Leading the tourism industry by example

Creating unforgettable experiences for visitors can go hand in hand with tackling the climate emergency and Scotland’s tourism industry has no shortage of businesses leading the way in both.  

And our headline sponsor for the Scottish Thistle Awards 2025, Abbey: The Destination Experts, is no exception.  Abbey is a multi-award-winning specialist in leisure tourism, and they’ve recently added a Gold Certification from the Sustainable Tourism Network to their achievements.  

With the regional and national finals of the Thistle Awards in sight, Abbey will be using their platform as Headline Sponsor to share their insights and expertise on sustainable tourism with our winners and to create opportunities for the industry to learn from one another and work together to find solutions that reinforce tourism as a force for good. 

Read on to learn about Abbey’s journey to Gold Certification and how they plan to use this momentum to support our Scottish Thistle Award winners.  

The learning continues

Going through the certification process also highlighted some key learnings for Abbey about what it takes to implement more sustainable processes and practices in a tourism business: 

Lean on your industry peers: Things are more easily achievable with the support of peers from the industry. For example, during the audit stage of the certification process, auditors also engaged with Abbey’s suppliers and partners such as Mercat Tours and Little’s Chauffeur Drive. Not only can we learn from the practices of other businesses, but building a community of supporters can help in achieving success.

An on-going process: The gold certification doesn’t signal the end of the process for Abbey but part of a continuous journey to always strive for better and more efficient and sustainable ways to operate.

One of their next key stages is to run a pilot project that will aim to reduce their carbon footprint by using alternative fuel options on their tours. If successful, this can be a tangible, practical example of how Abbey can put sustainability into action.

The small things count: Making more responsible and sustainable business choices isn’t only about making significant investments and changes. The small changes and initiatives (like introducing book swaps and clothes swaps) are important and can be particularly helpful for smaller businesses that don’t have the resources or funds for bigger changes.

Championing the industry

One of the reasons Abbey chose to step into the Headline Sponsor role for the Scottish Thistle Awards was how the awards programme demonstrates excellence across the industry and can be used as a catalyst to improve overall quality and standards for visitors.  

With this sponsor role, they are committed to working with our Thistle Award finalists and winners to explore and support their journeys to becoming more responsible businesses. 

Next year, national winners will be invited to a sustainability-focussed workshop delivered by Abbey in partnership with VisitScotland. The session will be a chance for businesses to share ideas and best practices around Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles. Designed as a legacy initiative, the workshop aims to inspire responsible tourism and extend the impact of the awards across the wider supply chain.