External engagements

Type of engagement	Frequency
Customer service questionnaires	Each time a customer travels
Social media	As required/ongoing
Customer relations emails/letters/telephone calls	As required/ongoing

Type of engagement	Frequency
Employee engagement survey	Annual
Segment forums	Three to four times per year
European Works Council	At least once per year
Employee newsletters	At least quarterly
Emails	As required
Intranet	Ongoing
Employee conferences and leadership conferences	Once to four times per year
Union meetings	As required

Type of engagement	Frequency
Presentation of results followed by meetings with the Group CEO and CFO	Twice per year
Trading updates accompanied by a conference call with the Group CEO and CFO	Four times per year
Strategy update presentations given by Executive Directors and the Executive Management team	As required
Ad hoc introductory and update meetings between interested investors and our investor relations team	As required
Meetings with socially responsible investment funds	As required

Type of engagement	Frequency
Accommodation supplier survey	Annual
Meetings	As required
Sustainability newsletter	Quarterly

Type of engagement	Frequency
Meetings with regulators in each source market	Four to eight times per year
Meetings with source market government departments with responsibility for transport and tourism	Variable from monthly
Meetings with key MPs in constituencies where we have offices	As required/ongoing
Meetings with key officials in departments responsible for relevant European legislation	Once to twice per year
Meetings with ministries of tourism in destination governments	As required
A programme of engagement with ministers of tourism in key destinations	Ongoing

Type of engagement	Frequency
Meetings	Twice to four times per year
Travel Foundation forums	Quarterly
Email updates	As required

Type of engagement	Frequency
Meetings	Twice to eight times per year
Working in partnership	As required
Participation in projects, conferences or research	As required

Type of engagement	Frequency
Travel Foundation projects	As required
Resort committees	Monthly

Type of engagement	Frequency
Market-based industry association meetings	Variable from monthly
Market-based industry association sustainability/environmental committees	Variable from monthly

ABTA

Thomas Cook UK is an active member of ABTA, the UK's largest travel industry association. Andrew Cooper, our Director of Government and External Affairs, sits on ABTA's Board. Our membership means that customers of the majority of our UK subsidiaries are protected: we trade in accordance with the ABTA Code of Conduct and some financial protection is provided for package holidays where protection is not available from the Civil Aviation Authority's ATOL scheme.

We are members of ABTA's Sustainable Tourism Committee, which works with its members to integrate sustainable tourism practices into their business. The committee also engages with governments and other parties in holiday destinations to encourage them to become more sustainable. As members of ABTA's Animal Welfare Committee, we are involved in developing an animal welfare policy and strategy for ABTA and its members. We also attend ABTA health and safety meetings, through which we have been involved in establishing an industry-wide voluntary health and safety standard. In 2008, the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) merged into ABTA. FTO sustainability initiatives are now being run by ABTA, although the primary engagement in all initiatives comes from the large travel companies like Thomas Cook.

Deutscher ReiseVerband (DRV)

Thomas Cook Germany belongs to DRV, the principal tourism industry association in Germany. DRV represents the interests of the industry, facilitates the exchange of ideas and promotes professional best practice. As a member of DRV's Environment Committee, we are involved in promoting sustainable tourism and developing environmental initiatives.

Tourism 2023

Forum for the Future's Tourism 2023 initiative was co-funded by a number of travel companies including Thomas Cook UK. The initiative involved generating future scenarios in order to explore how concerns such as climate change and population growth might affect tourism. In doing so, it helped the UK outbound travel and tourism industry to understand what challenges might lay ahead and what actions may need to be taken for a sustainable future. We were among the first companies to sign up to the Tourism 2023 Vision. This pledges us to collaboratively create a sustainable UK outbound tourism industry by 2023, work that is now being led by ABTA.

The International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT)

The ICRT is a postgraduate teaching and research centre at Leeds Metropolitan University and the world's leading centre of expertise on responsible tourism. Our ongoing relationship with the Centre enables us to draw on their knowledge of trends and challenges. We also support the staff and students with their research and have given presentations on working in the tourist industry and the challenges and opportunities of implementing sustainable tourism within a large travel business.

Leeds Metropolitan University

Thomas Cook sponsors Leeds Metropolitan University's Responsible Holiday Challenge. 16– to 18-year-old school and college students are invited to design a responsible package holiday for a real client. They must consider the sustainability impacts of travel and holiday activities. In addition to financial support, we take part in the award presentation ceremony and our Group Head of Sustainability sits on the judging panel.

Futouris

Thomas Cook Germany is a member of Futouris, a travel industry organisation addressing environmental and social concerns. In 2010, we supported three projects focusing on reforestation in Cuba, protecting monk seals in Madeira and supporting orphaned and impoverished children in Thailand.

Sustainable Aviation

This initiative brings together leading players in the UK's aviation industry. Signatories to the Sustainable Aviation strategy, including Thomas Cook Airlines UK, commit to, among other things, reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides, along with aircraft noise, by 2020.

The Travel Foundation

The Travel Foundation is a UK charity set up to promote sustainable tourism and collaborate with travel companies on projects that benefit destination communities. We are proud to be a founder member, as well as a major fundraiser for Travel Foundation projects. Andrew Cooper (our Director of Government and External Affairs) is a trustee of the Travel Foundation and Ruth Holroyd (our Group Head of Sustainability) sits on its Activities Committee.

Travelife

Established by the European Union and ABTA, Travelife encourages the integration of sustainability principles into tour operators' supply chains. The organisation promotes a common approach across travel companies, which includes a sustainability management system, training and supplier auditing. We encourage our hotels to sign up to the Travelife approach and many have earned bronze, silver and gold Travelife awards.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

CDP holds the largest database of carbon management information from companies around the world. This information is made available to investors, so that investment decisions may take into account a company's record on climate change. We have submitted Thomas Cook Group's data in 2009 and 2010, available from the Downloads page of this report.

The Carbon Trust

The Carbon Trust is an independent company funded by the UK Government to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The Carbon Trust has been assisting Thomas Cook UK in our tender process and selection of a smart metering provider to enable us to capture accurate energy data.

The Prince's May Day Network

Businesses in Prince Charles' May Day Network are united in their commitment to tackle climate change. Thomas Cook Group has been a member of the network since its inception and we have pledged to reduce our carbon emissions, and to encourage employees to reduce their emissions at home as well as at work.

The British Standards Institution (BSI)

The BSI develops standards that are used by organisations around the world, working closely with the International Organization for Standardization. Thomas Cook Group has been invited to join consultations on changes and new developments.

The Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP)

In 2010, we signed up for Rippleffect, a programme from WRAP designed to help companies understand how much water they use and how they can manage and reduce it.

ECPAT

Standing for 'End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes', ECPAT is a global network of organisations and individuals. Thomas Cook in Northern Europe and Germany have signed ECPAT's Code of Conduct and our Northern Europe business is working with hotels to reduce the occurrence of child prostitution. Thomas Cook UK has supported ECPAT to develop and pilot an online training tool for the tourism industry on how to reduce child sex tourism.

Sail 4 Cancer

As a provider of sailing holidays, Neilson Active Holidays has directed most of its fundraising and corporate giving to the Sail 4 Cancer charity. Sail 4 Cancer offers water-based respite opportunities to individuals and families affected by cancer, as well as funding cancer treatment and research. In 2010, Neilson contributed £18,815 towards holidays for 59 people. Since 2005, 427 people have been on Neilson holidays through the charity. We have also worked with Sail 4 Cancer to help raise awareness of skin cancer among the sailing community. Neilson employees also raise donations for Sail 4 Cancer. In 2010, events including a charity single and a windsurf challenge raised a total of £25,898.

The Born Free Foundation

The Born Free Foundation rescues vulnerable animals and campaigns around the world to raise awareness, change cruel practices and protect endangered species. Thomas Cook UK's website promotes Born Free's Travellers' Animal Alert initiative, through which holidaymakers can report any cases they see of animals being treated poorly. Any reports that customers make are investigated by Born Free. We also collaborate with Born Free to develop training and draw on their expertise on animal welfare issues, and have supported the organisation through in-kind donations such as flights for research trips.

The Brooke

The Brooke is an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules in the developing world, through direct veterinary treatment and community programmes focusing on animal health and well-being. Thomas Cook supported the Brooke's Responsible Tourism for Animals campaign and promoted the Happy Horses Holiday Code in our destinations, to improve working conditions for horses and donkeys used in the tourist industry.