Many visitors are resuming travel after it was suspended during pandemic lockdowns and subsequent COVID-19 fears. Although the pandemic lowered tourism demand in the short term, it also inspired tourism product innovation and upgrades.
Nearly two-thirds of global travelers say the pandemic inspired them to travel more sustainably. Travelers now want to see multifaceted aspects of sustainability at the forefront of business operations. Concurrently, tourists, tour operators, accommodations, and venues have been rethinking and reformulating the travel experience in terms of sustainability.
Organizations are aiming to maintain success from a financial perspective and increasingly also from social and ecological points of view. Members of the adventure travel community are responding to travelers’ desires by marketing experiences that are sustainable and regenerative in addition to being exciting, fun, educational, and immersive.
To learn more about what the adventure travel industry is doing to make their experiences more sustainable, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and Switzerland Tourism (ST) partnered together to research how the community encourages traveling with greater consciousness, awareness, and appreciation.
A new report titled Creating Sustainable Experiences in Adventure Travel focuses on cultivating the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability in adventure travel experiences. While organizations have been increasing sustainability practices for years, achieving the ever-increasing standards takes concerted intention and effort. The movement is expected to augment in future years, and international and national travel organizations will be looking for sustainability guidelines to follow.
The intention of this report is to develop a framework for hosting sustainable experiences in the adventure travel industry. This report draws from survey results and from leaders in sustainable travel experiences to create initial guidelines for sustainable travel experiences across the adventure travel community. Leading-edge adventure travel products that are already on the market are used to highlight the great potential of sustainable services in the industry and give inspiration to other organizations. A guidelines document is included to provide a clear vision for blending ecological stewardship, social integrity, and economic vitality into sustainable travel experiences.
Join Heather Kelly (ATTA) and Lucie Dalila (The Travel Corporation) on 21 June on a free webinar to learn more about this report and topic.
Key Report Findings
- Travelers now want to see multifaceted aspects of sustainability at the forefront of business operations. Concurrently, tourists, tour operators, accommodations, and venues have been rethinking and reformulating the travel experience in terms of sustainability.
- Sustainable adventure travel experiences involve making responsible and respectful tourism choices, such as eco-friendly accommodations, activities, and food and drink. Responsible travel habits can minimize negative impacts on the environment, wildlife, and local communities.
- Adventure travelers are most interested in unique experiences authentic to the local destination, interactions with local people, locally produced food and drink, and opportunities to purchase local products. This signals a high level of importance for ensuring experiences include plenty of focus on the local community.
- Adventure travel buyers are removing some components of their products, particularly experiences that are not authentic or truly representative of the local destination, and suppliers that do not compensate their employees fairly.
- Adventure travel buyers are also working to add more in that appeal to guests and make their experiences more sustainable, particularly collaborating with local and regional people and organizations and adapting their products to be more sustainable by default.
- Adventure travel suppliers are eliminating non-sustainable components from their products, especially single-use plastics, experiences that are not authentic or representative of their destination, and single-use paper items.
- Adventure travel suppliers are also working to add more options that appeal to guests and make their experiences more sustainable, particularly collaborating with local and regional people and organizations and taking action to ensure all employees are compensated fairly.
Survey Findings
A survey was sent to members of the ATTA community in April 2023, asking inbound and outbound operators about what actions they are taking to increase sustainability in their product portfolio, and what their guests are looking for regarding sustainability.
According to members of the ATTA community, guests are most interested in unique experiences authentic to the local destination, interactions with local people, locally produced food and drink, and opportunities to purchase local products. This signals a high level of importance for ensuring experiences include plenty of focus on the local community. They do not place a high level of importance on price or public transportation, although the latter may be due to a lack of safe and efficient public transportation in many parts of the world.
Source: Creating Sustainable Experiences in Adventure Travel Report
In their efforts to become more sustainable and respond to these guest needs, adventure travel buyers are removing some components of their products, particularly experiences that are not authentic or truly representative of the local destination, and suppliers that do not compensate their employees fairly.
Buyers are also working to add more in that appeal to guests and make their experiences more sustainable, particularly collaborating with local and regional people and organizations and adapting their products to be more sustainable by default.
Source: Creating Sustainable Experiences in Adventure Travel Report
Adventure travel suppliers are also working to add more options that appeal to guests and make their experiences more sustainable, particularly collaborating with local and regional people and organizations and taking action to ensure all employees are compensated fairly.
Source: Creating Sustainable Experiences in Adventure Travel Report
Download the free report to learn more about what members of the ATTA community are doing to enhance the sustainability of their experiences.
Moving Forward
Visitors want to travel more sustainably and increasingly expect to see sustainable practices in experience and product descriptions. As travel organizations make improvements in sustainability, the public at large perceives social norm shifts. Perception is the first step toward making innovative improvements long-lasting and more broadly appealing.
The travel industry can provide unforgettable experiences at destinations around the world while demonstrating and encouraging sustainable environmental, social, and economic practices. In turn, visitors bring home with them visions of nature, culture, sport, as well as sustainability, which extend outward through their social circles. The result is increasing integration of sustainability and regeneration in experiences from work to play across the planet.
Register for the 21 June Webinar Here
Download the Sustainable Experiences Guidelines Checklist Here
Switzerland Tourism is the National Tourism Organisation (NTO) with the mandate to promote Switzerland as a premier holiday, travel and congress destination. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Switzerland Tourism is present in 23 markets worldwide, employing around 270 people. Swisstainable is the new sustainability initiative of the whole Swiss tourism industry. To learn more about Switzerland and Swisstainable, visit MySwitzerland.com.