After recently announcing what could be the world’s first carbon neutral fam trip, The Hague and Rotterdam have taken this concept one stage further at the IMEX trade show in Frankfurt this April.

A pre-show promotion to UK pre-registered buyers, offered to carbon offset their flights to Frankfurt.

Buyers were invited to Rotterdam and The Hague’s stand to exchange their business card in return for carbon offsetting the equivalent CO2 of a flight from London to Frankfurt return.

Buyers were then presented with a “I flew to IMEX carbon free’ badge.

“Reaction and feedback from buyers has been incredibly positive”, says Paul Swain, UK Account Manager for Rotterdam Marketing and The Hague Convention Bureau.

“They welcomed the initiative, which allowed us to also explain how we are carbon neutralising our fam trip coming up in July. Many buyers were also asking us questions about it, since they were currently involved in formulating their own company’s policy on carbon offsetting.” 

Following the IMEX show, The Hague and Rotterdam have carbon offset 6.4 tonnes of CO2, using the CarbonNeutral Company.

“This is the equivalent of around a third of a Boeing 737 aircraft flying from London to Frankfurt return” claims Paul Swain, “and the funding will be used on technology projects and UK forestry. This carbon offset initiative for the fam trip and for IMEX has been so well received, we are now looking at how we can extend it further for EIBTM, and other marketing promotions.”