Carepar wins prestigious business travel award

As effects of global warming take their toll on the climate, Peter Ducker from the Hotel Carbon Index Company recently turned up the heat further by entering the Dragons’ Den. Taking part in a Dragons’ Den style pitch at the recent ITM Conference, Ducker was given just 3 minutes to impress the judges in order to win.

Sponsored by Buying Business Travel, the prize includes one on one mentoring from Argate, the travel sector’s pre-eminent business transformation & development organisation.

Ducker, founder of the Hotel Carbon Index Company, pitched his initiative, Carepar, to Dragons including, Argate’s Iain Robinson and before an audience comprised of leading travel managers and budget holders of corporate travel expenditure. Competing against three other organisations vying for the prize, Ducker concisely outlined his proposition as: “Carepar (Carbon Emission Per Room Available): the definitive industry standard classification for the lodging and event sector allowing business and leisure travellers to understand the emissions involved in their hotel usage, whether for accommodation, conference or event.”

Created in response to the needs of travel policy decision-makers in understanding the impact their accommodation requirements have on the environment, interest in the benchmark has quickly gathered pace. Equally, there has been significant demand for individual Carepar ratings from hoteliers and venues seeking to show demonstrable reductions in their emissions.

Peter Ducker said: “This award is a great accolade as it comes from my peers and the actual decision-makers in the business travel sector. Collectively, we can help in reducing emissions; I will capitalise on the mentoring that I will receive by cascading and creating awareness among hoteliers and venues so that they reduce their own carbon footprints.”