Polluted beaches and waterways is the second biggest concern regarding tourism impact on the environment, according to Agoda’s 2021 global Sustainable Travel Trends Survey

Bangkok – November 10 , 2022 – Agoda partnered with a non-profit organization, TerraCycle Foundation to bring 40 Agoda volunteers from its Bangkok office to clean Lat Phrao canal to do their part for the environment and give back to the community in a meaningful way.

Agoda volunteers teamed up to go on boats to collect trash from the river, which has been facing flooding due to blockages around drainage and incremental weather and then another team worked on sorting through the garbage collected to ensure as much as possible is recycled in the best way for the environment. The volunteer group collected in total 667 kilos of plastic trash, equivalent to more than 33,000 PET bottles.

Together with TerraCycle, Agoda employees made a pledge to cut down the use of single-use plastic and participated in a tour to learn more about the community around Lat Phrao canal.

The #MyPledge waterway clean in Bangkok is the fourth in the series of Agoda’s global #MyPledge beach clean events following similar activities in Singapore, Phuket, and Indonesia. Agoda will continue to roll-out this employee activity in other markets globally, including Hong Kong. As part of the #MyPledge campaign, Agoda worked with influencers across the region to raise awareness of tourism impacts on environment and invited the public to share their pledges of simple steps they might pledge to travel more sustainably in the future.

TerraCycle is known for collecting plastics from urban waterways in turn reducing microplastics that could end up in the ocean harming sea life and the environment. In Thailand, TerraCycle, has worked with the local communities in Lat Phrao to help restore and rehabilitate the Khlong (one of Bangkok’s oldest modes of transport), by collecting over 325,000 kilograms of river waste and deployed river plastic traps. This has benefitted +7,000 households alongside the canal with a cleaner environment.

Bali – October 29 , 2022 – One day after Youth Pledge Day, 175 participants, including 50 Agoda volunteers and 100 hotel partners, did their bit to clean up the popular Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia.

Kuta Beach is a popular destination in Indonesia and the amount of garbage builds up during the rainy season as tidal sea water brings garbage from the middle of the sea or from land. There is a lot of plastic waste which is not environmentally friendly and harmful to marine life.

Armed with gloves and community spirit, Agoda employees and accommodation partners rolled up their sleeves to pick up bags of trash along Kuta Beach, doing their part for the environment by tackling beach waste.

“Giving back to community is part of the Agoda culture. We encourage our employees to take a paid day off to volunteer for causes that they believe in and that support the communities in which we work. Today, Agoda volunteers are proud to be able to work together with our hotel partners to give back to the local community in Bali and be part of the change, helping to protect the coast as we gradually open up for tourism, and thus contributing to a better experience for beach-goers,” said Gede Gunawan, Senior Country Director, Indonesia, Agoda.

The #MyPledge beach clean in Bali is the third in the series of Agoda’s global #MyPledge beach clean events following the first two activities in Singapore and Phuket, which kicked off in August and September respectively. Agoda will continue to roll-out this employee activity in other markets globally, including Hong Kong and Bangkok, until the end of this year.

As part of the #MyPledge campaign, Agoda worked with influencers across the region to raise awareness of tourism impacts on environment and invited the public to share their pledges of simple steps they might pledge to travel more sustainably in the future.

This beach clean-up activity supported by Legian community, tourism community including Agoda Hotels Partners, Bali Hotels Association, Indonesian Hotels General Manager Associations (Bali Chapter), Bali Sales & Marketing Community, and Nawacita Pariwisata Indonesia (Bali Chapter).

Bali – October 1 , 2022 – 24 employees from the Agoda Bangkok and Phuket offices, joined by CEO John Brown did their bit to tackle beach waste. Partnering with a local non-profit, Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, the team rolled up their sleeves, armed only with gloves and community attitude went to pick up trash at Kamala beach. After collecting 43 bags of trash, Agoda employees also sorted trash and cleaned recyclables.

The #MyPledge beach clean in Phuket is the second in the series of Agoda’s #MyPledge beach clean events following the first which kicked-off in Singapore in September. The activity will roll-out to other markets across Asia, including Indonesia and Hong Kong until the end-year with hundreds of employees from the digital travel platform taking part in the events.

As part of the #MyPledge campaign, Agoda worked with influencers across the region to raise awareness of tourism impacts on environment and invite the public to share their pledges of simple steps they might pledge to travel more sustainably in the future.

“Giving back to community is part of the Agoda culture. We encourage our employees to take a paid day off to volunteer for causes that they believe in and that support the communities in which we work. Today, Agoda volunteers are proud to be able to give back to a local community in Phuket and be part of the change, helping to protect the coast, and contributing to a better experience for beach-goers”, said Kevalin Athayu, Global Head of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility at Agoda.