QUALITY IN TOURISM
More recent benchmarking shows that only 1 in 10 tourism operators have any targets in place to even roughly align with the targets set out by the ITP. So what is causing the sector to turn a blind eye? Do we just not care? Is the commercial argument too weak? Or does it all frankly feel a little too overwhelming and someone else’s problem?
If your business doesn’t embrace this, many of your potential customers will go elsewhere.
Solving the jigsaw puzzle You can’t eat an elephant whole. Deborah Heather, director of Quality in Tourism offers her advice on what tourism providers can do to be Responsible, Ethical and Sustainable Tourism (REST) operators, the new mark of quality.
I imagine that it is a little of all these aspects, but I also believe that it is essential that we lead the charge on changing this response. So how do we make that happen? To paraphrase conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, it’s essential to view the world and climate change as a jigsaw puzzle: trying to solve the whole picture is overwhelming but viewing and working on it piece by piece makes it more manageable. Regardless of your own personal opinions on the matter, I think from an operator’s perspective, there are, and should be, two major drivers for change. The first is the operational argument for cost-savings and future proofing of the business, and the second is the shifting consumer expectations that we are seeing in support of business responsibility. THE GUEST CASE…
If 2020 brought one issue to a head, it was the need to reduce operating costs. Whether you have four guest rooms or 400 there are some simple but effective ways of doing this. But let’s start with the ‘global’ picture and then get down to how it can affect your business. In response to the Paris Climate Agreement, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) issued its Hotel Global Decarbonisation Report at the end of 2017, highlighting how and why the sector should align to the targets set out for 2030 and 2050. It recommended that hotels should work to cut emissions by 66% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, against the benchmarks established in 2010.
06
TALKING TOURISM
Statistically speaking, the number of searches for specifically ‘eco’ accommodation remains low, but the appetite for places that have been awarded REST credentials is growing. In fact, 1 in 5 consumers already favour operators based on their overall REST credentials – so if location, price and convenience still come first, ethics, responsibility and sustainability become the defining factors between providers once a shortlist has been established. With the ‘Greta Thunberg effect, and the term Flygskam been coined in Sweden (meaning literally ‘flight shame’) if I had to bet on it, even after the Covid-19 hangover period, I’d say that in the next five years we will see short-haul travel and staycations on the up and long-haul in decline and there will be a boom in the responsible travel movement. THE BUSINESS CASE… A decade ago, businesses and individuals had to seriously consider the cost-benefit of installing sustainable and
SPRING 2021
