We are big fans of Inghams at Ski Flight Free. There are plenty of ski companies who are guilty of greenwashing, but Inghams is not one of them.
They don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk as well. Recent evidence of this can be found in their first Impact Report, published earlier this month.
The report covers the progress of Inghams and their brand, Santa’s Lapland, in their journey to achieve their climate, biodiversity, community and people goals.
Part of their strategy to become better companies for both people and planet, means that both Inghams and Santa’s Lapland are targeting a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas intensity by 2030.
The operators are also aiming to reduce the use of natural resources and to build a better future for their community.
“Incredibly proud of all the progress we’ve made”
Managing Director of Inghams, John Mansell, said:
I’m incredibly proud of all the progress we’ve made so far, and the work we are doing to ensure our brands are better for people and planet long into the future.
We’ve been open and honest in our report about the challenges we face as tour operators, particularly around aviation decarbonisation, one of our industry’s biggest challenges.
The whole travel industry will need to work together if we are going to achieve the scale of change required.’
12% decrease in absolute emissions
The report covers some of the key achievements that Inghams have made since their first carbon audit in 2022:
- Inghams emissions intensity reduced by 7%
- Santa’s Lapland emissions intensity reduced by 2%
- Inghams achieve 12% year on year decrease in absolute emissions
- Inghams Ski emissions intensity reduced by 16% since baseline
- 25% of all Inghams resorts now reachable by rail
- 14,000 tonnes of carbon removals contracted since 2023
- £37,274 donated to charitable causes in 2024 and new employee match funding scheme launched
- £3 for every customer donated to Rewilding Britain
- 95% of employees say they have the flexibility to balance work and personal responsibilities
83% of carbon footprint from aviation
The chances are that if you are reading this blog post on Ski Flight Free you are already aware of the high carbon contribution from aviation to any ski holiday.
Inghams’ research shows that aviation contributes 83% of Inghams and Santa’s Lapland’s total footprint. This has driven their desire to try and encourage as many guests as possible to travel by train.
Project Flight Free [we like that name!] launched in 2023 with a partnership with the Eurostar Snow Train and the addition of rail packages to ski and walking resorts across Austria, Switzerland, and France.
Over 130,000kg of CO2e has now been saved across all Inghams’ programmes from guests making the switch to rail.
Other changes Inghams has made include reducing private transfers, increasing vegetarian meal options, ceasing to sell business class flights and working with partners to measure and understand their environmental and social impacts.
We applaud the work by Inghams and will continue to report on new measures and their progress.
You can read the full Impact Report here.
