Though travel limitations have been hurting everyone, the world is slowly starting to open up. While we’re all itching to get on the road again or sit in a stuffy plane for a few hours, the reality is that we might have to change the way we travel. The one thing that this forced pause has led us to reflect on our impact on the environment and local communities for when we do start taking trips again. I am talking about sustainable travel.
According to Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report, 83% of global travellers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future.
READ MORE: Booking.com shares their travel predictions for 2021
That’s not all the report showed. Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, such as not providing recycling facilities.
However, the problem may lie with how sustainable travel practices are communicated. While 75% of accommodation providers say they have implemented at least some kind of sustainability practices at their property, only one-third actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests.
Sustainable travel is not just talk
According to the findings from the report, travellers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips. Some of the interesting results are:
- 84% want to reduce general waste
- 83% want to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room)
- 79% want to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars.
It doesn’t just keep to environmental improvements and sustainability. The report also showed that respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost three quarters (73%) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 84% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 76% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally in all levels of society.
Interestingly enough, 69% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities. This may have some ramifications on popular tourist spots, but that remains to be seen.
Here are fours ways that Booking.com suggests you can be a sustainable traveller.
Check for official certifications
One of the easiest ways to confidently book a more sustainable property is to check and see if it has an established eco-label or third-party sustainability certification.
There are numerous, reputable third-party sustainability certifications that properties can work towards and achieve. Depending on where you plan to travel, you can consider some of these bodies such as:
Do check for major hotel chains own in-house certifications that can also be a good indicators of what sort of sustainability practices they offer.
Look for impactful sustainable practices
They recommend that travellers put some effort into seeing if their desired accomodation has any specific sustainability practices that are truly impactful. They can be anything that resonates with you, such as; if they use 100% renewable energy, if they’ve installed water-efficient showers or what specific types of single-use plastics they’ve eliminated from their operations.
This isn’t fool-proof, but provides a good indicator that the hotel, resort or even residential building has adopt good sustainable travel practices that in turn, make you a sustainable traveller.
Create good habits at home and bring it with you
Though we may have a sustainable and environmentally and socially conscious daily life, according to the report, more than half (64%) of global travellers believe it’s harder to make sustainable choices when they travel.
This isn’t unexpected, but it is also important enough for us to not ignore. A sustainable first step could be as simple as remembering to carry those mindful habits from home along when you travel. These include making sure the air conditioning or heating and lights are off when you’re not at the property or reusing towels and bed sheets rather than changing them everyday.
READ MORE: Kudos to Tasmania for becoming a model eco-tourism hub
Limit or stop your plastic use
Limiting single-use plastic is arguably one of the greatest environmental challenges we face. With an estimated 91% of plastic not being recycled, most of it ends up either in the ocean or a landfill. Many properties have taken numerous steps to either reduce or eliminate single-use plastics from their operations, but travellers can also take simple steps like purchasing a stainless steel water bottle or packing their own reusable toiletry bottles with all of their favourite products from home.
