Amadeus Ventures invests in CHOOSE to support customers offering eco-friendly options

The deal was announced after the GDS and European travel tech giant agreed a partnership with the non-profit Green Software Foundation established by Accenture, GitHub, Microsoft and ThoughtWorks

European travel technology giant Amadeus has invested in climate tech firm CHOOSE that that will help its trade partners offer eco-friendly travel options.

The investment has been made by Amadeus Ventures, the GDS’s division that support early stage and start-up companies to establish their ideas and develop their technology.

News of the investment comes as Amadeus announced a partnership with the Green Software Foundation.

The non-profit organisation was established last year by Accenture, GitHub, Microsoft and ThoughtWorks. 

Amadeus is the first travel company to join the foundation after announcing its carbon neutral data centre will be working with it to develop green coding practices. 

Amadeus said travellers ere becoming more aware of the impact travel has on the environment and are demanding ways to reduce or eliminate the impact.

It cited WTTC figures that showed 83% of global travellers says sustainable travel is vital and 69% expect the travel industry to offer more sustainable options. 

Working with CHOOOSE climate action options will be integrated into the customer experience. 

The investment from Amadeus Ventures “demonstrates its commitment to building a partnership that fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing to offer concrete options to travellers looking to take climate action,” the firm said. 

CHOOOSE’s technology offers advanced emission calculations including air travel, accommodation and ground transportation based on widely-recognised, industry standard frameworks.

The company automates carbon emission calculations and has developed a marketplace of solutions aimed at reducing or eliminating the impact on the climate.

These include carbon removals and offsets and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) that can be integrated into existing customer experiences for travellers to prioritise the greenest option.

Travel agents and their customers will be able to explore a portfolio of vetted solutions addressing climate change and purchase offsets or removal solutions to offset the carbon emissions associated with a given trip. 

Travellers will gain insight into their trip, enabling customers to understand and address their carbon impact throughout their journey including rail, taxi, airline and hotel segments.

Suzanna Chiu, head of Amadeus Ventures, said: "Our investment in CHOOOSE demonstrates our commitment to working collaboratively with industry leaders and the startup ecosystem together to address climate change. 

“We see great potential in the CHOOOSE team who is both knowledgeable and passionate about providing solutions addressing climate change to the travel and logistics industries”. 

Olivier Girault, vice president sustainability ecosystem initiatives at Amadeus, said: “We recognize that sustainability in the travel industry is a global challenge and only by working together will we be able to provide global solutions. 

“By embracing technology, we can power more sustainable journeys and build an industry that delivers on its 2050 Net Zero goals. This will allow us to secure the long-term growth and prosperity that we all want to see for our industry.”

Andreas Slettvoll, chief executive of CHOOOSE, added: “CHOOOSE actively partners with leaders across the travel and transportation sector – including many Amadeus customers. 

“This new collaboration will position CHOOOSE and Amadeus to jointly provide the technology to power solutions addressing climate change to both new and existing mutual customers, making it easier for travel companies to do things like providing transparency with advanced emission calculations and reporting, and carbon removal and offset options, into traveler journeys.” 

CHOOOSE supports leading methodologies including the latest recommended practice from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the recommended emission factors from the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial (BEIS). 

Amadeus is currently aligned with the ICAO standard allowing for seamless integration with the CHOOOSE technology.