Appinio Research · 25.07.2024 · 8min read
Tourism is a huge industry, worth 7.6% of Global GDP, fuelling local economies as well as global ones. In the UK alone, the tourism industry is responsible for 3.64 million jobs, as well as our annual escapes from work.
However, the tourism industry is also responsible for a myriad of environmental issues. Estimates show that 8% of global carbon emissions can be attributed to tourism. Aviation is one of the most carbon-intensive industries, making jet-setting one of the worst things you can do to the environment.
Since the 90s, emissions per person per flight have halved, which is an impressive rate of improving sustainability. Despite improving, sustainability is still one of the biggest dilemmas facing holidaymakers and the travel industry as a whole.
(World in Data)
We asked 1,000 UK respondents what they think about sustainability in travel overall.
Let’s explore how important sustainability is when making a holiday booking, and what consumers think can be done to improve the environmental impact of their getaways.
To have a closer look at what people think about eco-tourism, check out the Appinio interactive board.
Is Tourism Sustainable or Not?
On one hand, the numbers are indisputable; travel and tourism is linked to 10.6% of global energy usage and air pollution caused by travel continues to rise. All of which has an impact on the planet.
(World Travel & Tourism Council)
On the other hand, there are considerable improvements. For example, 25% of hotels globally are part of the sustainable hospitality alliance - meaning that advocacy for improved sustainability is increasingly widespread.
(Hotel Tech Report)
Some would even argue that the tourism industry is scapegoated, and their environmental impact is emphasised in order to distract from governments failing to achieve sustainability goals elsewhere.
With that in mind, what is the wider public’s perception of the overall sustainability of tourism?
What's the Public Perception of Eco-tourism?
Doom and gloom numbers, statements from politicians and increasing sanctions might lead you to believe the public must think negatively about ‘sustainable’ travel.
However, the results in Appinio’s might surprise you. 15% of people said they believe that the travel & tourism industry has a very high level of sustainability. Overall consumer perception of the industry appears to be positive, as 40% of people said they agreed that the travel industry was at least somewhat sustainable.
Comparatively, only 4% of people said they believed the industry had a very low level of sustainability - so perceptions aren’t as bad as you might otherwise think.
Somewhat surprisingly, younger demographics actually perceive travel as more sustainable than their older counterparts. Our study found that 30% of people aged 18-24 believe the travel industry is very sustainable, compared to 6% of 45-54 year olds. Despite Millennials and Gen Z generally being more sensitive towards environmental issues, they are much less concerned about the impacts of travel.
(EU Commission)
Is Eco-tourism Better for Bookings?
When it comes to booking a holiday, most people are searching for sunshine and star-ratings, not sustainability. However, sustainability does influence bookings.
One quarter of respondents stated that sustainability impacts the booking decisions 'to a great extent'. A further 37% said that sustainability does impact their decision 'to some extent'. On the whole, the majority of consumers do take sustainability into consideration when booking holidays however, the influence of sustainability is not the most important factor.
Younger generations reported sustainability of the holiday plans being a bigger influencing factor for their final bookings. 37% of 18-24 year olds and 39% of 25-34 year olds said they consider sustainability 'to a great extent'. Compared to 15% of 45-54 year olds, for example.
What Can Holiday Providers do to Make Eco-tourism More Popular?
No surprise here, consumers are more interested in discounts than price increases. The most popular option was 'discount or offer promotions on sustainable holidays' (53%) whilst 'increase prices in line with environmental impact' was the least popular (25%).
Essentially, 'green taxes' are not perceived positively but enticing customers to choose sustainable options with extra incentivisation helps put a positive spin on sustainable options. So, making eco-tourism more affordable for travellers is the best way to help people travel more sustainably.
Offering 'sustainable / low impact holiday packages' was the second most popular option (49%). Making it clear that there are more sustainable options than a typical booking empowers people to make more informed decisions and engage with eco-tourism.
In this vein, people are also interested in being able to review the sustainability of holidays so they better understand the environmental impact they have and can make comparisons.
- 42% of people want to be able to review sustainability rankings of their hotels
- 41% want to be able to review who sustainable their transport plans are
However, estimates of C02 emissions with a trip are not a helpful rating, instead most people appear to prefer having a ranking system for sustainability so they can make easy comparisons much like the star rating system for hotels.
Regardless of whether or not the travel industry is sustainable, there are plenty of actions that travel providers can take to help us all book our holidays in a more eco-friendly way.
Want to learn more about travel trends? You'll find more detailed demographic comparisons, interactive graphs, and more on our Interactive Board.
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