Op-Ed: ‘Sustainable travel in Europe: Where are we now?’ – Eduardo Santander, ETC

Eduardo Santander

Executive Director/CEO, European Travel Commission (ETC)

Already before the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the accelerating demand for tourism and search of long-term success, many European destinations started challenging their traditional roles and strived to reinvent themselves and tourism in their destinations with more responsible strategies.

However, we are still at the beginning of this process, as the path to sustainable travel is indisputably a long and complicated one.

The transition has been more complicated due to the COVID-19 crisis and its massive economic and social repercussions for the travel sector. As Europe’s tourism businesses and communities are rebuilding, we have to ensure the recovery takes place in a new way that reduces the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on local citizens, and provides a more balanced, equitable contribution to economic growth. There is an opportunity to capture this momentum to ensure that Europe’s diverse abundance of landscapes, communities, cultures and heritage can be enjoyed by visitors today, and for generations to come.

In the past years, together with our national members, the European Travel Commission (ETC) has been moving from a market- and profit-driven strategy to a new approach focused on sustainable tourism growth. National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) and Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) can and should play a key role in the sustainable transition. They are in the best position to convene cross-sector representatives (including public, private and community stakeholders) to develop a shared vision for sustainable tourism implementation in their destination.

Recently, we have been seeing positive trends showing that more and more travelers are interested in conscious travel choices. Research shows that tourists around the globe are increasingly looking for environmentally friendly services and prefer to engage more with local communities. A Eurobarometer survey from October 2021 indicated that 82% of Europeans are willing to change to more sustainable practices and habits. According to the Expedia Group, 90% of consumers look for sustainable options when travelling, and Booking.com found that over four in five travelers (81%) confirmed that sustainable travel is important to them. Half (50%) of global travelers say that recent news about climate change has influenced them to make more responsible travel choices.

Sustainability is now also developing into a competitive advantage and one of the most important potential unique selling points of destinations. In the future, tourism competitiveness will directly depend on destinations’ progress in offering more sustainable and climate-friendly travel.

Still, despite travelers’ intention to opt for sustainable options, it is unclear whether this willingness eventually materializes. There may often be a discrepancy between the opinion of customers towards sustainable travel and how they eventually act while on holiday. Helping consumers to close this “value-action gap” has considerable potential to help tourism become more sustainable.

According to ETC’s research, travelers are most likely to adopt sustainable practices such as interacting with local communities and immersing in local life, buying local products and choosing locally owned restaurants while in the destination. The largest constraints to the likelihood of adopting more sustainable travel practices on the other hand are money and me. Therefore, there is a need to highlight how sustainable travel enhances travel experiences, and can be affordable and convenient.

Looking from a destination perspective, European countries face different and unique challenges in terms of implementing sustainability, due to differing economic, social or environmental factors. Some younger destinations, especially in Eastern Europe, are still focusing on attracting more travelers from international markets, while others, more mature like the Nordics, are switching their work towards the management of tourism flows.

At ETC, we firmly believe that only by working together, by public-private cooperation, by sharing best practices across Europe and taking joint actions, we will be able to transform tourism and keep Europe the first and best destination in the world.