Carlson Wagonlit Travel UK Wins Third ICARUS Environmental Award

LONDON, October 19, 2009 — Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) UK, the UK’s leading specialist in business travel management, has been named ‘Agency Winner’ for the 2009/10 ICARUS Environmental Supplier Awards by the Institute of Travel & Meetings (ITM) UK & Ireland. This is the third consecutive year that CWT has won the agency category.

Submissions were judged by a panel of eight academics, environmental experts and corporate/government stakeholders against five key criteria: innovation, leadership, time-resilience, scalability/transferability and case study material. CWT was judged against other travel management companies, travel agencies, hotel booking agencies, rail agencies and meeting/venue agencies in demonstrating effective products or services that have helped corporations/government reduce emissions from travel and meetings programmes.

The judges, led by chairman Dr Keith Mason, Director of the Business Travel Research Centre at Cranfield University, cited the following reasons for naming CWT once again the winner in this category: “CWT showed evidence of year on year improvement in reducing their environmental impact and developing products that can help their clients in better managing their C02 emissions. The judges were impressed that the company was seeking new business models that would help clients manage their travel programme that would suggest low carbon options such as tele-presencing, switching to lower carbon alternatives, and managing the demand for travel altogether. ICARUS has long embraced the concept of reducing travel where possible and where not possible using the lowest carbon alternative and CWT is helping companies achieve this.”

Andrew Waller, Executive Vice President, CWT UK & Ireland, said: “The spotlight on environmental issues may have faded in 2009 as many companies battle economic challenges, but we have retained our focus and made advancements in the services we offer our clients who are seeking to drive down emissions. CWT is honoured to be recognised once again for our leadership in managing environmental issues related to business travel through our third consecutive ICARUS award.”

In the past year, CWT UK has implemented a ‘green fleet’ company car policy, appointed a head of sustainability and continued to invest in and develop its CWT Sustainable Solutions suite of products. A carbon calculator at the point of booking, post-trip carbon emissions reporting, and carbon management and offsetting programmes assist clients in creating sustainable travel programmes by allowing them to make well-informed decisions and take initiatives in reducing their carbon footprint.

The Environmental Supplier Awards, now in their third year, were created by ITM as part of their corporate social responsibility project, ICARUS.

About Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is a global leader specialising in business travel management. Present in more than 150 countries, CWT serves companies of all sizes, as well as government institutions and non-governmental organisations. By leveraging both the expertise of its people and leading-edge technology, CWT helps clients derive the greatest value from their travel programme in terms of savings, service, security and sustainability. The company is also committed to providing best-in-class service and assistance to travellers. CWT services and solutions comprise four lines of business: Traveller & Transaction Services, Programme Optimisation, Safety & Security, and Meetings & Events. In 2008, sales volume for wholly owned operations and joint ventures totalled US$27.8 billion. For more information, please visit www.carlsonwagonlit.com.

About Project ICARUS
Project ICARUS was established, with help from the government’s Omega fund, by ITM in 2006 to create resources for all aspects of responsible corporate travel and meetings. It offers stakeholders environmental and duty of care toolkits, an awards programme and an accreditation programme. It is overseen by an advisory board of senior buyers, academics and consultants. The ICARUS accreditation assessment is made by the ICARUS Advisory Group – the project team made up of 11 travel buyers, consultants and academics which originally formed ICARUS in 2006.

Media Contacts:
Christine Fischer
Carlson Wagonlit Travel, UK
+44 (0)20 3353 1113
cfischer@carlsonwagonlit.co.uk

Paul Tilstone
Chief Executive
Institute of Travel & Meetings
+44 (0)7714 225853 / +44 (0)208 123 5678
paul.tilstone@itm.org.uk

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