Sustainability at Terra Nova

At Terra Nova, the mission behind our Sustainability Policy is to take active measures to protect the natural environment and minimise the negative impact tourism can have on our destinations.

Our ambition is to develop more responsible practices and use long-term thinking as a guiding principle in all aspects of our work.

As Terra Nova is part of the Travel Connect house of travel brands, we follow their certifications and policies to show our dedication to these issues.

Sustainable Certifications

Terra Nova is certified by Vakinn, the official quality and environmental certification for Icelandic tourism.

We are also a member of Travelife, an internationally recognised training, management, and certification programme for sustainability in tourism.

We have recently reached the third and final level, Travelife Certified, and we are the first in Iceland to have achieved this certification, along with other brands within the Travel Connect house of travel brands.

These accolades confirm that we strive to demonstrate professionalism and integrity regarding quality and environmental issues.

Sustainable Goals

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all member states of the United Nations (UN), 17 Sustainable Development Goals were introduced for 2016–2030. These goals focus on the 3 pillars of sustainable development: economy, society, and the environment.

We want to play our part in reaching these goals. For that reason, our Sustainability Policy is based on the goals that are relevant to our operations. 

Environmental Responsibility

We have started to implement processes and will continue to improve our operations based on these goals:

Responsible consumption and production (12):

Our aim is to reduce waste in all our operations by following the 3 Rs of waste management: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Affordable and clean energy (7)

Our office in Iceland derives all its electricity and central heating from renewable energy sources.

In fact, most of the energy used in Iceland comes from renewable energy sources as follows: around 70% of electricity production is from hydropower plants and 30% from geothermal energy, while 90% of central heating from geothermal energy and around 10% from electricity.

Clean water and sanitation, Climate action, Life below water & Life on Land (6, 13, 14 & 15)

The natural environment is our most valuable resource and it is in our best interest, and those of our clients, to operate in a sustainable manner. This way we can protect the environment and the ecosystems in our destinations to maintain biodiversity, both on land and below water.

By operating sustainably and only working with operators who share our ideals, we can collectively limit our environmental impact and the environmental impact of our clients. This way we contribute to climate action and do our part in maintaining a clean and healthy environment.

Social Responsibility

As well as our environmental impact, we also take our social responsibility very seriously, whether that be within the company or as part of our local communities.

Good health and well-being (3):

We understand the importance of work-life balance. For this, we created a policy to increase the well-being and health of employees. Some successful examples include offering flexible working hours and gradually shortening the working days to 7 hours.

We treat all stakeholders with respect, whether they are partners, customers or local residents of our destinations. This is another reason why we like to ensure that our suppliers operate in a socially responsible way.

Quality education (4)

We are also dedicated to employee training and development. For this, we offer various lectures and training throughout the year, such as: destination training, energy management and stress management, positive attitude and emotions, breathing techniques and reading weather and northern lights forecasts.

Gender equality (5)

We follow Travel Connect’s Equal Pay Policy, which is based on laws and regulations and equal rights for all. Our goal is to ensure we offer an inclusive working environment where employees are appreciated as individuals, regardless of their gender (and other protected characteristics).

Decent work and economic growth (8):

Tourism plays a fundamental role in many of our destinations’ economies and can impact their social and natural environments. For that reason, we want to ensure a sustainable approach in all our operations.

We aim to buy from local suppliers and recommend local businesses, such as accommodation and restaurants. By doing this the revenue generated by tourists stays in the local communities.

Sustainability at Travel Connect

You can read our full Sustainability Policy on the Travel Connect website. There you’ll also find a summary of our future goals as we continue to work on becoming more sustainable.

For questions or comments about our Sustainability Policy, please contact Travel Connect’s sustainability coordinator, Kristín Halldórsdóttir, at kristin@travelconnect.com.