Afbeelding
Sustainable tourism remains a utopia if governments and the sector, as a united front, do not achieve behavioural change. Most groups of travellers are aware of the importance of more sustainable travel but are not yet making that choice, except for the so-called 'Frontrunners'. Because tourism is strongly supply-driven, the entire chain of providers, from accommodation, transport to entertainment, must be made more sustainable. This is shown by a study by the Center of Expertise Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality (CELTH) and the European Travel Commission (ETC) into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers' attitudes towards sustainable tourism. The research team presented the report at the annual meeting of the Market Intelligence Group of ETC in Switzerland on 3rd February.
Due to the pandemic, the economic position of the tourism sector and the companies operating in it have come under considerable pressure. However, economic recovery is important, but with an eye on ensuring a healthy planet and thriving communities. Many believed that these developments would change the way travellers think about sustainable travel. That is not the case, according to the study 'Sustainable Travel in an Era of Disruption: Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainable Tourism Attitudes'.
Consumers remain willing to travel in a more sustainable way. That attitude has not changed due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic as time and money emerged as the factors that can influence consumers’ travel behaviour. Trying to change social norms, customs, awareness and personal preferences have hardly any effect on sustainable travel behaviour. Therefore, it is up to the entire tourism chain to organise the offer in such a way that consumers convert their positive intentions into actual sustainable travel.
“Tourist service providers should not follow the market, but lead it and develop a sustainable offer,” says researcher Paul Peeters from the Breda University of Applied Sciences. “To do this, make sustainable options standard, instead of an option. It is important not to market sustainable products as specifically sustainable, but to focus on comfort, convenience and pleasure. Make the sustainable travel experience so special that it becomes the norm.” According to Peeters, travel organisations also have an important role in drawing attention to the importance of travelling out of season and pointing out sustainable activities & transportation during the trip to local offers that benefit the local community.
The survey shows that all respondents would like to travel more sustainably in the future, but that they differ greatly in how far they go. The researchers have confirmed that people's values, beliefs and norms are good predictors of sustainable travel behaviour. Based on this, four groups have been identified:
- Frontrunners: Low-footprint travellers with the highest likelihood of adopting sustainable travel behaviour in the future. The cluster with the strongest biospheric and altruistic value orientation.
- Comfortable Crowd: Habitual low-footprint travellers with interest in alternative destinations in ones’ proximity and in travelling in low season. The cluster members have a weaker biospheric value orientation than the Frontrunners.
- Entitled Stewards: Medium-footprint travellers who are less likely to compromise on location and time of travel, but willing to adjust otherwise. The cluster members have weaker biospheric and altruistic value orientations than the Frontrunners and the Comfortable Crowd.
- Laggards: Habitual high-footprint travellers with the lowest likelihood for considering sustainable alternatives in the future. The cluster with the weakest biospheric and altruistic value orientations.
Laggards keep the traditional business alive. They are still at the very beginning of their entire sustainable customer journey and are relatively negative towards change. If the industry succeeds in getting this group to travel more sustainably, for example by aligning the more sustainable options with their traditional values, this will have a major impact. The Frontrunners play an important role as an example for showcasing the possibilities of sustainable travel products. Stimulating more sustainable travel behaviour among them will have little impact given their already large contribution. However, ‘’advocacy is key’’, says researcher Bernadett Papp from NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. ‘’It is crucial to showcase the success of those companies that tapped into this market and are flourishing by offering sustainable alternatives. Furthermore, creating awareness of the lower footprint and positive impacts of the ‘’frontrunners’’ may influence other segments.’’ The two middle groups (Comfortable Crowd and Entitled Stewards) are considering more sustainable travel – both in different ways – but have yet to make the step towards making more conscious travel choices. Compensating for CO2 or climate effects is not part of the behavioural changes because they are insufficiently effective and can also hardly lead to zero emissions.
“We believe that this study will support European destinations in better understanding consumers’ attitudes in the pandemic era, and more specifically the extent to which tourists are ready to make concessions and adopt more sustainable approaches while travelling”, said Luís Araújo, President of the European Travel Commission. By exploring this ‘value-action gap’ ETC expects to support destinations and the wider tourism sector in the transition towards a more sustainable tourism ecosystem. Today there is an opportunity to challenge traditional tourism models and strategies and define ambitious goals to build the sector for tomorrow.
If we look at the type of sustainable behaviour, consumers are quickly prepared to interact more with the local population and immerse themselves in local culture. For example, by buying local products and eating out in restaurants owned by the local population. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by travelling in a different way is still very difficult for many consumers. Most behavioural changes can mainly be brought about from the supply-side because the traveller is either sympathetic or is opposed by aspects such as high prices for alternative transport or long travel times.
In addition to tourism operators, it is also the turn of the authorities to invest in the required infrastructure. To stimulate sustainable travel, continuous investment in European charging infrastructure, fewer public parking spaces nearby tourist attractions and more options for public transport and park-and-ride solutions are required. The European train network also needs to be improved, including better integration between the different transport systems. Accredited green companies must be financially supported with, for example, special investment funds and tax rebates. Companies themselves have to work on developing sustainable travel arrangements. Finally, a lot needs to be done to provide insight into the sustainable performance of companies and the impact of tourism on destinations.
About the research
This study is the result of a joint effort of the European Travel Commission (ETC), the Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality (CELTH), the European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI) at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and the Centre for Sustainability, Tourism & Transport (CSTT) at Breda University of Applied Sciences. For the research 1,545 tourists were surveyed in the five European countries with the most outbound travellers, namely Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
