The latest Sustainable Travel Index reveals that progress has been made, with Latin American destinations moving up the ranking whilst Europe dominates the leaderboard. The question is whether consumers will pay for sustainable travel features in times of a cost-of-living crisis and budgets under stress. Partnerships with green tech start-ups are natural next steps for travel brands and destinations looking how to achieve net zero emissions.
This report comes in PPT.
Europe continues to dominate the upper echelons of the Sustainable Travel Index in 2023. However, one Latin American destination – Uruguay – has entered the top 20, whilst other countries like Guatemala and Mexico made significant progress over 2017-2022, jumping up the ranking.
With sustainability often mistakenly deemed as more expensive, the golden question is whether consumers will put their hands in their pockets and pay for sustainable travel features and experiences. 79% said that they were willing to spend at least 10% more for eco-tourism and adventure travel in 2023, according to the Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey.
In terms of sustainable tourism demand, Australia, Iceland and New Zealand are the top three destinations. As long-haul destinations, Australia and New Zealand benefit from the high length of stay, whilst the latter flies the flag for regenerative tourism, going further and deeper than mere sustainability, leaving a positive legacy for generations to come aiming to give back.
Across travel and tourism, ever greater strides are being made to ensure a sustainable transition, with more playbooks and research being released. Of note are the recommended 12-point steps in the WTTC’s Hotel Basics for starters, whilst Envision 2030 points out that there is only one realistic pathway to follow for the sector that ensures growth and net zero.
Green technology and digitalising the traveller journey are two sure-fire ways to help achieve the road to net zero which, as the IPCC says, is at risk of failure. Partnering with new start-ups in the green tech space would make sense to pave the way for a greener and cleaner travel future.
Travel encompasses several categories including tourism flows, lodging, travel modes, in-destination spending and booking.
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