The Caravan and Motorhome Club scoop Gold in the Green Tourism Award 2024 for its commitment to sustainability

The Caravan and Motorhome Club has received Gold status in the Green Tourism Awards 2024, across 122 Club campsites while retaining its Gold status for business. The award certification company, Green Tourism has recognised the dedication of Caravan and Motorhome Club head office staff and those working on Club campsites to become more sustainable, in areas such as ‘People, Places and Planet’.

This year, 122 Club campsites located across the UK* scooped Gold Awards, while the 28 remaining sites achieved Silver**. The Club Campsites were rewarded for their work across people, places and the planet, including many different areas from biodiversity, community/charities, waste management, renewable energy, recycling, water management and other green initiatives.

The Club met Green Tourism’s award criteria by achieving exceptional scores for the work it does around ‘People’, including communication, awareness, community, diversity and inclusion, and health and well-being.  Examples include regular internal seminars and training sessions on themes like the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to name a few and the creation of the diversity and inclusion working and steering group. It received strong scores for ‘Places’ based on its varied destination, experiences, travel, and biodiversity schemes. Lastly, the Club had good scores for ‘Planet’ based on its work on the reduction of water, carbon, chemicals, waste and energy.

Nick Lomas, Director General of the Caravan and Motorhome Club, expresses his excitement at the results: “We are thrilled to announce a major milestone for the Club. In recent years, the Caravan and Motorhome Club has made sustainability a key focus and, in partnership with Green Tourism, has recently been commended for our efforts across the key themes of people, places and the planet.

We are proud to have 122 gold sites, 28 silver sites and our Head office gold accredited. This marks a significant achievement and recognises the Club’s commitment to continuously improving its environmental, social and economic activities while aligning with our vision of ‘helping you get more from the great outdoors. While we acknowledge that there is still much to do, this progress and achievement signal that we are on the path to becoming a more sustainable organisation for current and future members. Our commitment includes partnering with relevant accreditation schemes such as Green Tourism, establishing our baseline, and promoting responsible behaviours among staff, members, guests, and suppliers.  I extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in this remarkable achievement. We are grateful to our members for their ongoing support. As we celebrate this milestone, we remain focused on our plans for future improvements and our commitment to sustainable tourism.”

Some of the other initiatives set up over the last year by the Club include:

• offering staff a range of health and well-being services
• encouraging members on getting out in the great outdoors by public transport by foot or by bike
• community support with a wide range of charities being supported across the UK
• a biodiversity campaign to better track the wildlife that calls the sites home
• a metering trial at a selected campsite to reduce electricity consumption
• expanding the number of its sites using renewables
• move to the use of more environmentally conscious cleaning products
• Introducing a water saving trial with the implementation of sensor taps and waterless urinals to reduce water consumption on campsites

Green Tourism are trusted eco experts striving to promote greener ways for businesses and their operations to be more sustainable and socially responsible. The Club has worked with the accreditation company since 2019, its awards certification programme recognises the commitment of tourism businesses that are actively working to become more sustainable and its awards are acknowledged worldwide as an indicator of good environmentally-friendly practice.

Green Tourism CEO & Founder, Andrea Nicholas, added, “I am both delighted and incredibly impressed with the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s achievement of 122 Gold Green Tourism awards. This accomplishment is a testament to the Club’s unwavering commitment to sustainability. With their dedication to integrating sustainable practices across their sites for the good of their members, the local environment, and our Planet, the Club is a shining example for the tourism industry. We are proud to partner with the Club as it continues to go from strength to strength on its green journey.”