The Big Holiday Beach Clean is back for 2016

Make Holidays Greener month will be returning this July with holidaymakers, travel companies and hotels encouraged to take part in the Big Holiday Beach Clean 2016. This year, the campaign to raise awareness of more sustainable holidays will step up a gear and will be led by ABTA, with support from Travelife and industry charity, The Travel Foundation.

The three organisations are calling for more travel businesses to promote how people can take action to protect the local environment while on holiday, and for hotels to sign up for a beach clean as part of Make Holidays Greener month. Throughout the summer, the campaign will encourage holidaymakers to take care of the local environment and support local communities in holiday destinations.

Last year, 108 beach cleans were organised worldwide, involving 68 organisations and over 1,000 people. Beaches were cleaned in 20 countries, keeping four tonnes of rubbish out of the marine ecosystem.

Nikki White from ABTA and Travelife said: “We’re delighted to be leading this fantastic initiative and working with the Travel Foundation to build on the successes of previous years. Cleaner beaches are good for wildlife, for people and for business, so it’s inspiring to see holidaymakers and the industry working together to take care of destinations and protect the marine environment.”

Salli Felton, Chief Executive of the Travel Foundation, said: “The tourism industry is uniquely placed to make a difference to coastal regions and beaches globally. So it's great that ABTA is now taking the lead with Make Holidays Greener, an initiative we started in 2010. The campaign is in good hands, and we'll support them to make the Big Holiday Beach Clean even bigger in 2016."

Companies can support the campaign by signing up for a beach clean between now and July, and by sharing their stories and pictures on Facebook and Twitter using #greenerhols. For those companies not based near a beach, they can organise a different type of event such as a park or mountain clean-up. The campaign website, makeholidaysgreener.org.uk, features a range of free resources, including how to organise a beach clean and top tips for customers.

For more information contact info@travelife.org.