Bringing together the global route development community
Kingdom of Bahrain
• 6 – 8 October 2024
Sustainability At Routes
Sustainability is the most important global issue the aviation industry is facing. We are proud that the Routes events provides us with the opportunity to help support this global challenge whilst continuing to make positive impacts environmentally, socially, and economically.
Initiatives At A Glance
Our Three Pillars
Highlighted are the initiatives we are running at Routes to make us a more sustainable event to attend and, how you can get involved. They will also provide you with a useful guide to help improve your own sustainability credentials.
Attendee guidelines
Use the below links to help make your attendance at a Routes event more sustainable.
As an Exhibitor
As a Delegate
- Don't throw your lanyards and badges away! Place them in one of the recycling bins at the end of the show.
- Share your learnings and sustainability efforts with us on social #RWO24
- Consider opting for plant-based meals to reduce your environmental impact
- Attend our Conference sessions around Sustainability and have the important conversations
- Help us continue to make a difference with Airlink
- If you are flying back to Canada or America have a look at the Flight Buddy scheme and you may be able to save a life
Environmental Impact
Better Stands
Did you know that one medium sized disposable stand produces around four tonnes of waste, which is almost 10x the average person’s household waste per year? Designed to be used only once, they have a significant impact on the environment, in addition to increasing health and safety risks onsite.
Better Stands is an Informa-wide programme aiming to ensure that all core elements of exhibitor stands are reusable.
We work alongside our exhibitors to move away from disposable, single-use stands in favour of reusable or recyclable stands.
Lighting and Air Conditioning
At each of our events our operations team works alongside our venues to ensure Air Conditioning and Lighting are used efficiently to reduce our negative Environmental Impact. We strive to do this by running halls at half-lighting during build and breakdown and having the AC turned off at night.
All of our events are powered by 100% renewabl electricity. We're still trying to use less electricity overall but this ensures any used is as sustainable as possible.
Procurement
All our procurement choices are made in line with our Sustainability Goals. At Routes you will be able to spot our LED Wall that allows us to share the important messages without creating waste, such as: our attendees social posts about the event, our sustainability initiatives, and details on the future host.
We are always looking for different options to promote less plastic so water coolers can be found around our show floor with many of our exhibitors also providing reusable water bottles.
Social Impact
Partnership with Airlink
Our Charity Partner, Airlink, is a disaster relief, global humanitarian non-profit that harnesses the power of aviation to save lives, deliver critical aid, and rebuild communities in the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters.
Our partnership with Airlink is purposeful as we are able to use the industry to help support the cause, help us to continue to make a difference by donating here.
Volunteering
There is one thing that remains a constant for our Routes team regardless of where our events are held – in every country we volunteer with a local charity to give back to the local community and learn more about the culture and people. With this initiative we have gotten to support some amazing charities and meet some amazing people.
In 2024 alone we have done the following:
International Womens Day in Bogota
Renovating a Homeless Shelter in Aarhus
Stay tuned to find out what charity we volunteer with in Bahrain!
Charity Partnerships
At Routes we are passionate about local charities and ensuring the needs of the communities we work in are met.
And so, last Christmas we donated £150 worth of toiletry donations to Barnabus - a Manchester based charity supporting the homeless. This was to support the fundraising we did to help renovate the shower facilities at the centre. We also regularly fundraise through our walking marathon WTW.
Inclusive Spaces
Route development is all about forging new connections, opening up the world by making travel more accessible and learning through travel. At Routes we believe everyone is welcome and our differences should be celebrated.
We aim to create an inclusive space through meals and spaces; ensuring dietary requirements such as Halal, Kosher, Vegetarian etc. are observed, and that we provide Prayer and Nursing Rooms whilst ensuring our walkways are accessible.
We are always striving to do and be better. If there are ways we can make Routes more inclusive to you please reach out to us at world@informa.com
Economic Impact
Hosting one of our Routes events leads to quantifiable long-term, legacy benefits from growth at the city’s airports and increased tourism activity. A host city can expect Contribution to GDP of $472 million after three years from a World Routes event alongside growth in jobs. If you are interested you can find out more on our Future Hosts page.
Industry Impact
At Routes our media arms help facilitate the important conversations around Sustainability. We have content sessions as part of our Conference Track focused on the risks and needs of our industry. If you missed the chance to attend our sessions at previous events our editorial team has produced some great articles which an be found below.
Shuttles
Shuttle services are provided at all of our events where available; this cuts down on the number of attendees taking individual taxis reducing our negative impact on the environment.
We utilise the local infrastructure allowing us to also support local businesses.
Sustainability Development
Routes events are where the aviation community get the chance to network and have the important conversations around Sustainability in our industry.
On October 8th we are hosting the Tourism Seasonality Summit which will explore innovative solutions for sustainable growth beyond peak tourist seasons.
And information on the Sustainability sessions in our Conference Programme for Routes World 2024 can be found here.
Change is made through these conversations. We welcome you to be a part of the change.