Agoda Sustainable Travel Survey reveals tourists' concerns regarding tourism's impact and measures to make travel more sustainable

Easy identification of sustainable eco-friendly travel options, limited use of single-use plastics and financial incentives for accommodation providers who maximize energy efficiencies are the top three additional measures needed to make travel more sustainable according to Agoda’s Sustainable Travel Trends Survey.

The findings from the Survey also revealed globally that overtourism, and pollution of beaches and waterways are the top two concerns of the impact of tourism, with deforestation and energy inefficiencies (including overconsumption of electricity/water) ranking joint third.

Globally, the travellers consider governments most accountable for making positive environmental changes around travel, followed by tourism authorities and individuals themselves.

When asked what travellers would pledge to do better in a post COVID travel scenario, the top responses globally were #1 manage the waste including using less single-use plastics, #2 switch off the air con and lights when leaving the accommodation, and #3 always look for eco-friendly accommodation.

The top practices most associated with environmentally friendly or sustainable travel are #1 renewable energy and resources like solar, wind, hydroelectric and water, #2 no single-use plastics, joint number #3 animal conservation and creating a smaller carbon footprint.

“We can see from the Agoda Sustainable Travel Trends Survey that the messages of taking simple steps such as switching off lights and air conditioning when leaving the room or reducing waste by minimizing use of single-use plastics are being embraced by the public across the globe. What is also clear is that while globally the message is governments need to take the lead on managing sustainable travel, there is recognition that some responsibility lies with people’s own behaviour,” explains John Brown, CEO Agoda.

The full Agoda Sustainable Travel Trends Survey 2021 can be downloaded here: Agoda Sustainable Travel Trends Survey 2021 - Agoda Partner Hub

Youth in Nordic countries prefer environmentally friendly travel

Research carried out by Hotels.com shows that millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) in the Nordic countries are willing to change their travel habits for the sake of the climate.

According to the “Millennials on the Move” study, 41% of millennials in the Nordic countries are willing to take action to travel in a more climate-friendly way. This is especially the case for young people from Finland, where the figure is 58%.

Destination choice plays a role for the millennials that wish to travel more environmentally friendly: 21% indicate that they have avoided long-distance trips, and 37% only travel to destinations that can be reached by public transportation, ship or train.

Emma Tagg from Hotels.com says: "It is clear that Nordic millennials pay attention to climate-friendly types of travel and how they can actively do something for the environment”. Almost half (47%) of those interviewed agree that their changed travel habits can make a difference for the environment. “We at Hotels.com are aware of this situation and we expect this trend to be even stronger in 2020”.

The “Millennials on the Move” study was done by YouGov for Hotels.com in the period from 1-14 October 2019 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. 4,000 people – around 1,000 from each country – participated in the survey. The figures in this survey relate to question 11, 12 and 12a in the survey.

 Source: Hotels.com

Major new study to assess tourism's growing commitment to sustainable development

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in collaboration with the UNWTO Affiliate Members Working Group on SDGs Support has launched a major new survey to assess how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been incorporated into tourism practices, plans and strategies in destinations across the world. FEE took part in the development of this survey.

As the United Nations specialized agency responsible for promoting tourism as a tool for sustainable development, UNWTO is supporting the tourism sector to become an effective contributor to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs are geared towards reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development worldwide. With the sustainability agenda an increasingly important part of tourism practice, this new study from UNWTO will analyze how the SDGs are influencing practices and policies among its global network of Affiliate Members, drawn from the private sector, civil society, NGOs and academia, to provide their unique insights into the advances being made right across the sector.

Launching the survey, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “2020 will mark the beginning of the decade of action towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and we have 10 years left to make the future we want. Tourism plays a vital role in the achievement of the SDGs and we believe the outcomes of this survey will contribute to further empower tourism stakeholders to incorporate sustainability measures and policies in their daily work and objectives,” he added.

The survey aims to:

• Determine the current levels of awareness and engagement of the tourism sector regarding the 2030 Agenda and achieving its 17 SDGs.

• Identify current business policies and strategies addressing the SDGs.

• Identify best practices and activities addressing the SDGs.

The private sector, academia, civil societies and associations play a significant role in the achievement of the SDGs and they are invited to be part of the momentum for the achievement of the SDGs and share their work through this survey.

The survey is available in three languages: English, French and Spanish.

Online reviews featuring social and environmental initiatives score higher

A recent study reveals that there is a correlation between mentions of social or environmental initiatives in online reviews and hotel ratings.

The recent study in the Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism shows a correlation between customers who mention social or environmental initiatives in online reviews and how they rate hotels. The research showed that reviews with explicit mentions of sustainability was 4.75 while reviews with implicit mentions of sustainability was 4.32 and reviews with no mention of sustainability was 4.17.

Initiatives with high scores for explicit and implicit sustainability mentions in the reviews mention sustainable management, education, biodiversity, wildlife conservation and sustainable products. Despite the promising results, the socially or environmentally responsible practices factored in in reviews might be considered low with an occurrence of 31.7% and 6.8% implicit and explicit mentions respectively. Another factor worth noting is that all the hotels in the study had a sustainability certification. These certifications often have levels, e.g. 1 through 5 or bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

When breaking down the explicit mentions of sustainability (6.8%), hotels with a Level 5 certification received nearly 19% mentions while hotels with Level 1 received only 2.1%. This indicates that hotels with a higher and more broadly integrated level of sustainability are more likely to leave an impression on the guests.

The results of the study point to a business case for investing in sustainability certification, as a strong certification means implementing sustainability throughout the organization and operations, thus becoming more noticeable to guests.  

Source: Travindy