Sustainability will be a more prominent topic than ever for businesses, particularly those in the sustainabletourismmarket, with COP26 looming.In the field, sustainable tourism is quickly becoming more of a necessity than a choice:GlobalData's research shows that between 2010 and 2019, international arrivals worldwide increased at a CAGR of 4.7 percent.According to a study that was published in Nature Climate Change in 2018 and stated that global tourism is now responsible for nearly 10% of the world's carbon emissions, this significant growth in international travel has brought with it unsustainable effects.
The issue of sustainability is now at the forefront of the agendas of tourist companies, as well as keeping CEOs in many industries awake at night, as a result of pressure from consumers and the government regarding this substantial footprint.The data bear this out:According to the Company Filing Analytics Database maintained by GlobalData, the term "sustainability" was used 539 times in 2020.This is an increase of +82.7% year-over-year from 295 in 2019.Despite the fact that this data comes from a variety of industries, the tourism industry unquestionably plays a role.
According to GlobalData, the travel industry's development has "regularly been accommodated for at the sacrifice of the environment, local communities," and sometimes of small, local businesses. As a result, its progress on sustainability is frequently scrutinized.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that in 2019, the travel and tourism industry will contribute $9.2 trillion to the global economy, or 10.4% of GDP.However, how can it set an example for business sustainability?And how are travel brands still mindful of their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) obligations?
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Leaders in the field as well as laggards in sustainable tourism can be seen in the examples.
Accommodation in Longsheng Sustainable tourism does not necessarily necessitate restricting the number of visitors to a location.It also does not always involve figuring out how many air miles are needed for a trip.
Take the case of Airbnb, which was given permission to establish itself in China in a way that the majority of giants in Silicon Valley can only dream of.The accommodation disruptor launched the Guilin Rural Empowerment Project program in Jinjiang, China, in 2017 with the goal of training locals to better serve international tourists.
Airbnb organized for local Guilin hosts to share information about home sharing in local villages through the "Host Mentorship Project" with the intention of distributing wealth to low-income communities.According to GlobalData, the project provided villagers with the skills and equipment they needed to continue hosting, providing a long-term revenue stream.In the meantime, renowned architects transformed some of the traditional stilt-style homes in Jinjiang into more functional residences.
An Airbnb blog claims that the tourism industry in Jinjiang's Longsheng County directly employed 25,000 people in 2017 and indirectly employed as many as 50,000.The company says that rural tourism could help more than 45% of the locals who live below the poverty line.
Given his recently announced vision of a "common prosperity" for China, Xi Jinping would probably approve of the plan today.Another question is whether such actions mitigate Airbnb's global impact.As GlobalData specialists remind us in a new report on maintainable the travel industry, organizations, for example, Airbnb are at legitimate fault for "house cost expansion and adding to overtourism" through their administrations.
According to the researchers, "The increase in "professional renting" supported by Airbnb can price out many locals from living in popular cities due to the shrinking property market."Property owners are finding short term rentals to be more financially rewarding, but there is no incentive for them to rent to locals.
From Hipcamp to Hilton, Hipcamp and Outdoorsy, two "breakthrough companies" based in the United States, offer a more sustainable option for tourist lodging.
Private landowners can primarily list campsites, glamping sites, cabins, and other accommodations on Hipcamp.In contrast, Outdoorsy provides a platform where outdoor enthusiasts can rent recreational vehicles, trailers, and motorhomes, among other options.
During the pandemic, as travelers worldwide sought alternatives to international travel, both startups experienced rapid growth.GlobalData says that these two companies could help "create a more sustainable sector," despite the fact that some businesses have claimed that the sharing economy has unsustainable effects.
According to the researchers, "camping at a Hipcamp campsite will require significantly less environmental resources than staying at a hotel."Additionally, by reducing the number of kilometers traveled, vehicle sharing, such as Outdoorsy, can have a positive effect on the environment.
GlobalData recognizes other well-known names in the lodging industry as leaders in sustainable tourism.For instance, Marriott International has stated that by 2025, it will use at least 30% renewable energy and construct hotels that are energy efficient.Hilton, on the other hand, stated that it will cut emissions by 90% by 2050 and 66% by 2030.
In an effort to reduce packaging waste, Marriott has also announced that it will no longer provide toiletries in single use plastic bottles.The move, according to the company, will prevent 1.7 million pounds of plastic from entering landfills annually.
Along with Hyatt and Accor, Hilton has set goals to reduce food waste by 30% by 2030.Technology may be crucial in this:A solution called machine learning computer vision, in which a computer recognizes and responds to the visual world, is able to determine the quantity, quality, and kind of food that is thrown away each day.Currently, Accor Hotels is one of the first to adopt the technology, reducing food waste by half and saving over $880,000 annually.
Intrepid is leading the way in sustainable tourism. More tour companies, like G Adventures and Responsible Travel, are starting to focus on more environmentally friendly travel experiences.
Such brands not just tap into different specialties like experience, gastronomy and eco the travel industry yet additionally urge sightseers to be more dependable when they are partaking in an objective.
G Adventures, for instance, launched in partnership with the non-profit organization Planterra and Sustainable Travel International and has a "ripple score."People can use this evaluation tool to see how much money is staying in a community rather than being lost due to economic leakage.The more money that stays in a local community, the higher the ripple score.
Intrepid Travel, one of the first carbon-neutral tour operators, is leading the sustainable pack. It has invested more than 3.5 million pounds ($2.5 million) in grassroots projects all over the world.In addition, the company has donated all profits from a season of trips to Nepal to assist in projects of reconstruction following the earthquake in the country in 2015.
Intrepid offsets its emissions from operations and trips by purchasing international carbon credits, which are measured in accordance with the global GHG Protocol.The business has offset more than 351,000 tons of carbon emissions as of December 2019.
Each year, the company intends to offset 125% of its emissions.It expanded its carbon management program to include double offsetting Polar
Expeditions and customers' flights as additional sources of offset, in addition to trips and offices.
2019 saw Courageous report $22.6m in profit before interest and duties , up 56% on 2018, while the organization's complete exchange esteem rose 21% to $488m.
GlobalData states, "Like all other tour operators, Covid-19 has decimated earnings growth for Intrepid."However, the company's success prior to the pandemic demonstrates how Intrepid's commitment to environmental preservation was rapidly driving revenue growth.
"This confirms the trend that many tourists will be willing to pay more for a product or service that demonstrates higher levels of sustainability."
The theme of transformative travel is what tour operators will need to keep in mind in the future to ensure sustainable tourism and profitability.
Being a part of something significant and meaningful makes transformative travel one of the most appealing options for tourists.In Booking.com's 2019 Travel Trends, 68% of global travelers said they would think about learning a new skill through cultural exchanges, followed by volunteering trips (54%), and international work placements (52%).
According to GlobalData, "tour operators and other tourism companies can focus on offering unique and purposeful activities alongside their usual products and services" based on this trend that is being spurred by (younger consumers) in higher socioeconomic classes (or with parents in higher socioeconomic classes).
Because it is so distinctive, businesses can also charge a premium for it.High value travelers, who typically behave more responsibly while on vacation and contribute more to the local economy, are then more likely to take expensive trips.
Another sustainable component of transformative travel is this.
Eco friendly travel or "jumbo sized greenwash"?
Despite jet aircraft today being more than 80% more fuel-efficient than the first jets from the 1960s, flights produced 915 million tons of carbon dioxide worldwide in 2019.
The uplifting news is IATA (The Global Air Transport Affiliation) has focused on slicing CO2 discharges down the middle by 2050 with imaginative advancements, manageable aeronautics fuel and further developed tasks and framework.
The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, which was established in September 2008 and now has 25 members, accounts for 33% of the demand for commercial aviation fuel and works to accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel.It also has five aviation related affiliates, including Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, and each of the fuel and supply industries.
Instead of utilizing a variety of jet fuels, some airlines are focusing more on carbon offsets.For instance, EasyJet became the first major airline to offset its carbon emissions through tree planting and a $35 million annual scheme to prevent the release of additional carbon.In addition, British Airways and Air France pledged to offset all emissions from domestic flights beginning in 2020. Of course, they were unaware that a pandemic would do half the work for them.
Delta Air Lines recently announced a $1 billion commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030.The company said that it would invest in new technologies that use conservation of grasslands, wetlands, and forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
However, these countermeasures have been described as a "jumbo sized greenwash" by Greenpeace.Indeed, the subversive art of greenwashing public relations may pose a significant threat to the growth of genuine sustainable tourism.
GlobalData uses the travel conglomerate TUI as an example in a report from last year.The British German brand claims to be the only integrated tourism company to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in its sustainability strategy.The aircraft, which debuted in 2007, uses 20% less fuel than the Boeing 767 it replaces and emits 60% less noise.
In 2015, TUI stated that it operated eight 787 Dreamliner aircraft and would increase that number to 17 by 2019.However, as of the beginning of September 2021, the United Kingdom Civil Aircraft Register says that it has 14 of these aircraft in its fleet, and Planespotters.net says that 11 of them are currently in use.TUI, on the other hand, operates 31 737 800 aircraft, all of which are currently in service with the exception of one.Because these models are significantly smaller, they will fly more frequently, which will be worse for the environment.
According to GlobalData, "coming short on a claim of this magnitude could be seen as greenwashing."
The visit working division of TUI has likewise seen it evaluated by GlobalData as a loafer in manageable the travel industry.The company has made recent
progress in terms of social sustainability in a manner reminiscent of Airbnb.According to TUI, its "TUI Collection" excursions "benefit people living in the destinations we travel to in all sorts of ways, like creating jobs for local tour guides." This information can be found on the company's website.
Nonetheless, GlobalData notes TUI Assortment encounters were just accessible in 66 objections that the goliath worked in during 2018.
GlobalData writes that "the economic impact for the local destination economy would be minimal" because "many of its other destinations may have had no socially sustainable alternatives and could offer very little reason for guests to leave the resort."
Because foreign-owned tourism companies like TUI typically own the hotel, airline, ground transportation, and frequently excursion providers, the UK charity Tourism Concern asserts that few nations directly benefit from allinclusive resorts.According to their findings, only 10% of all-inclusive holiday spending in Turkey went into the local economy and even less into the immediate vicinity.
Air Astana, based in Kazakhstan, is yet another one of GlobalData's laggards.Air Astana was ranked 117th out of the 125 airlines evaluated in atmosfair's most recent Airline Index, which looked at long-haul flights over 3.800 kilometers. The Index found that Air Astana was one of the least efficient.
Overall, Air Astana received a "F" efficiency rating, which was higher than the "G" rating for the worst efficiency.Features like the type of aircraft, engine, winglets, capacity, and occupancy within the craft were used to evaluate airlines' efficiency.Winglets were deemed to have the least impact on efficiency (2%), while passenger occupancy was deemed to have the greatest impact on efficiency (48%)
FlyArystan, the low cost subsidiary of Air Astana, announced that it would begin providing daily service between Atyrau and Aktau, which are just 367 kilometers apart, in the summer of 2020.Even though it takes about 12 hours to get between these two places by land transportation, scheduling a daily flight between two places that can be reached by more environmentally friendly means of transportation will be seen as unsustainable.
GlobalData states that "even though Air Astana has embarked on its program to acquire new, more environmentally friendly aircraft and simultaneously phase out older ones," "its current environmental performance does not match up to the majority of other airlines, which could impact brand image as the issue of sustainability continues to grow in importance," and "its current
environmental performance does not match up to the majority of other airlines."
In light of the growing significance of sustainable tourism, maintaining a clean brand image will be crucial in the coming years.76% of respondents worldwide said their purchasing decisions were influenced by a company's ESG credentials, according to a GlobalData survey from December 2020.Along with 54% supporting small or local businesses, 47% stated that reducing their environmental footprint was now either a top priority or ‘significantly’ or ‘slightly’ more important than it had been prior to the pandemic.
As a result, tourism brands would be wise to keep up with travelers by expanding globally.