Atlas Travel Web.com Blog

Collette Vacations is offering discounts of $200 per person for any departure to Australia in 2009 for new bookings made through March 31, 2009. Of Collette’s 8 Australia & New Zealand itineraries, 2 are from the Explorations brochure which are for small groups of 16 to 24 passengers; 1 is a Smithsonian Journey and sevefal include a visit to a Collette Foundation site. Collette Vacations is a global leader of world travel, offering 150 vacation choices on all seven continents.

Collette has announced the launch of its newest initiative, Project Green & Blue. The program is Collette’s latest step in reducing its carbon footprint & environmental impact. The domestic tour operator’s initiative is aimed at ensuring Collette’s worldwide offices are operating as “green” as possible on a day-to-day basis.

“Everyone needs to take responsibility for the impact they have on our environment,” said John Galvin, CFO. “We want to do everything we possibly can to leave the world a better place as a result of our being here.” Project Green and Blue is aimed at doing just that.

On Arbor Day, Collette planted 519 trees, one in honor of each of their employees. Collette is also working on the design & construction of the new Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified building for their office in Canada. The building should be complete in April 2009 will include a geothermal heating system, so they will use less fossil fuel for heat.

Future projects will include installing a 20-kilowatt wind turbine in the company’s Vermont retreat location which will provide renewable energy for the house and in clean energy that can be sold back to the utility company.  They will also make changes & upgrades to their corporate office in Rhode Island including replacing lights & installing water saving fixtures, installing programmable thermostats & occupancy sensing light systems, as well as changing over to environmentally friendly cleaning products.

Collette Vacations makes traveling the world simple and hassle-free. For more information on their travel packages visit: www.escortedcollettetours.com

Collette has always given back to local communities through their involvement in Tourism Cares since 2002.  Their employees volunteer on projects including preservation & beautification projects at Plimouth Plantation, Nuweetooun School in Exeter, Rhode Island & the National Park site at historic Ellis Island. The Collette Foundation was launched in 2007 to help children around the world. With over 150 volunteers who establish & manage projects in Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa and the U.S. In South Africa for example, the foundation is supporting rural communities by supplying Hippo Water Rollers. The use of these rollers in remote villages allows a safer way to collect water, as children were carrying too much wait for their backs, and they can collect 5 times the amount of water they used to in one trip. 100 families were given the Hippo Rollers in January of this year. In the U.S.,  Collette works with Second Harvest Food bank. Volunteer employees help raise money, package food & assist with the Backpack program, which provides a pack of food to each participating child on Fridays. Each backpack includes small pop top entrees, such as beans & franks or chili, along with cereal, a fruit cup, chocolote milk and snacks to make sure the children & their families have food over the weekend & during school vacations. 

Watch the Collette Foundation video, & look for future posts on the new Project Green & Blue.