Climate and sustainability


stability is what is really required.” Emissions trading schemes (ETSs) may


begin to have more of an impact in the next two to three years, as carbon prices in the EU and UK ETSs rise – although environmental groups have criticised the global aviation emissions trading scheme Corsia set up by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Bowman described the schemes as


“part of the solution” but said: “Emissions trading and offsetting should be the last item on the list when you’ve ruled out all other activities.” Pritchard argued: “The reason


emissions trading is part of the solution is that as the cost of carbon credits go up and become a more significant cost for big emitters it will impact on their profitability and on investors’ view. If the cost of not doing anything goes up, it may make investment a better option than doing nothing. The costs of carbon emission schemes are only going one way.”


CRUISE AND HOSPITALITY The cruise sector faces almost as big a challenge as aviation, in that “there is a need for substantial changes to propulsion which are some way off but require long- term investment”, according to Pritchard. He argued: “There are smaller actions


that can be taken now, and the bigger cruise lines continue to invest in these – whether around food waste on ships, the reuse of materials, removing plastics or technology for improving a ship’s flow through the water. There is progress, but the large-scale stuff is long term. Each year we see more liquified natural gas (LNG) ships. A bit like SAF, LNG is not ultimately the solution, but it’s a step in the right direction when there are few other options at present.” Hawkings noted: “The larger cruise


companies have done a lot of work to understand their biggest impacts, their risks and where they need to focus.” There were some groundbreaking


initiatives on sustainability certification in the past year. The WTTC and Global Sustainable Tourism Council


UK CONSUMERS appear


more willing to take account of sustainability when


considering purchases in general than when thinking about overseas travel (Figure 28)


One of the challenges with certification is consumer confusion around what is good enough and what is the right certification


(GSTC) agreed a partnership to speed up certification of hotels to accredited sustainability standards, with the GSTC endorsing the WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics scheme launched in March which aims to “raise the floor” with 12 indicators meeting nine GSTC-accredited criteria that “all hotels should implement”. The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance


(SHA) pushed ahead with plans to standardise sustainability certification and, in a separate initiative, more than 8,000 hotels in Turkey (Turkiye) were certified to stage one of a sustainable tourism programme developed with the GSTC. No more than a few thousand hotels worldwide have achieved full certification to GSTC standards to date. The programme aims to take 22,000 properties through three stages of compliance, initially meeting 14 GSTC criteria, then 28 and ultimately 42. Hawkings said: “Certification is a step in


the right direction and the Turkey example, where a destination has been proactive in tackling this to get a lot of hotels up to the same standard, is really positive.” But she noted: “One of the challenges


with certification is consumer confusion around what is good enough and what is the right certification. Historically,


FIGURE 28: UK CONSUMER SPENDING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY


General purchase decisions % say sustainability plays a part in


10 20 30 40 50 60


%


20 40 60 80


-20 -10 0


% Overseas travel decisions


-20 0


All 18-24 To an extent


25-49 50-64 65+ Not much/not at all All 18-24 25-49 50-64 65+


Net % pt ‘plays no part’ Source: YouGov, August 2023 Base: 2,000 UK adults


Travel Weekly Insight Report 2024 21


41% 53% -12


39% 46%


-7 42% 53%


-11 -11


-14 42% 53% 41% 55%


35% 57%


-21 -15


-23 -21


-28 36% 51% 35%


33% 36%


58% 57% 61%


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60