BUSINESS
TOURISM
PIVOTING TOWARD REGENERATIVE TOURISM As environmental issues continue to dominate the news, hospitality professional Chirine Salha talks about the impact on tourism and why more travelers than ever before are gravitating toward cleaner and greener trips.
It goes without saying that no one wants to travel to polluted places, yet everywhere we go, we witness the damage we leave on the environment.
Increased awareness of the negative impact of tourism has led many travelers to change their behavior and do their bit to save the planet, even if they are on holiday.
Overtourism
Sustainable travel
Landmarks and places of interest have experienced firsthand how overtourism can considerably harm a destination’s ecology. The situation can become so disastrous that some places have ended up banning tourism, such as the Thai island Koh Tachai that was closed to tourists to safeguard its biodiversity. Another example of overtoursim is Mount Everest, where tourism results in large amounts of waste in an area with few waste management facilities. Furthermore, Venice banned large cruise ships, while Macchu Picchu introduced a ticketing system to control the number of visitors.
Capitalizing on the increasing global consumer consciousness of wellness, sustainable tourism has been gaining traction for a while now. Such is its potential that the United Nations General Assembly declared 2017 the Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development, marking the start of an ambitious longterm agenda to shape a more responsible and socially conscious tourism sector.
To combat overtourism, we are witnessing the development of undertourism and off-season tourism. Travel companies are focusing on creating bespoke trips during the low season, resulting in hosting communities having consistent, year-round income. They are also pushing travelers out of the most sought-after regions into undiscovered territories, reviving other parts of the country.
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HOSPITALITY NEWS ME | APR-MAY 2022
It is clear that a greater number of people wish to travel “green.” Booking.com’s 2019 travel report stated stated that 73 percent of travelers wanted to stay in eco-sustainable hotels in 2019, up from 62 percent in 2016, with 74 percent aged between 45 and 55, and 71 percent in the millennial category.
Greenwashing leading to regenerative travel However, there is so much more sustainability than just the standard greenwashing claims and statements or the focus on green certifications, which
have multiplied in the last decade. The next step to the sustainable travel journey is its upgraded version — that of the regenerative travel. Regenerative tourism is not just about minimizing footprint; it about being proactive and intentional in contributing something positive to a destination, leaving it in a better condition than how the traveler found it.
How can we positively impact the places we visit? The experience between the host and the guest is the essence of tourism. So, the first aspect is to view tourism as a living system where all stakeholders — travelers, travel companies, the community, the workforce and the future generation — are interconnected and interdependent, with a shared responsibility to help the destination flourish. This leads to solid collaborative efforts between all parties and the constant involvement of the local community to highlight the uniqueness of the place. By placing the community at the heart of tourism, we are securing the support of the best guardians to protect the cultural heritage, traditions, biodiversity, ecosystems and ethnicity of the destination.
