Despite the growing demand for increased sustainable practices in travel, there is still a lack of emphasis within many companies on definitively tracking and reducing harmful emissions. As a result, there is an evident need for businesses within the industry to prioritize sustainability at every level and make clear efforts towards eliminating unsustainable practices where possible. One business aspect where this is a particularly crucial step is regarding customer involvement with company offerings.
In March, the annual ITB Berlin tourism trade fair hosted a panel session titled Empowering Travelers by Eliminating Unsustainable Choices. The Adventure Travel Trade Association’s Gergana Nikolova led the discussion among fellow ATTA members on how they have taken steps to prioritize sustainable options in their businesses, particularly as it relates to removing unsustainable choices for customers.
Following the trade fair, ATTA connected with those who spoke on the panel to recap the multitude of ideas that were discussed. With responses from four of the five original panelists, this article highlights some of the key takeaways regarding sustainability initiatives within tourism businesses and how to guide travelers towards better practices by eliminating unsustainable choices.
The four experts consulted for this article are:
- Ambros Gasser, CEO, ASI Reisen & WeDesign Trips
- Ruth Franklin, Co-founder, Secret Paradise Maldives
- Dr. Manal Kelig, Co-founder, Great Wonders of Egypt
- Juan Lopez, Sales & Marketing Director, Las Torres Patagonia
All four experts agreed on a few universal truths when it comes to prioritizing sustainability within a company’s structure, actions, and offered experiences. Below are five tactics that can be applied to businesses industry-wide to help establish lasting sustainable practices.
Establish clear sustainability goals and strategies for your organization
Each panelist expressed a clear desire and plan to place sustainability at the forefront of their operations. In sharing their specific goals, they also indicated how important it is to have clearly defined steps and initiatives in place in order to ensure the realization of and continued commitment towards these sustainability goals.
The common driving force behind all four companies’ sustainability efforts is to protect the environment and community and limit harmful impacts, but each representative went on to offer greater insight as to how their businesses have set this in motion.
Ambros Gasser, CEO of ASI Reisen & WeDesign Trips, summarized his company’s approach to sustainability as holistic goals. “We have a sustainability strategy in place, which is an integral part of our overall strategy and business practices,” Gasser said. “The sustainability strategy is based on three pillars: reducing the environmental impact, increasing the added value for local communities, and fostering transparency and dialogue… It is a holistic approach where we take different perspectives into consideration, always reflecting on our performance and improving.”
This kind of strategy was echoed by the other panelists, who described similar company views and initiatives when it comes to prioritizing sustainability. Each one has slightly different policies in place, depending on their unique identity as a tourism business, but one thing was clear across all four: each company has a clearly defined set of goals and strategies guiding their sustainability policies.
Filter the options that are offered to consumers
A large part of the experts’ sustainability practices focuses on filtering and adjusting the options that are available to consumers in order to reduce their ability to make unsustainable choices. In short, make sustainable choices the default. By doing so, tourism businesses can remove the pressure from travelers to research and select sustainable travel experiences.
Gasser explained that, as a tour operator, his company feels it has a responsibility to support travelers on a journey towards conscious and responsible travel by offering more sustainable trips. This sense of responsibility was echoed by Ruth Franklin, the Co-founder of Secret Paradise Maldives.
As a destination-specific business, Franklin described steps that Secret Paradise has taken to eliminate unsustainable choices for travelers, which include promoting tourism during the low season and to locations that are less popular. “Since the start of 2021 we no longer offer new B2B itineraries in two atolls that we believe are on the cusp of overtourism,” Franklin said.
While different types of businesses can impact different parts of the sustainability supply chain, overall Franklin recommends being aware of new policies, reflecting them in a business model, and working with all stakeholders to improve regulations. “As an accommodation provider there is much you can do to eliminate unsustainable choices and provide sustainable options at all the touch points of a guests’ experience,” she said. “For a travel agent, it would mean offering only those properties and trips that have sustainable values and demonstrate them.”
However, filtering and eliminating unsustainable choices for travelers goes beyond just removing certain options; it may also require that certain company practices are replaced with new ones. According to Juan López, Director of Las Torres Patagonia Sales & Marketing, it is important to test and measure initiatives as they are put in place to see the reality.
“Companies can apply different strategies to eliminate unsustainable options, for example, in the reserve we have implemented a very strong recycling process… [and] have a strict control on every kilogram that is recycled,” Lopez explained. “Here is when measuring takes a key role; numbers have proved to us that it is cheaper to recycle rather than paying a truck for dumping our residuals. In fact, being creative, we are now making glasses out of our empty bottles, reducing cost on transportation to the dump and even saving money on purchasing glasses.”
Work with your partners to create a buildable foundation
When asked about steps companies can take to begin prioritizing sustainability if they are not sure where to start, all the four panelists again expressed one fairly universal theme: communicate and collaborate with your team.
New sustainable practices will not be flawlessly implemented overnight, so it is important to develop a realistic foundation that your company will be able to build upon moving forward. To create an effective set of goals and initiatives, it is crucial to communicate to your team and business partners what you are hoping to accomplish and get their ideas as to what sustainability would look like for your company. Select a few key strategies as a place to start, leaving room to learn and grow.
“It is essential to understand that sustainability is not a goal to achieve, but a constant process of improvement,” Gasser said. “This means that there is always an opportunity to enhance one’s performance.”
This also means that businesses need to start by assessing the current state of sustainability within their organization in order to have a clear picture of what needs improving and how to gradually measure progress over time. Again, as López and other panelists explained, prioritizing sustainability will not result in perfect formulas overnight; it requires an ongoing process of communication, teamwork, flexibility, and measuring your own performance.
Be transparent with suppliers and business partners
If you want your business to be fully sustainable and only offer the most sustainable choices possible to travelers, it is important to ensure that it is sustainable at every step of the process; there need to be sustainable practices from supplier to consumer, not just within your direct operations. This creates a necessity to be upfront with your suppliers and business partners regarding the approach to and relationship with sustainability that you would like to see, from your own company and from theirs.
In order to be upfront with your suppliers and partners, there needs to be a clear line of direct and open communication regarding sustainability procedures and how the move towards increased sustainability is progressing. For Franklin, these communication methods include bi-annual emails to local partners, sharing monthly news with B2B partners, and completing an annual audit with property partners that includes a sustainability section. For López, this looks like developing a document about company sustainability initiatives that can be shared with partners to inform and educate them.
Aside from being transparent about your own initiatives and practices, it is also important to be upfront with suppliers and partners about what criteria you would need to see from them to maintain a working relationship. As the level of sustainability policies and guidelines varies drastically in every region of the world, this can be hard for businesses to enforce as much as they would like. All four experts echoed a similar sentiment regarding their belief in establishing certain criteria while also working to educate and encourage their suppliers and partners to be more proactive when it comes to sustainability.
“We invest in the relationships with our partners,” said Dr. Manal Kelig, Co-founder of Great Wonders of Egypt. “We believe trust [and] transparency are key to the success of these long term relationships. We engage in effective communication, encourage them to share their needs and challenges with the sustainability journey. We use these conversations to guide the planning for the sustainability practices & initiatives and training programs.
This communication can look different for different companies, but every business should have a strategy in place for communicating updates and progress with suppliers and partners at regular intervals.
Communicate sustainability procedures with travelers to find the right fit
One of the most universal themes that was expressed by all panelists throughout the discussion was the necessity of open communication between all parties. Although the goal is to help empower travelers by eliminating unsustainable choices altogether, it is still important to share your sustainability procedures and any practices you may require from them during their experience to ensure that everyone finds the best fit for their priorities. Some travelers may be willing to pay more for a more sustainable holiday experience, but it is important to keep everyone well-informed.
Kelig and Franklin both shared that they begin communicating their sustainability procedures with consumers as early as the planning stages of the trip, as this lets travelers know early on what to expect during their experience. It also places a certain amount of responsibility on the traveler to choose to be a more conscious traveler, even if it means paying slightly more or following slightly different practices than they are accustomed to.
Franklin also explained that her company provides tips on how to travel responsibly via welcome packs and monthly newsletters, as well as including sustainable practice questions on feedback forms to get a better understanding of guests’ responses.
Gasser emphasized the importance of having multiple communication channels and checkpoints with travelers throughout the process, in addition to offering experiences that align with the company’s commitment to sustainability.
“First and foremost, it is important that our product portfolio aligns with our strategy. Since we choose what kind of experiences we offer, we can influence customers’ choices accordingly,” Gasser said.
Aside from communicating with consumers and only offering sustainable products, Gasser also offered insight as to some of his company’s internal practices that help curate and deliver sustainable experiences to travelers.
“Our guides are essential to communicate and discuss these topics,” Gasser explained. “They represent us during the trips and also have the opportunity to communicate important topics to the guests in person. We developed an online guide training which helps us convey our expectations and values and is a learning tool that the guides can use any time. An important component is the sustainability training that provides ideas to the guides on how to integrate sustainability within the trips.”
This example shows how you can not only communicate certain sustainability practices and procedures to your consumers ahead of time, but rather continue to educate them on sustainability and the necessity of making sustainable choices when traveling during their travel experiences.
Do have a unique approach to or story about sustainability practices you’d like to share? Email [email protected].
Sincere thank you to Ambros Gasser, Ruth Franklin, Dr. Manal Kelig, and Juan Lopez for sharing their time, expertise, and insight.
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