Event managers: How do you find a MICE services provider with a focus on sustainability?

Sawasdee ka Travel Massive community.

My name is Gili and I focus on sustainability and responsible practices for the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry.

I'd like to know how you find and choose a company that really practices sustainability (and avoids green washing) for your corporate retreats, team building and MICE related services?

Do you get post event follow ups and reports on your activity's impact or carbon offsets?

Please feel free to share your experiences or insights.

Many thanks in advance for your responses.

Hi Gili, I am coming at this from the opposite perspective - my company, Yugen Earthside, DOES offer sustainable corporate retreats, team building, charity treks/climbs, etc via our responsible package trips, and we are trying to find companies seeking values-aligned corporate experiences!

Yugen Earthside is a platform hosting trips from locally owned, boutique, sustainable partners around the world. We vet our partners, and in addition, we include carbon removals and offsets in package pricing for companies. The company will receive these certificates as tangible proof.

We also donate 1% of our gross revenue to sustainable tourism projects, and are a carbon-neutral company ourselves. This doesn't affect the company's trip, but is just to show that sustainability is in our DNA - so if sustainable corporate travel is important to the company, booking through us is highly values-aligned.

If you have some ideas of how we could connect, collaborate, and help one another, please do let me know. You can read more about our Responsible Corporate Travel program on our website and email me at hilary@yugenearthside.com.

Warmly,
Hilary

out of the box🤯

In my experience with sustainability, I've always started by understanding the ambitions that companies set forth. While sometimes ideas may not be as clear-cut as Pamm's, knowing what goals they aim to achieve helps in making the “best” choice — where “best” aligns at least with their values. Managers are usually straightforward about this.


For instance,
Is it about communication? Then perhaps offsetting emissions and green giveaways might suffice.

Is it a long-term commitment or repositioning of a company? Then a more structured approach is necessary.

Is it about fostering professional and personal growth among the company's people? Then we're talking about a different kind of engagement.


Regarding post-event follow-ups and reports, IMO they are crucial for understanding the effects of our activities and ensuring accountability beyond mere gestures. They also allow you to keep records over the years and see how and if things around you are changing.


As for travel-related services, I'm currently involved in a project focused on impactful travel solutions in Europe, going beyond greenwashing (if even possible). We also have promising contacts in Thailand.
If you find it intriguing, we can discuss it in a call, and perhaps when you're in Europe, we can join forces and put our plans into action ;)

Cheers,
Eugenio