It is time for the travel industry to act on sustainability, according to participants in a United States Tour Operator Association Town Hall, held virtually and in person. Cathleen Johnson, a consultant who was formerly with Edelman Travel, moderated the event and told attendees that even though they have been through a year of "hell" and continue to struggle through the pandemic, it is important to move toward sustainability because it is the right thing to do; customers are demanding it; and perhaps, most important, it will preserve the very assets that customers are traveling to experience.
A recent survey of tour operators, said Johnson, showed that there were three barriers to acting on sustainability: customer resistance to costs; identifying opportunities; and lacking the ability to operationalize sustainability. She said the imperative to act overrides those issues.
Sustainable tourism, said Johnson, has been defined by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as "tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities."
Johnson said USTOA members move 10 million people annually and that operators have the opportunity to educate all those clients to be more responsible travelers. And that does not even consider, she said, the ripple effect those 10 million people might have on others.
Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares, of which USTOA is a founding member, said travel sellers should think of sustainability as an insurance policy for their product. Unlike insuring a house or car, however, he said, insurance will not cover the replacement of a valuable tourism attraction or destination.
Tour operators, said Takehara, should tell their sustainability stories and listen to the stories of others. He said it is a big focus, especially for younger travelers. At a time when it is difficult to find staffing, said Takehara, having a strong sustainability policy can help in incentivizing people to join your company.
Johnson agreed, saying one easy and inexpensive step for travel sellers is to "promote and brag" about their programs. She noted that a large majority of operators do not even highlight sustainability on their website home pages.
Keith Sproule, executive director of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, said that the industry is being asked by guests to "step up and show up" and include more of the human side into itineraries. He said host communities "are also asking us to show up" - and not with "stuff." He said the practice of handing out cheap goods like pens and other "nonsense" does not make a difference. He said companies should be more involved in projects like building schools and delivering water.
Terry Dale, CEO of USTOA, called on other industry associations to work collectively with Tourism Cares, noting that "doing this as an industry will have more impact than each of us working on our own tracks." As USTOA approaches its 50th anniversary, he said, "we want sustainability and diversity to be part of our DNA for the next 50 years."
Johnson offered the following tips:
-Have your sustainability program certified by a reputable organization.
-Educate yourself. If you don't know about sustainability, your staff can't act on it.
-Designate employees to work on these issues.
-If you don't have the resources to execute a plan, at least come up with a plan that can be executed later.
-Educate clients by putting information on websites.
-Focus your next conference on sustainability, if not as the theme, then as a major theme.
In a brief session on the industry outlook, Elizabeth Crabill, CEO of CIE Tours, said that some parts of the industry will be back on track by 2022, but not all. She said there are parts of the world that will have challenges with infrastructure and cash flow due to the pandemic.
Crabill said CIE's destinations - Ireland and the U.K. - have just opened to visitors and some clients might have already gone elsewhere for holidays. As a result, the operator may not see a return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023-24. In addition, she said, air service has been dramatically cut back to places like Ireland, and it will take a while for that to come back. Finally, hotel staffing might create problems for the foreseeable future.
Charlie Ball, executive vice president at Holland America Group, said that a surprising trend during the pandemic has been a loss of interest in careers in hospitality. Noting that other industries saw growth during the pandemic, he said travel has to put out a stronger proposition to attract people. One part of that, said Ball, should be more inclusivity in hiring.
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