Nearly 100 BCD Travel colleagues and CEO Stephan Baars ran the TUI Palma Marathon raising, 19 October, over $150,000 for the fight against modern slavery. The ‘BCD Runs for Freedom’ initiative helped raise awareness and funds for A21, a global non-profit dedicated to ending modern slavery that the travel team had long supported.
As long-time supporters of A21, BCD employees and executives trained for months leading up to the event, combining physical endurance with a powerful purpose. This milestone was achieved thanks to contributions from corporate supporters including Lufthansa Group, British Airways/Iberia, Oversee, Amadeus, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, American Airlines, WNS Global Services, MariApps, Sabre, Turkish Airlines, and UBS. There was also support of the John & Marine van Vlissingen Foundation.
“Modern slavery affects over 50m people worldwide, including 12m children,” said Baars. “At BCD, we believe in using our influence to drive real change. Running this marathon was more than a personal challenge – it was a statement of solidarity and hope. I’m deeply grateful to our partners and colleagues who made this possible.”
The TUI Palma Marathon in Mallorca, organised annually by tourism company TUI, attracts thousands of athletes from around the world. This year, almost 100 BCD runners participated across the half marathon, full marathon, and 10K events.
Lutz Nauert, senior vice president, Global Client Team at BCD shared that preparations for the next run are underway and those keenjoin BCD’s fundraising efforts can still donate to A21’s fight against human trafficking.
