Sustainability is a key aspect of growth; be it a society or a business. The hospitality industry is one of the major contributors to the economy. Hence, sustainability should a key focus area in this segment.
Sustainability in Tourism has become a hot topic in recent times. The main reason for such a discussion is because the Tourism Industry is projected as one of the highest contributors to CO2 emissions. If I am frank enough, there is big discrimination on this topic as we all know there are many other industries also invite high ratio of CO2 emissions but they have a lot of opportunities to greenwash such things.
There are many reasons for such active discussions focused on Tourism when sustainability matters. The first one is the accepted fact that Tourism activities have a real big emission factor. It’s true. But at the same time, it’s almost unavoidable. As social animals, human beings will travel.
The rising number of Alert Independent Traveller Community (AIT) is another reason for such discussions. AIT or Conscious Traveller community is a growing one across the world. In the pre-pandemic studies, the below data was the result.
- Two-thirds of British holidaymakers find it important that tourism products should be with the lowest possible impact on the natural environment.
- 50% of the Germans consider a clean and intact natural environment an essential condition for choosing a destination.
- 50% of Germans would choose a hotel with a sustainability certificate when other relevant aspects such as price and comfort are the same.
- The majority of U.S. (57%), Australian (62%), and British (74%) travellers favour hotels that employ local staff, and even higher proportions from each country expect that their hotels “guarantee good wages and working conditions”.
- 82% of Dutch customers would appreciate it if sustainability information would be part of the product information in travel brochures.
In this series, I am trying to explore the possibilities for the Hospitality Industry to reduce the impacts without affecting the quality of service. I have been talking to my good friends in the Hotel Industry about a few things where they could become more sustainable. But the immediate answer was that the customers will create problems. I am sure, I will be able to address such issues to a certain extent. The question is whether we want a solution or just an excuse for being unsustainable.
As we all know that sustainability is the way forward, it’s important the Hospitality sector takes all efforts to present and deliver better to the AIT community. This will have rippling impacts as we are well addressing the needs of Conscious travellers and at the same time, we try to educate others who are yet to understand the sustainability theme as far as the hospitality industry is concerned.
Continue reading… In the next session, we will discuss Visitor Behaviour and Visitor Behaviour Management.
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(George Scaria is Managing Director of Keralavoyages India Pvt Ltd, a Travelife certified tour operator company. He is one among what Kerala tourism is today. He is a GSTC Certified Sustainable Tourism Professional.)
(Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the author’s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Partnersincrave.com. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.)
