Research on attitudes and behaviours in the context of sustainable travel after COVID-19

Motivation

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on international travel. The travel market shrank globally and in Europe by some 80% compared to 2019. Before the pandemic, there was a lot of attention from policymakers for balance, liveability and the climate impact of tourism. The increasing environmental impact of tourism is a major concern in particular, especially in the light of the Paris climate agreements, and the fact that other sectors are making greater strides than the tourism sector. The big question is whether, after the pandemic, consumers will also want to travel more sustainably.

Objective

By means of both consumer research and scenario planning, it is made clear how consumers in European core markets view sustainability and to what extent they are willing to adjust their travel behaviour in order to contribute to a more sustainable travel industry. In this research project, the following questions are answered: 

  • How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected consumer understanding and appreciation of sustainability?
  • To what extent has this insight affected their attitudes on sustainable travel choices?
  • To what extent do these changes have an effect with respect to actual and expected travel behaviour throughout the travel decision process?
  • What are the conditions that may promote more sustainable travel behaviour?

Approach

This study builds on previous research by ETC (Monitoring Sentiments for Domestic and Intra-European Travel – Wave 5) and CELTH/ETFI (Four Future Scenarios for the Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality Sectors post COVID-19). The research consists of two parts. On the one hand, it involves a large-scale consumer survey in the largest outbound tourism markets in Europe. On the other hand, a qualitative approach is taken in which, by means of scenario planning, a baseline scenario is outlined containing the most likely future reality around consumer behaviour and expectations regarding sustainable tourism. Additionally, the four scenarios – developed by CELTH/ETFI earlier in the pandemic based on expert interviews – are updated with the input from the consumer survey. This makes the scenarios more extensive and concrete with regard to foreseeable sustainable travel behaviour.

Partners

  • European Travel Commission
  • NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
  • Breda University of Applied Sciences

Project team

  • Bernadett Papp, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, bernadett.papp@nhlstenden.com (contact)
  • Paul Peeters, Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • Ivar Neelis, Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • Jasper Heslinga, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences

Planning

June 2021 – December 2021

Status

Project completed.

Results

The results are published on the ETC website: ‘Sustainable Travel in an Era of Disruption: Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainable Tourism Attitudes'.