With the Destination Canada Tourism Pledge notching up 350 signatories, Australia’s two biggest travel groups, Flight Centre Travel Group and Helloworld Travel, have shared how they are building advocacy within their networks to amplify the initiative to the wider trade and their clients.
With the rallying cry of “Together for Impact,” the Destination Canada Tourism Pledge is a voluntary commitment from Australian travel businesses to collectively promote and support a regenerative approach to tourism in Canada.
The for good initiative was developed over 18 months by Destination Canada’s Australian office alongside a newly formed Strategic Advisory Group of industry leaders, and launched late last year.
Founding Australian Advisory Group members include Flight Centre Travel Group, Helloworld Travel, Adventure World, Entire Travel Group, Air Canada, APT, Snow ‘n’ Ski, Skimax and us here at Karryon. Intrepid Travel has also recently joined the group.
What is the Destination Canada Australia Partnership Pledge, and why does it matter?
The pledge is an open invitation to all levels of Australia’s travel industry, including but not limited to travel advisors and agencies, wholesalers, tour operators, cruise lines, media, consortia networks, lifestyle brands, and industry bodies, to stand alongside Canada as a partner in a purpose-led, regenerative approach to travel.
Australia is expected to contribute C$1.6 billion in visitor spending to Canada by 2030. The pledge links the Australian industry to Destination Canada’s 2030 Strategy, A World of Opportunity, and to the growing community of leaders committed to making travel a force for good.
Keen to get involved? You can start your journey here.
Destination Canada’s industry-first Tourism Wealth and Wellbeing Index, published last year, is one tangible outcome of that approach, measuring tourism across six areas, from the economy and employment to the environment and community engagement.
To help inspire others to better understand the initiative’s impact, two founding signatories, Flight Centre Travel Group and Helloworld Travel, have shared their unique approaches to activating the Pledge within their networks.
Flight Centre Travel Group: Buy in from the top
“When Skroo signs something, people notice,” Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) Global Partnership Leader and founding member of the Strategic Advisory Group, Tim Holden, tells Karryon.
“When your founder and Global CEO [Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner] personally signs the Destination Canada Pledge, it’s not just an endorsement. It sends a clear signal to thousands of people across our network that this is something worth paying attention to.”
“This was never a tick-the-box exercise for us,” Holden said. “A pledge that champions regenerative tourism and protecting the destinations our customers travel to, that feels like a natural extension of that.
“The alignment was immediate and a tangible way to connect our people’s day-to-day work with something bigger,” he says.
“We don’t need to encourage our people to care; they already do,” Holden says. “Our people work in travel because they genuinely love it. They love sending someone on a trip they’ll remember for the rest of their life.”
“We also know life is busy and cut through is hard. In a business the size of FCTG, visibility is everything. So we made a deliberate decision to place the pledge where our people would look, an update from leadership, our learning and development platforms, and peer-to-peer meeting agenda items.”
“We identified the key gatekeepers early, the product, marketing and learning and development leads, those who shape what our consultants are talking about with customers every day,” Holden says.
“Engaging key stakeholders early, explaining the pledge and its intent, and how to integrate it into their day, it becomes more than just a signature.”
Helloworld Travel: always-on amplification
Helloworld Travel’s focus has also been on consistently amplifying the pledge across its wholesale and agency networks, using owned channels, including its wholesale brand VIVA Holidays, to keep it part of the ongoing conversation and inspiration.
Melissa Warren, Helloworld’s Group General Manager, Marketing and also a founding member of the Strategic Advisory Group, put that case to the network’s agents in a VIVA Holidays industry update.
“Over the past 18 months, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Destination Canada and a select group of Australian partners to help pilot a new model for what tourism can, and should, look like,” Warren says.
“I want to personally encourage our industry peers, agents, wholesalers, airlines, media and partners, to be part of this movement. There has never been a more important moment for us to shape the future of travel together.”
Warren lays out what the pledge stands for in practical terms.
“At its core, this initiative recognises that tourism has immense potential to be a force for good, strengthening communities, restoring natural environments, elevating Indigenous voices and experiences, and contributing real cultural and economic benefits that last,” she says.
“As advisors, wholesalers, operators and storytellers, we influence travel decisions every single day,” Warren said. “We’re on the front line of shaping how and why people choose to explore the world.”
What’s next, and how can you get involved?
With 350 travel trade pledge signatories in Australia already committed to making positive change, Destination Canada is looking to build a community program with forthcoming member updates and a Virtual Summit lined up to deepen engagement and collaboration through 2026.
Pledge signatories in Australia have access to the following benefits:
- The Together for Impact emblem — for use across email signatures, storefronts, social media, and marketing materials
- A welcome letter from Julie King, Managing Director, Destination Canada Australia
- A pledge certificate and full FAQ document including emblem brand guidelines
- Connection to a growing community of purpose-led Australian travel industry partners
- Access to Destination Canada insights, training, and exclusive industry events
- Profiling opportunities within Destination Canada’s Australian and Canadian networks
“If you’re passionate about the future of our industry and the role we can all play in shaping it, I invite you to join the pledge and be part of this growing community of regenerative travel champions,” Warren says.
Keen to get involved? Interested businesses and individuals can find out more here.
