New research suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travellers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 70% of Canadian travellers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations.
Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that Canadian travellers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with almost half (47%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and roughly the same amount (48%) sharing that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, with recycling (48%) and reducing food waste (43%) being the top priorities at home.
According to the findings, travellers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with:
• 84% wanting to reduce general waste
• 81% wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room)
• 77% wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars.
Respect for the local community is also high on the list:
• 72% want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel
• 80% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial
• 72% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally across all levels of community
• 67% 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.
Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travellers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 37% made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, 44% took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation, and 32% did activities to support the local community.
In fact, over half (57%) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities.
However, despite the positive signs, there is still lots of room for improvement with almost half of travellers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimise their impact.
While 71% of travellers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year – which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 63% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic – barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 50% of Canadian travellers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year:
• 34% said they didn’t even know that they existed
• 29% said they couldn’t find any options where they were travelling
• 27% said that they didn’t know how to find them
• 48% of travellers still believe that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.
In terms of awareness and intentions, travellers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82% of Booking.com’s accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 78% of travellers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue.
However, although three out of four accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59%), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travellers at earlier stages of the booking process.
Booking.com’ says it is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, including sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com partner hub. The site also displays over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs.
“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” says Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com.
“The good intentions are there on all sides, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sustainable travel an easy choice for everyone… A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation, but multiplied by millions of travellers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”
The Booking.com survey sampled 29,349 respondents across 30 countries and territories, including 1,007 from Canada, and 3,380 global accommodation providers, in March and April.