Weeva Celebrates as Sustainable Travel Continues to Top Consumer Priorities
Johannesburg, SA and London, UK – Weeva celebrated one year since it launched its pioneering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, which is aimed at democratising access to cutting-edge sustainability management tools for the travel and tourism industry. The anniversary comes as sustainable travel trends continue to top consumer preferences.
Over its first year of operations, Weeva has built a community of over 400 individual users around the world, who are making tangible progress to improve the sustainability of their business operations and drive lasting behavioural change within their teams.
Research has shown that consumers are making a conscious choice to opt for destinations, tourism operators, hotels and airlines that are investing in sustainability, despite perceiving the industry as a whole to be making little to no effort to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis or care for local communities.[1]
Because of this and despite pressures on personal finances, consumers are willing to pay up to 10% more to travel sustainably.[2]
Julie Cheetham, Co-founder and Managing Director of Weeva, said: “When we launched Weeva last year, it was apparent that the mood was already shifting, and that there was an urgent need to help the tourism industry improve its impact on people and the planet. Our platform enables travel and tourism businesses of all sizes to measure their progress on their sustainability journeys and identify opportunities to minimise environmental impact, build commercial resilience, and contribute to preserving thriving communities and ecosystems.”
In its first year, Weeva has been used by over 200 travel and tourism businesses – predominantly hospitality providers – to collect, analyse and track data across 18 interconnected sustainability parameters. Over the course of the year, users have captured, managed and analysed a wide range of data, including:
- 1,600 species of fauna and flora captured and recorded.
- 1,6 million kilolitres of water consumed/used.
- 88,000 tonnes of scope 2 carbon emissions under management.
- 2,000 tonnes of waste recycled.
- USD $600,000 spent on community development projects with 30,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries.
As the platform’s capabilities grow alongside its userbase, these datasets will produce longer-term insights that point to emerging trends in sustainable travel and reflect the impact that tourism businesses are having on their local environments and communities.
Lindsey Walter, Co-founder and Director of Weeva, said: “In our first year, we have grown alongside our users – listening to their needs – and this month we celebrate the Weeva community’s sustainability achievements. As we look ahead, we are doubling down on our efforts to make sustainability management as accessible and simple as possible. We can’t wait to see how our users continue to shape sustainable travel well into 2024 and beyond.”
As part of its mission to demystify sustainability management for travel and tourism businesses, on October 18, Weeva will host an open-to-all virtual masterclass entitled, How to prepare your tourism property for making a difference.
Caption: Weeva founders (from left to right): Arnold Meyer, Executive Chairman at Nianova Advisors; Russel Binks, Head of Sales and Marketing at Tswalu Kalahari; Lindsey Walter, Co-founder and Director of Weeva and Head of Commercial Development at Nianova Advisors; Jill Pruett, Finance and Operations Executive at Nianova Advisors; and Julie Cheetham, Co-founder and Managing Director at Weeva and Executive Sustainability at Nianova Advisors.
About Weeva
Weeva is a pioneering Software-as-a-Service platform designed to democratise access to cutting-edge sustainability management tools for the travel and tourism industry. The platform helps travel businesses of all sizes access best-practice, science-based, and data-driven sustainability solutions.