Sustainability/Environment

Sabre Holdings is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of our global business operations and to promoting sustainable business practices in travel and tourism. We connect people with the world’s greatest travel possibilities and are implementing sustainability initiatives that:

• Reduce our own environmental footprint,
• Promote environmentally responsible and sustainable business practices in travel,
• Offer our customers products and services that will help them promote sustainable travel.

Reducing our own environmental footprint
We were one of the first companies in any industry to design and build a LEED campus as our corporate headquarters and we continue to incorporate energy and water conservation and waste reduction practices into our operations. These include the use of natural lighting, low-energy fluorescent lighting, low- or no-water appliances and low-water, heat-tolerant, all-organic native outdoor landscaping and broad use of recycled materials in our buildings. Other key initiatives include;

• Facilities: We have developed a corporate facility management guide that is modeled on the best practices in our corporate headquarters and will be employing these practices in many of our global facilities. In our corporate headquarters approximately 30% of our employees participate in our flexible workspace program. We will look to extend this system, which has helped us consolidate our offices, make more efficient use of our facilities, reduce overall resource consumption as well as CO2 emissions and avoid the need to build or lease additional facilities, to a few of our global facilities.
• Waste Reduction and Recycling: Since 2002, we have recycled more than 600 tons (400 pounds per person) of paper, glass, metal and plastic at our corporate headquarters and we began on-site composting in 2008. We have active recycling programs in many of our global locations, and our global employee-led eco-teams are working to pursue further efforts.
• IT and Data Center Efficiencies: Our strategic plan for our global data centers includes server upgrades, server virtualization, desktop virtualization, cooling efficiencies, data center space consolidation and more efficient management of power consumption. Additionally, by partnering strategically with our vendors we will continue to implement the most environmentally friendly products, ensure end-of-life product recycling and better manage energy consumption. 
• Food Services: In our corporate headquarters Café, where over 200,000 meals are served annually, we promote environmental sustainability, health and nutrition. All to-go containers and utensils are compostable and we encourage the use of reusable plates, cups and utensils through an incentive program. We purchase our food products from suppliers that have certified, humanely-raised, sustainable, non-endangered and hormone-free meat and poultry, and our fresh fish and seafood products adhere to the guidelines established by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We feature vegan and vegetarian selections daily and our fresh seasonal ingredients come from local, natural, and organic producers. All used cooking oils are picked up by an environmental organization for recycling.
• Employee Involvement: We provide education and awareness opportunities to our global employee base so that they can understand and pursue environmental sustainability commitments both at home and in the workplace. Beyond the physical structures, we provide an eco-friendly workplace for our employees, with bike racks for 5% of our employee population and showers and lockers in both buildings for employees who wish to make use of the hiking paths outside.  We have an active ride-share program in our headquarters and in January 2010 launched an interactive tool for employees to measure and manage their own Personal Sustainability Practices.

Promote environmentally responsible and sustainable business practices in travel
Sabre Holdings works closely with industry partners and travel providers to ensure that Sustainable Travel and Tourism standards are developed with a systematic approach and promoted positively.

• As a Steering Committee member of the Tourism Sustainability Council we have helped in the development of the Baseline Criteria for Sustainable Tourism as launched in October 2008, which provide a common understanding of sustainable tourism. We continue to work actively with the Tourism Sustainability Council to ensure global and industry-wide adoption of sustainability standards in order to provide ongoing clarity and integrity to travellers in order to make informed choices about the best sustainable travel options.
• Through our World Travel and Tourism Council membership we are part of the environmental group and participated in developing the WTTC Call to Action Report
• We partner with top volunteer travel providers through Travelocity’s Travel For Good™   program; these non-profit partners represent a wide range of opportunities for “restorative” travel--from environmental work to animal rescue and habitat restoration to humanitarian and home-building projects around the world.
• Sabre’s Chairman and CEO, Sam Gilliland, chairs the Economic Sustainability Committee at the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States. This two-year appointment provides a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to industry-related issues.

Serving our Customers
Sabre Holdings aims to provide our global customers with products and services that help promote sustainable travel and tourism and to enable all travelers to make informed choices regarding responsible travel and tourism. Examples of our offerings include;

• Carbon Offsets for consumers are available through our industry-leading carbon offset programs on Travelocity® with the Go Zero™ program, and lastminute.com’s Carbonwise™ program. GoZero, part of Travelocity’s Travel for Good initiative, provides donations for planting native trees with The Conservation Fund, while CarbonWise provides contributions to fully certified renewable energy projects.
• Travelocity’s Green Travel Directory helps travelers determine green from “green-washed.”  The eco-friendly directory highlights properties and destinations already offering meaningful sustainability initiatives and is a trusted resource for consumers looking for more sustainable travel options. 
• GetThere® Green completes a travel procurement solution by making the implementation of sustainability policies into managed online travel easy. It enables dynamic messaging to promote sustainable travel tips and provides access to our industry-leading Carbon Emission reports. GetThere earned a commendation for this set of enhancements from the UK’s Institute of Travel Management in October 2007.
• Our industry-leading Carbon Dioxide emissions reporting on travel is now available as a part of our Traveler Data and Security Suite for all MySabre, TurboSabre and GetThere customers. Thanks to our unique industry expertise we have developed detailed calculation methodology that gives our customers access to timely and relevant data. Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute declared this “the most detailed aviation carbon calculator in existence” in a recent comparative report.
• Sabre Airline Solutions® experts consult with airlines around the world on fuel savings engagements, helping them to achieve two-to-three percent in fuel consumption savings by tapping into operational efficiencies in flight planning, load planning, fleet deployment, and more to optimize fuel consumption. Every gallon of fuel we save our clients keeps 9.09 kilos (20 pounds) of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.  
• Sabre Airline Solutions® tools such as Virtually There and Sabre® AirCrews® Suite allow airlines to electronically manage their operations and passengers, reducing use of paper and waste, while eMergo® Web access gives them access to a shared hardware and data center, reducing the amount of electricity required to run an independent systems center

Contact information:
Sabre Holdings
Environmental Sustainability
3150 Sabre Drive
Southlake, TX 76092