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Sri Lanka’s leading destination management company, Walkers Tours, was recently honoured by the country’s leading sustainability solutions provider – ‘The Carbon Consulting Company’, renewing Walkers Tours’ status as the operator of the country’s only internationally certified CarbonNeutral vehicle fleet.
Commending the company’s performance at the occasion, Carbon Consulting Company CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne stated, “Walkers Tours have been Sri Lanka’s only internationally certified green fleet for over four years now. The company’s unrelenting focus on tracking, managing and improving its environmental impact has paid off handsomely. This year we have been able to confirm an overall reduction of the fleet’s operational carbon footprint by over 10% and this is despite a significant increase in the fleet’s operations.
From Left: John Keells Holdings Executive Vice President Vasantha Leelananda, The CarbonNeutral Company Regional Representative Vivian Frost and The Carbon Consulting Company CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne
“Their senior management has put into place a long term strategy that incorporates better environmental performance with some stringent reduction targets built in. This kind of a visionary approach is what is lacking and our country needs corporate leaders such as Walkers who will lead by example and demonstrate that business growth can be accompanied by reduced environmental impacts. Our wholehearted congratulations go out to the Walkers Management and Sustainability Team for this exemplary performance.”
Present during the handing over of the Carbon Neutral certificate to Walkers Tours was Vivian Frost – Regional Representative of the UK’s – The CarbonNeutral Company, the world’s leading retailer of carbon offsets. Adding her congratulations to the Walkers Team she said, “Walkers Tours have made fantastic progress this year in reducing their carbon footprint and continuing to reduce their residual emissions to net zero through their CarbonNeutral fleet certification. They are a great example of a company committed to reducing the environmental impact of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.”
Remarking on the company’s performance commitment to corporate environmental responsibility; John Keells Holdings Executive Vice President Vasantha Leelananda stated, “The need for sustainable practices in the tourism industry is vital. Having understood the vital nature of integrating sustainable practices in to the business operation Walkers Tours spearheaded an initiative three years ago. We became the first DMC in the Asian region to have a carbon neutral fleet.
“Sustainability of the environment we live in is equally important as achieving our business goals and we will make every effort to achieve this. We are constantly looking at new ways to introduce sustainable practices in to every area of our business which will assist us in practicing ‘responsible tourism’.