company that wants to be successful must take social, ecological and economic sustainability to heart within its core business . So when it comes to CR, is Kuoni more interested in seeing its stakeholders benefit than its shareholders? We want both our shareholders and our stakeholders to benefit from the sustainability of our business activities . In fact, these two aspirations are closely interconnected . Our CR won’t be sustainable unless all our stakeholders – including our shareholders – benefit from it . That’s why we’re so keen to integrate our CR firmly into our core business . We want CR to be perceived and practised at all corporate levels and from our core external stakeholders such as our suppliers, too; and we want to make it a cornerstone of our Kuoni culture . After all, CR is also a key facet of our “reliability” core value: Kuoni always acts in accordance with high moral and ethical standards . Moving from the external to the internal perspective, where is CR located within the Kuoni organisation? CR is a groupwide concern that we have placed at the highest levels of our organisation . This not only reflects the clear commitment to CR by our Group Executive Board and Board of Directors; it’s also a vital requirement if we are to increasingly integrate it into our activities . That process still takes a lot of persuasion, determination and personal discussions, though, and demands a fair few compromises, too . We have to get all the key people on board, and we have to cultivate an awareness on all sides of all the issues involved . So who are the key people who are helping to establish CR throughout the Kuoni Group? In the last few months we’ve created a “CR Network” consisting of representatives from a number of our country organisations such as Kuoni France, India, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland and UK, our Destination Management and our headquarter's CR unit . This is our core CR team, which is actively involved in devising our CR strategy and content and selecting our CR projects . On top of this, we’ve appointed a contact person in all our other countries who is responsible for CR and for communicating our CR concerns internally and externally in addition to their other duties . Then we have further representatives from our corporate units – Human Resources, Investor Relations and so on – who are part of our broader CR circle and contribute their own energy a2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=28http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=282009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=29http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=29passion . com mitment . cult ur e .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=30http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=3030 passion . com mitmen t . cult ur e . 1. Our employees Key achievements in 2008: h h h h h h h Establishing an internal “CR Network”. Regular bulletins on CR worldwide. Various initiatives showing employees’ commitment and concern. 9% energy savings at head office through the environmental management system. Carbon offsets for all business air travel at several business units. The Kuoni Code: implementation of ethical principles. Human Resources: investment in the quality of our people around the world. Our interactions with our employees are vital to further integrating our Corporate Responsibility considerations and concerns into Kuoni’s business processes and making CR a firm fixture in our global corporate culture. It is important that our top management is credibly and consistently committed to our social and ecological duties. We must ensure that all our employees develop an awareness of our Corporate Responsibility. After all, a convinced employee will be our best possible ambassador internally and externally and a driving force for maintaining sustainability within our core business activities. 1.1 The Kuoni CR neTwoRK In creating a “virtual CR team” we have taken a further key step in our endeavours to anchor Corporate Responsibility groupwide . The new CR Network consists of eight employees, most of them in management positions, who are drawn from Kuoni UK, France, Netherlands, India, Scandinavia and Switzerland and the Kuoni Destination Management . The new team should provide the organisational means, too, to ensure that CR is further integrated and observed throughout the Kuoni Group . 1.2 iMPaRTing Knowledge We are steadily sensitising our employees worldwide to sustainability issues and considerations within the tourism sector, through training, a regular CR Newsletter, CR Briefings and various personal contacts . Our four key focuses – protecting children, fair working conditions, good water and preventing climate change – are centrestage in all the knowledge transfers involved . By informing and sensitising our employees, we aim to create a foundation on which we can effectively integrate Corporate Responsibility into the day-today processes within our core business .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=31http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=31our employees 31 1.3 eMPloyee iniTiaTiVes Kuoni has a worldwide workforce of 9 797 (fulltime-equivalent) employees . And many of them are already developing their own ideas and taking their own actions to help ensure that certain social and ecological standards are maintained in their area of activity . A few examples: henr ik ek st r a nd, pilot a nd en v ironm en ta l a ffa ir s officer at nova ir : “At Novair we established our own environmental management system back in 2007 . This year we should become the first charter airline in the world to trial a new ‘green approach’ project to reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions . The project is part of the SESAR-AIRE initiative, which is supported by the European Union, and demonstrates the potential of further fuel savings by the use of modern technology . Flight trials will be conducted at Stockholm airport this year . This project should allow us to save 100 kilos of fuel per flight . The total sum of savings of all the things done is more than 300 kilos per flight or 1 000 tonnes a year . And that will cut our annual carbon dioxide emissions by over 3 300 tonnes . ” a ndr é va n m a erck, hea d of procu r em en t at asi a n t r a ils: “In my job I’m in direct contact with our hotel partners, and that allows me to appeal specifically to their social and environmental responsibilities . As a rule, our partner hotels respond very positively to our commitment and our requirements of them: they can also see the many benefits of practising responsible management in social and ecological terms, and they tend to welcome any support we offer . My job also involves ensuring not only that all our hotel agreements include the corresponding ‘ethical clauses’ but that these are duly observed, too . I also raise issues such as child protection and environmental management directly with our hotel partners; and, in doing so, I show how seriously we take corporate responsibility at Kuoni, and how important it is for our people and hotels we have a contract with .” results, including efficiency measures that have achieved a further 9% reduction in energy consumption at Kuoni Head Office . 1.6 CaRbon oFFseTs FoR ouR business aiR TRaVel Some business trips have to be made by air . But Kuoni assumes responsibility for helping to protect our climate . So we ensure that all the business air travel undertaken by Kuoni France, India, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland and UK is carbon-neutral . The carbon dioxide emissions these travel activities generate are fully offset through our partner projects with myclimate on Bali and GreenSeat in Egypt . 1.4 THE KuonI CoDE of ConDuCT The Kuoni Code is our groupwide guideline on correct and ethical behaviour . Please read on page 21 about how these corporate governance measures are implemented within the Kuoni Group . 1.5 an In-HouSE EnvIRonMEnTaL ManageMenT sysTeM Kuoni has established an ISO 14001-certificated environmental management system for both its Swiss and its Dutch operations . The system is consistently maintained by all the personnel involved, and has already delivered tangible2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=32http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=3232 passion . com mitmen t . cult ur e . 1.7 HuMan RESouRCES: PRojECTS In susTainabiliTy aRound The woRld What began in a small travel agency in Zurich over 100 years ago is still carried on and further developed day in, day out by thousands of Kuoni employees worldwide . As a global tour operator, the Kuoni Group brings people together all around the world . In doing so, it doesn’t just help them experience the culture and customs of their host country: personal values such as responsibility, knowledge, trust, sustainability and time are also becoming more and more important to travellers today . The employees of the Kuoni Group, drawn from so many different backgrounds, have a particular role to play here . Kuoni has always believed that having skilled and motivated employees who can enjoy a pleasant working environment at a solid and healthy company and are fairly remunerated for their work provides the soundest of foundations for its continued success . After all, it’s our people who bring our customers, our local hosts and all our further partners together . That’s why identifying and nurturing the abilities, motivation and potential of the 9797 (full-time-equivalent) people who work for the Kuoni Group all over the globe, supporting its corporate culture and ensuring that its values are firmly and sustainably anchored therein are among the most important tasks of Kuoni’s Human Resources organisation . Because Kuoni wants to recruit, develop and retain people with a passion for the business, and equip them with all the skills and resources they need . True to its principles of long-term investment and sustainable value-adding, Kuoni Human Resources contributed to the Group’s endeavours to become a unique and world-leading travel company through various projects in the reporting period . Its prime aims in doing so were to develop stronger international intragroup networks, promote even greater identification with the company and raise competencies and efficiency among its employees . 1.8 fuTuRE HR: STREnGTHEnInG HuMan ResouRCes CoMPanywide The various activities undertaken by Kuoni’s Corporate Human Resources all help promote a culture of reciprocal understanding throughout the Kuoni Group . To this end, the unit is constantly devising and refining processes and guidelines in the light of the latest market trends . The principles on which these are based must be consistently applicable groupwide, yet must also pay due and full regard to local needs and conditions . Corporate Human Resources is also expected to support the overall strategy of the Kuoni Group and its top management by providing an HR management function that is proactive in its approach and anticipatory in its outlook . It is Corporate HR’s job to ensure that HR activities are aligned to business strategy, to understand and appreciate the business and to support it to the best of its abilities . To ensure that the processes concerned are ap plied as effectively as possible, all Kuoni’s HR2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=33http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=33our employees 33 specialists receive regular and targeted further training . To ensure that the same goals are pursued groupwide, a new “Future HR” organisation was created during the reporting period by an international team of 16 HR specialists . Future HR provides a framework for developing programmes that address vital broader issues such as raising profitability, customer focus, leadership, recruiting and retaining employees and creating value within HR processes . While focusing on developing processes for groupwide application, Future HR also works closely with the Group’s decentralised business units to maintain the all-important proximity to local market and business conditions . It was also under the Future HR banner that the “Employee Cockpit”, which promotes global collaboration, information exchanges and international HR management within Kuoni, was established at the end of 2008 . Areas such as employee performance reviews and training and application management have already been accommodated within the new facility; and 5 000 employees have also been integrated, with the goal of extending this to the entire Kuoni Group workforce by the end of 2009 . 1.9 KuonI EMPLoyEES: CHanGE foR a CoMMon FuTuRe A transformation process was initiated for the entire Kuoni Group in mid-2007 to gradually replace the long-established region and countrybased organisation with one that is centred on three strategic business divisions . The transformation, whose implementation was closely supported by Corporate Human Resources, is also designed to harmonise our brands worldwide and optimise IT infrastructure and applications . The process was concluded in summer 2008, and has produced substantially stronger interlinks throughout the Kuoni Group . This brand harmonisation endeavour has also extended to “Brand Campus” events – local workshops conducted all over the world (in eight different languages) to promote a sense and a spirit of what Kuoni is about . The workshops offer participants the chance to take a long and careful look at the new Kuoni values, the company’s target groups and its new visual language, to appreciate these, identify with them and learn how to apply them in their day-to-day work . Some 2 500 employees attended a first wave of Brand Campus workshops in 2008, and a further 2 500 will follow in 2009 . The above actions have laid a firm foundation for the extraordinary CHF 106 million investment programme which was announced in January 2009 and will extend over the next three years . The funds will be channelled into a number of new key strategic initiatives that should further strengthen the company, primarily by differentiating its products, optimising distribution and reducing costs . Investments intargeted efforts to enhance competencies and in continuously raising efficiency should both deliver cost reductions and prepare all Kuoni employees for the ever-changing tourist travel market and its ever-growing demands . 1.10 a nEW ManaGEMEnT CoMPEnsaTion sysTeM To PRoMoTe a susTainable aPPRoaCh Kuoni introduced a new groupwide and centrally-managed compensation concept in 2008 to provide even greater incentives for its managers to adopt a sustainable long-term approach . The new system, which is applicable to 150 senior managers, is based on valueorientation and groupwide success and draws on divisional and market structures to encourage these managers to give greater weight to common financial interests in their thought and decision-making processes . The new system also reconciles the personal interests of each manager with the goals of the company and the interests of its shareholders, stimulating and rewarding an entrepreneurial approach . The entire concept is founded on a value-based management system known as the Kuoni Economic Profit or KEP: net operating profit after tax, less the cost of capital invested in operations .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=34http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=342009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=35http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=35net wor k . dialogue . expertise .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=36http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=3636 net wor k . di a logue . expertise . 2. Our partners Key achievements in 2008: h h Numerous external partnerships further developed and enhanced. Eleven presentations and workshops conducted at educational institutions. Kuoni strives to ensure the sustainable development of the tourism sector by maintaining a number of collaborations with external partners. In doing so, we are often able to exploit synergic potential, agree on common goals and conduct joint projects to achieve them. 2008 saw the further development and expansion of our partnerships with various educational and scientific institutions, NGOs and interest groups. 2.1 PRoTeCTing ChildRen: uPholding The Code More and more travel corporations and hotels are taking action to fight the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents . Since signing The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism back in 2006, Kuoni has taken active steps to help prevent child prostitution . As part of its commitment to The Code, Kuoni raises its customers’ awareness of the problem, contractually obliges its partners to adopt the same ethical approach and shows its partner hotels and their employees what they should do if they come across any cases of the sexual exploitation of children in the course of their work . www .thecode .org 2.2 aCTiVe inVolVeMenT in The TouR oPeRaToRs’ iniTiaTiVe Kuoni is also closely involved, together with fellow tourist travel organisations from all over the world, in the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI) . The TOI is designed to protect the natural environment, social structures and local cultures at and around holiday destinations . The members of the TOI appreciate that collaboration (rather than competition) is the best way to successfully implement their individual sustainability actions and strategies . Under the TOI, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by making sustainable development a cornerstone of their activities and working together to promote and2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=37http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=37our pa rtner s 37 disseminate methods and practices that are compatible with their sustainable development criteria . The initiative has been developed by tour operators for tour operators, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), who are also full TOI members . www .toinitiative .org of environmental protection and social standards within the cruise ship sector . Kuoni is currently working with the World Ocean Council on ways and means of further developing its Green Planet Awards . The aim here is to raise this eco-label, which has gained ever-greater weight and value over the past few years, to a higher supra-company level and establish an independent international standard and labelling process . 2.4 SuSTaInaBLE TouRISM TRaining Kuoni makes presentations and offers courses on sustainable tourism at various tourism schools and other educational establishments . The company also organises workshops and supports students’ diploma work at Swiss institutions such as the Universty of Applied Sciences (HTW) in Chur, the Academia Engiadina and the Leisure & Tourism Research Institute at the University of Bern . In doing so, we help to plant and nurture a keen awareness of the sustainability issue among young people who will be active within the tourism sector . In 2008, we have coducted eleven presentations and workshops at such educational institution . its energy efficiency and emissions and the steps it is taking to counter climate change . The CDP is an independent non-profit organisation that endeavours to establish long-term partnerships between investors and the private sector which are based on open communications of companies’ emissions and their efforts to minimise climate change . Kuoni strives to maintain an open and constructive dialogue on the business risks and opportunities that derive from the global warming phenomenon or other longterm sustainability issues . In doing so, we aim to find rational responses to the vital challenges these pose . 2.3 PRoTeCTing The seas: The woRld oCean CounCil Protecting the oceans and seas is a key Kuoni concern: beaches and diving areas are, after all, major tourist draws . For many of Kuoni’s stakeholders, too, protecting biodiversity in the world’s waters is a vital concern . Kuoni Switzerland has been addressing this issue since 2003 through its Green Planet Awards, a seal of approval that is bestowed on eco-minded cruise ship operators . Some 67 vessels applied for the Award last year, underlining the keen awareness 2.5 PRovIDInG InfoRMaTIon foR analysTs and inVesToRs Kuoni’s sustainability credentials are assessed by various analysts . These include Bank Sarasin and Centre Info AG, which have both been broadly positive in their findings and conclusions . Kuoni also took part in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2008, presenting details of2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=38http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=382009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=39http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=39au thenticit y . exper iences . involvement .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=40http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4040 au then ticit y . exper iences . in volvemen t . 3. Our customers Key achievements in 2008: h h h Pilot sustainable “ananea” product launched on the Swiss market. Customers sensitised to protecting children from sexual abuse. Voluntary carbon offsets offered for customers’ leisure air travel. Many of our customers want their holidays to be centred around certain basic values such as unspoilt nature, rich cultures and genuine encounters with the local people. At the same time, the public are becoming increasingly sensitised to issues such as child labour, pollution and climate change. And, as they do so, they are coming to expect the companies they deal with to live up to their responsibilities in social and ecological terms. We want our customers to associate the Kuoni brand not only with high quality standards; we also want them to see us as a company that cares about people and the environment. At the same time, we also want to involve our customers in our own sustainability strategy, and offer them the chance to play an active part therein. 3.1 ananea The “ananea“ product line is a new form of travel in harmony with nature, with foreign cultures and with oneself that has been devised by Kuoni Switzerland in close collaboration with the Corporate Responsibility team . Our ananea range consists of exclusive tours and carefullyselected hotels . All the tours are compiled together with people with a vast and thorough knowledge of the region concerned, such as Green Cross specialists . We also collaborate with further selected organisations like Max Havelaar and OceanCare . In addition to its tours, our ananea brochure offers a selection of hotels with particularly outstanding credentials in terms of their commitment to the local population and the natural world . And finally, ananea offers our clients opportunities to travel abroad as volunteers, to give them an even deeper understanding of the issues and projects at their destination . The first ananea programme was published in May 2008, and a second followed in November 2008 in the swisse market . In 2009, ananea will be extended to other Kuoni markets . Eight Swiss customers booked the very first ananea trip – and a very special trip it was . The small group visited Chernobyl in Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident to date in 1986 . The group not only gained a close-up view of the deserted and contaminated city of Pripyat, whose inhabitants were evacuated after the disaster; they were also escorted by an expert from the Green Cross international organisation . Christine Bigler and her Green Cross team offer expertise and action in response to industrial or other disasters anywhere in the world .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=41http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=41our customer s 41 The “ananea” product line has been launched in the Swiss market in May 2008. And the “SocMed” social and medical care and education programme, which is directed by Green Cross Switzerland, secures social and medical support for children and their families . By “helping people to help themselves”, Green Cross helps prevent further stress and suffering in regions that have already been hit hard by current realities . As the Chernobyl example shows, ananea experiences go well beyond the usual holiday fare . ananea enables our clients to explore the world in a uniquely discreet-yet-intensive style, make genuinely moving new acquaintances, immerse themselves in unfamiliar lifestyles, find out more about a gentler and sustainable attitude and approach to the world around us and rediscover their own body and soul in an astonishing atmosphere . They seem to do so, too . As one of the participants on the initial Chernobyl programme said: “This trip has changed me . It’s made me extremely aware of my everyday life . What a wonderful feeling to know that I can stand in a meadow and touch a leaf without endangering my health .” People, those visiting and those being visited, enconter an enriched form of travel experiences . And that is what ananea is all about .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=42http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4242 au then ticit y . exper iences . in volvemen t . a flyer to inform our customers about child protection. 3.2 neVeR TuRn a blind eye! Kuoni is steadily sensitising its customers to the problem of child sex tourism through an information flyer and by online means . Our message here is always the same: never turn a blind eye . Child abuse can never be tolerated, and can never be excused or explained by local custom or culture: it is a crime all over the world, and must be punished as such . Our information flyer is intended to raise the knowledge and awareness of the problem among our customers and our local service providers, and to show them how they should respond if they suspect such activities . From 2009, the flyer is included in the holiday documentation provided for French and Swiss-based customers travelling to sensitive destinations like Thailand or Brazil . 3.3 CaRbon oFFseTs FoR aiR TRaVel eMissions Kuoni supports various projects that offset the emissions of greenhouse gases and thus their effects on the world’s climate . These include a pioneering project run by the myclimate organisation on Bali and an original project organised by GreenSeat in Egypt, both of which focus on composting organic waste . Our customers can help maintain these projects by donating a certain amount to offset the carbon emissions caused by their air travel . The carbon offset “ticket“ for a flight from Zurich to Denpasar, for instance, will cost the customer USD 63 (one way) . Regrettably, few customers – less than 1% worldwide – yet use the new facility to offset their air travel’s carbon emissions by paying the extra amount to support the projects concerned . To create a greater incentive to do so, we will2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=43http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=43our customer s 43 be giving a special bag tag to any customer who buys a myclimate carbon-offset ticket from Mai 2009 onwards . We hope this new “badge” will be next step in encouraging more of our ecominded customers to travel carbon-neutral and guide their fellow travellers to a more environmentally responsible future . 3.4 a fILM To ExPLaIn THE CaRBon-nEuTRaL TICKET Many of our customers want to play an active part in preventing climate change . The field is a complex one, though . In view of this, Kuoni is producing a new film entitled “Our climate . We care – do you?” which illustrates the myclimate project we support on Bali . This film demonstrates how Kuoni is taking action to help counter climate change, explains how carbon offsets work and shows who else – apart from the world’s climate – benefits from the funds these offsets generate . The film will be launched in spring 2009 and is intended to provide greater clarity over our climate protection projects, show our customers how well their money is used, and further motivate them to adopt a carbon-neutral approach to all their air travel activities .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=44http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=442009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=45http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=45k nowledge . standar ds . collabor ation .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=46http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4646 k nowledge . sta ndar ds . coll abor ation . 4. Our suppliers Key achievements in 2008: h h h h Contractual terms extended to include ethical requirements. Travelife system adopted to implement supplier compliance. Employees from 33 hotel partners trained in child protection. Employees at 54 Thai and 49 Sri Lankan hotels instructed in water and energy efficiency. The importance attached to social and ecological considerations within the companies' valueadding chains has risen steadily in the last few years. Our stakeholders today expect our products not only to offer good quality but also to fulfil demanding criteria in sustainability terms. We are aware that, as a globally-active tour operator which works at the interface between the customer and the service provider, Kuoni has a particularly crucial role. In response to the above, Kuoni conducts various projects and initiatives and has adopted a new auditing system that is all designed to exert a positive influence on the way our suppliers and our hotel partners in particular go about their work. We strive to maintain long-term partnerships here, and actively help our hotels to be fair in their working conditions, easy on the environment and as sparing as possible in their use of natural resources. ethical requirements: implemented in all contracts mostly completed self-assessment and database of hotels audit of key suppliers Certification and labelling in progress 4.1 InCoRPoRaTInG ETHICaL REquIREMenTs inTo ouR ConTRaCTual TeRMs As a first step in our endeavours to bring sustainability to the value-adding chain, we have been adding “ethical clauses” to our contracts with our suppliers since 2007 . The new provisions commit our partners to a number of ethical actions, which include abiding by all local employment laws and international human rights, not tolerating sexual or religious discrimination, offering safe and hygienic workplaces, providing reasonable remuneration for the work performed and maintaining certain environmental standards .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=47http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=47our supplier s 47 4.2 TRavELIfE Our signing up to the Travelife system marks a further milestone in implementing our sustainability strategy and in our collaboration with our partner suppliers . From the first quarter of 2009 onwards, we will now assess and audit the ethical requirements which form an integral part of our contracts with our hotel partners . As a tour operator, Kuoni often has little direct influence over the negative social and ecological effects of its products, as most of the services involved are provided by contractual partners at our destinations . What we can influence, however, are our customers’ choices, the way our suppliers work and further development at our destinations, by ensuring that our own sustainability demands are integrated into the valueadding chain and are systematically managed thereafter . By doing so, we not only aim to avoid potential risks and conflicts with our suppliers, destinations, customers and employees; we also aim to underpin our status as a reliable and respected partner and safeguard the quality of the services provided . In the Travelife system, all our contractual partner hotels are required to conduct a webbased self-assessment which should both give us a preliminary indication of whether they are meeting our ethical requirements and give them a benchmark appraisal of their current performance . In a second step, the hotels are subjected to an audit conducted on the spot by speciallytrained auditors . Travelife helps us ensure that our hotel partners are indeed striving to maintain fair terms of employment and high environmental standards . In doing so, it enables us to identify any emerging problems in good time and work with the part-ner concerned to seek suitable solutions . We will also support our partners here by offering appropriate training which we have already established in several countries and/or jointly determining opportunities for further development . As well as options for monitoring their own performance and development, the Travelife system also offers hotels the opportunity to obtain the “Travelife” seal of ethical approval and – once secured – use this in their communications . Travelife-certificated hotels will also be identified as such in our Kuoni brochures, enabling us to meet our customers’ growing demand for vacation travel products with sound social and environmental credentials . 4.3 ESTaBLISHInG a nETWoRK To CoMbaT Child sex TouRisM Kuoni has been conducting a series of workshops with partner hotels on the child sex tourism issue since 2006 . The programme is intended to help these partners abide by the terms of their contractual agreements with Kuoni and motivate them to actively and personally fight the sexual exploitation of children . Workshops have already been held with numerous hotels in Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria and Kenya, and the programme is being steadily extended to further destinations . Five such workshops were held in Thailand in 2008, and were attended by 71 participants from 33 hotel partners . Regrettably, many countries and tourist destinations still lack an effective system for monitoring child sex tourism, collecting the evidence required and bringing its perpetrators to account . This makes it all the more vital, however, that Kuoni and its contractual partners should never turn a blind eye . In these workshops established by Kuoni and its partners, hotel employees learn how to respond if they suspect any such activities .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=48http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=4848 k nowledge . sta ndar ds . coll abor ation . 4.4 HoTELS In BuLGaRIa: PLannInG soCial and enViRonMenTal PRogRess Kuoni is also active in promoting social and environmental improvements in Bulgaria’s hotel management, especially along the Black Sea coast . Here we work with various partners from the public and the private sectors including local authorities and tourist boards, United Nations Industrial Developement Organisation (UNIDO), Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and our local hotels . Kuoni not only contributes its expertise on sustainability in the tour operating industry; it also makes full and fruitful use of its contacts with its partner hotels, and further offers logistical assistance and support . The aim of the programme is to promote cleaner production (CP) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to raise the efficiency of the hotels involved and enhance their competitive abilities . This is done partly by showing them how they can take often simple actions to save energy and water and thus also reduce their costs, and partly by improving the working conditions and prospects of employees and their families . By doing so, the programme should simultaneously raise the hotels’ quality and service performance, too . The programme is currently training 20 national specialists each in CP and CSR; and, in a pilot phase, these individuals are supporting 25 hotels in various parts of the country to devise, develop and conduct their own sustainability projects in the social and environmental fields . 4.5 EnERGy anD WaTER EffICIEnCy: TRaining woRKshoPs in Thailand and sRi lanKa In line with our policy of promoting a better and more sustainable ecological performance among our suppliers, we recently organised a series of training workshops in Thailand and Sri Lanka on environmental care within the hotel sector . The main focus here was on energy efficiency, water saving and waste water management . Workshops of this kind, which are run jointly with local partners and specialists, offer our suppliers an excellent means of acquiring valuable expertise that is clearly geared to practical applications . This pragmatic approach should enable our hotel partners to respond to today’s ever-growing environmental challenges such as climate change and water scarcity .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=49http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=49our supplier s 49 The workshops also provide much of the knowledge a hotel will need to adopt its own environmental management system, and put a further key emphasis on the general benefits of such a system and its cost-saving potential . 4.6 REnEWaBLE EnERGy anD WaSTE DISPosal: Key issues FoR MexiCan hoTels The tourist development on Mexico’s Riviera Maya has been truly phenomenal: while the coast between Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum had just 1 470 hotel rooms as recently as 1995, there are now over 35 000 . Some 5 .6 million tourists come to the area every year for its miles of white sandy beaches, its ancient Maya ruins and the world’s second-biggest coral reef, which is just offshore . The development has brought income and jobs to the region; but it is putting a growing strain on it in environmental terms . To take just one example, over 400 tonnes of waste are produced every day – 250 tonnes by the tourist sector alone . The facilities to cope with this waste have not kept pace with the region’s rapid development; and, as a result, many of its resorts have neither an efficient waste disposal system nor an appropriate means of incinerating or dumping the waste concerned . Kuoni has responded to this problem, too, by teaming up with Germany’s ”Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit“ (GTZ) development aid agency, the region’s ministry for the environment and other partners to form a private/public partnership . The partnership tackles the problem on various fronts . The first of these is to sensitise tourist visitors to the fragile coastal ecosystem and encourage them to play their part in preserving it . This they can do, for instance, by being sparing in their water consumption, not throwing waste carelessly away or taking simple steps to save energy in their hotel room . The second front on which the problem is being addressed is by raising hotel managers’ knowledge of how they can improve their establishment’s environmental performance . This, too, addresses the use of water, waste disposal issues and recycling possibilities; but it also extends to recent innovations in the renewable energy field . A pilot phase is currently being conducted here with three hotels; and, if successful, the actions taken here will be replicated elsewhere . The third thrust of the project is to develop strategies to improve the local waste disposal and recycling infrastructure, in collaboration with the local authorities . All three measures are combining to ensure a more careful use of local resources such as water and energy; and this in turn should help preserve the natural beauty of the Riviera Maya region for future travellers to enjoy . ons involved; it benefits local businesses, too . All the hotels offered in the Apollo product range have also signed up to ethical guidelines that include providing good working conditions, combating child prostitution and paying full regard to various environmental considerations . 4.8 THE GREEn PLanET aWaRD: a WaTERBoRnE SEaL of ECo-aPPRovaL Kuoni Switzerland has been bestowing its Green Planet Award on cruise ships that display strong environmental credentials since 2003 . In the sixth year since the award was introduced, Kuoni now offers 20 vessels in its brochures that have earned this seal of eco-approval for their efforts to protect the marine environment . The award enables the ships and their operators both to measure themselves against progressive industry partners and to publicly communicate their commitment to sustainability within their industry sector . The environmental performance of the ships applying for the Green Planet Award is assessed by means of a questionnaire and various enclosures requested . The documentation is used to judge the vessel by a number of quantifiable criteria in the propulsion, energy consumption, waste management and water use fields . Since 2008, the assessment has also been extended to include social considerations such as working conditions . The 2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=50http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=502009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=51http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=51particular it y . protection . development .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=52http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=5252 particul a r it y . protection . developmen t . 5. Our destinations Key achievements in 2008: h Fourteen projects devoted to protecting children, fair working conditions, good water and preventing climate change supported at destinations around the world. New project to protect coral reefs established with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Egypt and the Maldives. Training and education provided for more than 1000 students. h h Kuoni funds and otherwise supports various projects at its destinations that are designed to both minimise the adverse impact and enhance the positive benefits of local tourism activities. All the projects we are involved in at our destinations are clearly related to our core business, and many of them are of pioneering nature. We aim to further promote the best of these and extend them – with appropriate modifications – to other Kuoni destinations. 5.1 “ChildRen aT RisK”: ouR PRoJeCT in Kenya In Mombasa, a destination at which child sex tourism is an acknowledged problem, Kuoni helps fund a project that is specifically intended to raise public awareness of the issue and change people’s attitudes and behaviour . The project is being run in partnership with the Child Welfare Society of Kenya, which is building an advice centre for children and adolescents with Kuoni’s financial support . The centre’s aim is to help local community volunteers, teachers and the children and adolescents themselves to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children within Kenya’s tourism industry . The centre is designed to allow the kind of exchange between the children involved and volunteer helpers and social workers that can act as a first step in rescuing these children and adolescents from their situation . By serving as a meeting place, the centre also helps to strengthen the children’s confidence and selfawareness . And the external support and advice it provides can encourage them to appreciate their potential, plan their working future and take advantage of local employment opportunities . “Children at Risk” has rapidly proved its worth: the project has already helped 64 girls and 61 boys who were either involved in or vulnerable to the child sex industry . 5.2 PRofESSIonaL TRaining in MyanMaR In Myanmar, a country where tourism is seen as one of the few opportunities to generate income for local communities, Kuoni supports a centre for vocational training in Yangon, the most important city, which has developed a three-year2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=53http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=53our destinations 53 “Hotel & Gastronomy Assistant” course to train young people in a wide range of professional skills: guest relations, human resources, administration and service in the kitchen or at the reception of hotels and restaurants . Graduates from the course are also excellently equipped to assume overall management positions or even start up their own business . The course is divided into a practical and a theoretical section . In the first part, the student works at a company and acquires a broad range of skills . Parallel to this, they attend school one day a week to learn such theoretical matters as food safety and hygiene or business management . English, cultural studies and environmental care are also on the curriculum . After completing this comprehensive vocational training, the students will have widened their horizons, and can look forward to a truly promising future . Kuoni supports these “Hotel & Gastronomy Assistant” courses from the beginning to the end through both knowledge transfers and financial aid . In addition to this, Kuoni’s Asia-based Asian Trails subsidiary also offers graduates temporary work-experience placements and even permanent positions if possible . in China, the academy plans to add 10 more centres in India and a couple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the end of 2009 . The Kuoni Academy has already created a pool of over 4000 travel industry professionals, who thanks to the comprehensive training they received have excellent prospects of developing a fulfilling career in the travel industry . grants for underprivileged tourism students in india Kuoni is also involved with a newly-established school in the Central Indian city of Bhopal that is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can work together to provide young people with educational opportunities . The local authorities offer grants to young people from less privileged backgrounds in the surrounding rural areas . Over 200 students have 5.3 THE KuonI aCaDEMy our centres in india, china and dubai: The innovative Kuoni Academy model, which was launched in Delhi in 2003, continues to enjoy considerable success . The Academy’s sector-specific and practically-oriented training courses are conducted in close collaboration with corporations and industry specialists . Today, with 12 centres across India and one2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=54http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=5454 particul a r it y . protection . developmen t . benefited from the scheme in the last two years . After completing their theoretical education, some of the students are given the opportunity to take up a paid internship within the Kuoni India organisation, and thereby gain a further useful preparation for their future working lives . The young people involved are all exceptionally keen and committed, and offer telling proof of how ambitious young individuals from poorer families, too, can use their motivation and enthusiasm to build a sound foundation for their future work careers . “The graduates from our Academy are well prepared for their future working lives and have good professional prospects . Indeed, we employ them ourselves time and time again,” says Bernard Martyris, Head of Human Resources at Kuoni India . “Our employees are our most valuable asset of all,” he continues . “And Kuoni has always attached great value to the development of every individual .” Sanjay Chaudhary, the Director-Dept . of Social and Youth Welfare of Bhopal, is equally pleased . “Our excellent collaboration with the Kuoni Academy is a source of great pride to us,” he explains . to enhance the confidence of the young people concerned, which can help them better stand up for their employment rights . 5.4 TouRISM TRaInInG In The doMiniCan RePubliC Kuoni supports a small school offering courses for future tourist-sector employees in Cabarete, the popular vacation destination in the Dominican Republic . The school provides up to 500 young people a year with the chance to acquire professional knowledge and skills through instruction in cooking, waitering and similar, raising their future work prospects within the tourism sector . The education they receive also tends 5.5 TRaInInG fuTuRE hosTs in Kenya The SOS Vocational Training Centre Nairobi has been open for over 20 years now, and has already trained over 1 300 students in carpentry, metalwork, electrical installation, fashion design, food production and information technology . Kuoni’s financial assistance here has helped enlarge the food & beverage department, refurbish the kitchen and place the corresponding hotel and gastronomy training on a more professional footing .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=55http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=55our destinations 55 The students prepare the food and sell it at lunchtime to school staff and the public . The course, which currently has around 60 students following it, is intended to prepare young people to work as qualified professionals in hotels and restaurants or to open their own businesses . 5.6 voCaTIonaL TRaInInG in CaMbodia Kuoni financially supports SOS Children’s Villages International’s vocational training centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia . The town is situated only a few kilometres from the famous Angkor Wat temples, the country’s greatest tourist attraction . Every year more than 20 pupils are offered the chance to undergo a training programme here that will help keep them away from crime or the sex industry and will offer them the prospect of a more independent life . The training consists of nine months at the centre receiving a mixture of theoretical and practical tuition and two further months of practical experience in the welding, electrical engineering, plumbing and woodworking fields . The centre is primarily aimed at 17-to-23-yearolds who have no chance of going to school or receiving training elsewhere . The trainee intake is steadily expanding, too: 24 students completed the course in 2007 and numbers are gradually being increased to 35 trainees a year . to support a pioneering project to safeguard the livelihoods of local beach communities and generally help build a platform for sustainable local tourism: under the LINC Project (Learning, Involving and Nurturing Community) at Riverina Beach, Beruwela, some 72 former “beach boys” have been trained and transformed into community tourism beach operators . The project makes use of the children´s and adolescents’ local expertise – being from Beruwela, they are intimately acquainted with local people, places and culture – to offer guests friendly advice and assistance including visits to historic temples, river safaris through man-grove jungles, visits to a turtle hatchery, coconut toddytapping and more . And all the income from these excursions goes to the local community . the sponsored children live have improved noticeably, and this has had a positive influence on their school performance . 5.9 WaTER DaMS In KEnya Shortages of water are a frequent problem for both the local inhabitants and the tourist industry along the coast near Mombasa, Kenya . But Kuoni has adopted an exemplary approach here to ensure that adequate water supplies are available for both the locals and the tourism sector . The approach had to pay due regard to three key issues: Firstly, the frequent water shortages suffered by the hotels along the coast because their water pipes were being bored into and broken by local people seeking water of their own . Secondly, the erosion of the surrounding hills during the rainy season, which was causing fertile soil to be washed into the Indian Ocean and was also turning the water on the bathing beaches an unpleasant brown . Thirdly, the poverty among the people in Mombasa’s hinterland, which was driving more and more young people away and into the cities . To help tackle all three issues – the water shortages, the soil erosion and the local poverty at this key tourist destination – Kuoni is supporting a water preservation project that has been initiated by the Baobab Trust, a local non-government organisation . The project involves building nine dams in the Vikwatani area, adjacent to Mombasa’s finest beaches, which should both capture rainwater and slow down the local soil erosion . Seven of the dams have been constructed to date, providing some 7 000 people with good and free access to water . As further beneficial side-effects, freshwater fish and water plants have been added to the reser- 5.8 SIyaBonGa: ouR PRoJeCT in souTh aFRiCa In South Africa, Kuoni’s Private Safaris subsidiary supports the Siyabonga charity project which helps a number of local children, most of whom have lost one or both parents to AIDS . The project’s prime aim is2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=56http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=5656 particul a r it y . protection . developmen t . water dams being built by local people and Kuoni. voirs formed, and the local farmers can now terrace, irrigate and cultivate the fertile local land . So the new dams are not only creating water reservoirs and preventing soil erosion; they are also helping the locals to grow staples such as rice, vegetables, fruit and medicinal plants, while the fish stocks offer a further valuable source of food . 5.10 PRoTECTInG CoRaL REEfS in egyPT and The MaldiVes The coral reefs in Egypt and the Maldives are among these countries’ most popular tourist attractions . But these fragile ecosystems are under serious threat, from the effects of climate change and simply from the large numbers of visitors and the general growth of the tourist sector . Kuoni has resolved to make its own contribution to protecting these coral reefs, to preserve them for future generations and safeguard the livelihood and tourism potential they offer to the regions concerned . Coral reefs are complex and deeply impressive natural living environments . They provide the key life essentials for numerous types of animals; they protect coastal areas from general erosion and destructive wave action; and they are a valuable source of food, especially seafood, for the local populations . Being at a three-way interface between sea, land and air, these vital habitats are naturally subject to sizeable influences . But for centuries they have withstood the forces of the waves, the wind and the weather, and have managed to continually renew themselves . The tourist developments of the last few years, however, together with recent extreme2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=57http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=57our destinations 57 phenomena such as tsunamis and tornados, which have themselves risen in intensity as a result of climate change, now pose a clear threat to these ecosystems, and are increasingly endangering the reefs’ regenerative capacities . Coordinated action is essential if these natural phenomena are to be protected and preserved for future generations . To this end, Kuoni has teamed up with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one of the biggest international nature conservation organisations, to protect the fragile coral reefs in Egypt and the Maldives . The work partly involves identifying the reefs most at threat from climate change and protecting these in collaboration with the local authorities . But it also entails working with the local people to develop and implement actions to protect endangered sea life such as sharks, dolphins and dugongs . Protecting these coral reefs should benefit all: the local population, the flora and fauna and the tourism sector . 5.12 GREEnSEaT: CoMPoSTInG In EGyPT Kuoni also supports a biological composting project in Egypt that not only helps prevent global warming but also supports local communities at one of our most important destinations . The usual way of disposing of agricultural waste in these parts is to dump it at a municipal waste site or in the desert . The problem in doing so is that the organic waste then decomposes anaerobically, emitting harmful methane into the atmosphere and thus promoting global warming . By composting organic waste, the project reduces greenhouse gas emissions . As an added benefit, the compost can be used to fertilise agricultural land, increasing production and improving soil conditions . The project is supported by the “GreenSeat” environmental protection organisation, which handles the funds donated by Apollo in Scandinavia and Kuoni Netherlands and their customers to offset carbon emissions . 5.11 MyCLIMaTE: vaLuaBLE CoMPoST FoR bali Bali may be “the island of the gods”, but it has some very human problems to deal with: the waste that pollutes its waters, rivers and landscape . Kuoni is supporting an innovative waste disposal project here to combat the problem, under which local employees sort and recycle some 30 tonnes of waste every day . The project also provides a valuable source of income for further local inhabitants who collect the waste in the first place and are remunerated for what they hand in . The project has already achieved sizeable success . It has provided work for 120 people from the local community; far less plastic is now ending up in the natural environment than was the case a few years ago; and, since around 85% of the total waste produced on the island is organic, a lot of the waste processed by the facility can be converted into compost . The composting in turn makes a major contribution to combating climate change . Without the facility, this organic waste would be burnt or simply dumped . Either way, the emissions it generated would only add to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere . Our project on Bali meets high international quality criteria, and its continued observance thereof is carefully monitored by the “myclimate” environmental protection organisation . The funds from both the voluntary carbon offsets by our customers and our own carbon offsets for our business travel activities are channelled into financing this innovative undertaking .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=58http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=582009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=59http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=59targets . approaches . challenges .2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=60http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=6060 targets . a pproaches . cha llenges . Our Goals THE CHaLLEnGES anD THE RoaDMaP foR 2009/2010 We aim to steadily further develop our activities in the areas defined and will continue to apply and adhere to our overall Corporate Responsibility strategy. We have consistently refined this strategy over the past few years, and have made major progress in its implementation, too. Our focus for the years ahead will be on further embedding CR as a core value at our company, providing a means of quantifying our CR success, identifying trends both within and beyond Kuoni and finding forward-looking responses to the same. Needless to say, this is a far-fromstraightforward process. And in pursuing this course, we see the following challenges ahead that we need to address: h Integrating CR into our business processes remains our prime and paramount challenge . Effective internal communications and the keen and close involvement of all our employees will both be crucial here . Establishing CR as part and parcel of our daily Kuoni business will be one of our key emphases in the coming reporting period . In an organisation as global as ours, coordinating CR poses a particular challenge . Not only must we deal with sizeable cultural differences; we are also home to a wide range of views on what constitutes responsible corporate behaviour . In establishing our intragroup CR Network, we have taken a first key step in strengthening our internal coordination . We now intend to use this network to promote the consistent local application of our overall CR strategy within our various business units . It is our declared policy to continually develop projects and initiatives within our focus areas and to devise means of quantifying our progress and success therein . Adopting key performance indicators (KPIs) for non-financial criteria is our paramount priority . We have set ourselves the goal of systematising our data recording processes and further refining the quality, quantity and scope of the indicators concerned . h h We aim to intensify our dialogue with our stakeholders, to further develop our company and help it respond to future societal trends . We will thus be making greater use of the constructive exchanges we already enjoy with our various stakeholder groups to detect such trends, adopt new perspectives and identify the demands of us and our business, all of which we regard as indispensable if we are to exploit opportunities and minimise risks . To meet and master these challenges, and as part of a continuous improvement process, we have set ourselves a series of ambitious objectives for the 2009/2010 reporting period: h2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=61http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=61our goa ls 61 KEy GoaLS foR THE 2009/2010 REPoRTInG PERIoD wiTh ouR eMPloyees and inhouse oPeRaTions To further develop strategy and initiatives within the Kuoni CR network. To establish a platform showing our employees’ best CR business practices and further improve our internal communications and employee involvement. To make our own carbon footprint visible, evaluate risks and opportunities relating to climate change and report on mechanisms for reducing our emissions. wiTh ouR PaRTneRs To strengthen and extend our partnerships within the CR world and industry. To establish a platform for stakeholder dialogue and seek feedback on our CR strategy. To work to establish an international sustainability standard and certification for cruise ships, in partnership with the world ocean Council. wiTh ouR CusToMeRs To extend ananea to at least two other Kuoni business units worldwide. To provide all customers travelling to sensitive destinations with information on child protection. To see 5% of our customers opting to offset their carbon emissions. To disclose the total indirect greenhouse gas emissions generated by our customers. wiTh ouR desTinaTions wiTh ouR suPPlieRs To establish the Travelife supplier compliance system within the Kuoni group. To audit 150 of our key supplier hotels. To introduce the Travelife label to our brochures and thus enable our customers to include this criterion when choosing their holidays. To focus on two sensitive destinations for our future child protection endeavours. To conduct five child protection workshops. To support initiatives to mitigate the environmental impact of our products and services, and report on their effectiveness. To conduct five workshops on water and energy efficiency and begin to measure the impact of workshops of this kind. To reassess our current project portfolio. To establish and foster focused and business-based long-term partnerships with organisations at our destinations. To help replicate successful projects (such as the climate protection project on Bali) at further destinations.2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=62http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=6262 gr i indiCaToRs oF The global RePoRTing InITIaTIvE (GRI) gRi 1 1.1 1.2 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.12 4 4.1 4.2 description Strategy and analysis Ceo’s statement Key impacts, risks and opportunities organisation Profile name of organisation Primary brands, products and services operational structure Location of organisation’s headquarters number of countries where the organization operates nature of ownership and legal form Markets served Scale of the reporting organisation Significant changes during the reporting period awards received in the reporting period Report parameters Reporting period date of most recent previous report Reporting cycle Contact Defining content including materiality, priority issues and stakeholders boundary of the Report gRi table governance governance structure indicate whether the Chair of the highest governance body is also an executive officer Remuneration linkages for members of the highest governance body Processes in place for the highest governance body to ensure conflicts of interest are avoided Mission statement, Values and Code of conduct Page 12–13 14–15 24–27 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16–17 20–21 16 gRi 4.9 4.12 description Risk assessment and management Externally developed economic, environmental, and social charters to which the organisation subscribes or endorses Page 21 36–37 gRi description Page 30, 32–33 46–47 21 21, 46–47 21, 46–47 52–57 21 la10 Training of employees 8 hR2 hR3 hR6 hR7 9 so1 So4 10 PR3 human rights performance indicators Suppliers’ assessment regarding ethical requirements Training of employees regarding human rights Measures taken to eliminate child labour Measures taken to eliminate forced and compulsory labour society performance indicators Community programmes actions taken in response to corruption Product responsibility performance indicators Type of product and service information 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 5 eC 1 eC 2 eC 8 Memberships in associations 36–37 List of stakeholder groups engaged by the 24–25 organisation Basis for identification and selection of stakeholders with whom to engage approaches to stakeholder engagement Key topics and concerns that have been raised through stakeholder engagement economic performance indicators direct economic value Risks & opportunities due to climate change development and impact of infrastructure investments and services provided primarily for public benefit 24–25 28–57 20–21 17 31, 37, 56–57 50–57 40–41, 46–47, 49 7 7 7 63 24–25 7 62 20–21 21 6 environmental performance indicators en3, Energy consumption and reduction En5 mechanisms en6, Promotion of energy-efficient and en7 renewable energy en12 impacts on biodiversity and impact en13 management En14 en18 Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 31, 46–49 46–49, 56–57 31, 42–43, 48–49, 56–57, 40–43, 46–49, 55–57 4.5 4.6 21, 33 21 en26 Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products 7 la1 la3 Labour practices & decent work performance indicators Total workforce Benefits provided to employees 4.8 20–21 16 32–332009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=63http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=63642009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=64http://valtech.ipapercms.dk/Kuoni/KuoniCH/Communications/CRReport0809/?Page=6464 www.kuoni-group.com/corporate+responsibility2009-04-06T10:03:15+02:00