On July 20th at 11.30AM, supporters of Climate Liberation Aotearoa will hold a sit-in at Flight Centre in Wellington to draw attention to the travel agency’s irresponsible collaboration with the cruise industry. They will have banners, signs, and leaflets calling out the environmental cost of cruise ships and the culpability of travel agencies such as Flight Centre.

“We want to demonstrate the ludicrous injustice of high emission, luxury tourism in a world that has exceeded 1.5C degrees of warming for 12 consecutive months” said spokesperson Frank Preddey. “We are in the midst of a climate emergency impacting the poorest amongst us the most. A cruise holiday has 3-4 times more CO2 emissions than an equivalent holiday utilising air travel and staying in hotels. Some way to unwind! Climate Liberation Aotearoa is asking Flight Centre and other groups in the tourism industry to sign our open letter to central government; the letter asks that international shipping and aviation emissions be counted in our emissions inventory and reduction plans nation-wide - this would include cruise ship emissions.”

“We’ve been lobbying for the government to count international shipping and aviation emissions, end cruise ship subsidies, and ensure that cruise ships are kept out of sensitive natural areas such as Fiordland. This sit-in ties in with that campaign. We believe it’s the duty of tourism agencies to call for better regulation and accountability for the cruise industry; after all, they’re the ones making huge profits from this industry, the least they can do is to make some commitment to our natural environment.”

“We’re targeting Flight Centre because, as Aotearoa’s primary travel agency, they’re the main channel through which people book cruise holidays. We want to draw attention to their culpability in this industry that they profit from, and really outline the need for responsible, sustainable tourism in Aotearoa. In a rapidly escalating climate emergency, the environmental cost of this billion dollar, luxury cruise industry becomes unjustifiable.” Says Preddey.

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