TUI Nederland's 'Fair Tourism' campaign was found to be misleading on five points. The Advertising Rules Committee issued this opinion this week in response to a complaint filed by Eric Stam, a teacher at an aviation school, and 25 advocates, including Fossil Free NL and Advertising Fossil Free. .
The complaint focuses on the five elements of the 'Fair Tourism' campaign. During the campaign, TUI claimed to offer 'a greener alternative to your holiday' for the amount of 2 euros. TUI itself doubled that to 4 euros. And with that money, they will seriously contribute to nine initiatives that make the journey more sustainable. TUI has done this by investing in various initiatives at the destination and by investing in 'more sustainable' jet fuel. TUI says that a more sustainable ride is not necessarily a more expensive one.
The Advertising Rules Committee currently rules that all controversial claims violate Article 3.1 of the Sustainable Advertising Rules (CDR), which states that sustainability claims must not contain claims can mislead ordinary consumers and encourage them to make a decision about a transaction that they would not otherwise make. In addition, a TUI statement about investments in sustainable jet fuel contradicts Article 4 of the CDR, which states that the soundness of the sustainability claim must be justified. TUI was unable to substantiate claims of more sustainable jet fuel.
A key part of the complaint is that TUI offers relatively more (far) flying holidays with its 'Fair Travel' campaign than the company does on its regular website. More than 82 percent of the holidays offered on the fair travel site are air holidays. On the regular TUI website, this number is 69%. This while the climate impact of flying holidays was not explicitly highlighted in the campaign.
As a result, TUI can no longer claim that booking a fair travel flight is a 'more sustainable holiday' and contributes to 'save the world'. In its ruling, the Commission wrote that controversial claims on the fair travel website were so at odds with the climate impacts of flying that they were misleading.
"Attention"
In response to the complaint, TUI adjusted parts of the fair travel website. For example, alternative jet fuel texts have been deleted or modified. For example, TUI now claims that 'a fair travel is not so much about transportation, but staying in place'.
With the 'Fair Tourism' campaign, TUI also invests in local projects and eco-labeled accommodation facilities. The Advertising Rules Committee evaluates these initiatives: ''TUI can indicate its contribution to local projects, but - in the whole media context - it must be clear enough that the This project is separate from the harmful consequences of the booked flight. This means that sustainability claims made in this context may not be linked to the itinerary (flight). After all, the projects mentioned have only (local) effects during the stay and do not limit the impact of the flight on the environment or to a very limited extent.
Stam was pleased with the Advertising Rules Committee's opinion: "The average consumer doesn't realize that TUI is booking far-flung vacations even more prominently in the store window with its 'Duty Travel' campaign. Fair Calendar'. This way, you can even normalize long-haul vacations even more to an audience interested in a more sustainable alternative. Here, exactly, you would expect TUI to make an effort to better inform consumers about the climate impacts of a long-haul flight and actually encourage people to choose less-longer journeys, preferably by train. TUI does the opposite here. It is to add fuel to the fire.”
European complaint
Last week, 19 European consumer organizations filed a complaint with the European Commission over the 'boycott' behavior of 17 airlines, all of which are accused of violating European law on their practices. unfair trade. This also includes statements that airlines are allowed to make regarding alternative jet fuel, CO2 compensation projects and whether airlines are allowed to use terms like 'green'. ' and 'fly responsibly' in their communications.
In the UK, UK advertising watchdog ASA this year issued reprimands to airlines Etihad and Lufthansa for falsely advertising sustainability. In the United States, a lawsuit was initiated against Delta Airlines for advertising CO2-neutral flights, while in the Netherlands, KLM was involved in a greenwashing lawsuit with Fossielvrij NL and Advertising. Fossielvrij.
It is not yet known whether TUI will appeal this decision by the Advertising Code Commission. Following Fossil's Free Ads, one of the co-filers, Stam supports a European ban on fossil advertising.
Reaction TUI Netherlands (June 29, 2023)
We have received and carefully read the decision of the Advertising Code Commission (RCC). It contains interesting comments and clear questions for tuning. We don't see this as a negative but as something we can learn from. Incidentally, before the complaint was sent to the RCC, we discussed with the complainant to listen to objections and provide explanations when necessary.
We sincerely work to make the holidays as sustainable as possible and communicate this as clearly and honestly as possible. It's good that others keep us sharp so we can continue to improve in this area. We don't want to promise more than we can deliver, but we want to keep taking the steps. And show what's possible.
Flying isn't sustainable with current technology, that's completely clear and we certainly don't claim it. We've found that flying emits CO2 and haven't been able to make significant changes to this yet. Technical developments in other fuel and electric flying could change this in the long term.
But more sustainable travel is more than just flying, we want to make a difference where we can. That's why Fair Travel also focuses on contributions to the local economy and population as well as recognized sustainability labels for hotels. And for that, there are countless local projects on display, run by the TUI Care Foundation.
The contribution to sustainability of destination mobility that we advocate with Fair Travel is also not a dream, but concrete. With the proceeds from Fair Travel's first year, we invest in 55 charging points for electric cars in Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire. And 30 e-bikes and 30 bikes were just purchased for tour guides in Rhodes, who used these bikes more than cars this summer. It's a pilot that could be rolled out to many other destinations.
These intentions and projects should be even clearer to consumers. People will always travel: they want to meet family and friends, learn new cultures, relax after months of hard work. That's why we think it's important to make the journey more sustainable where possible. According to the complainants, if we get the wrong impression that air travel is sustainable, we will have to phrase it differently.
We work honestly and clearly. We want to act in full compliance with the new Sustainable Advertising Code. Many adjustments were made to the site prior to the ruling, as we believe it is important to be as clear as possible. The RCC recommendations have been implemented or are being followed as soon as possible without any hindrance.
