A new research report from the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and Switzerland Tourism discusses best practices for making adventure travel events more sustainable. This report considers the environmental, social, and economic components of sustainable events and incorporates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in its analysis.
Download the Report Here
As the adventure travel industry moves into 2023, a focus on sustainable recovery takes center stage. As part of this process, community members are looking to reconnect with each other. Some events in 2020 and 2021 were successfully held virtually, but in 2022, interest was renewed for in-person gatherings.
ATTA and Switzerland Tourism partnered on the 2022 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), held in Lugano, Switzerland, with the goal of making it the most sustainable ATWS yet. This research report reviews the sustainability of and survey results from the 2022 ATWS in Lugano, Switzerland, from the viewpoints of organizers and attendees.
In-Person Events
Events are especially important in business-to-business relationships. 97% of B2B marketers believe that in-person events have a major impact on achieving business outcomes. Recent research also shows the importance of in-person interactions. Gathering in person stimulates our brains differently than virtual meetings and produces stronger and faster interpersonal bonds. Holding events is an opportunity to facilitate bonding within our communities and support Health and Well-being, the third UN SDG.
However, when considered through a sustainability lens, in-person events have some challenges. For example, the travel necessary to arrive, as well as travel that occurs during the event, can have a huge carbon footprint. Such sustainability considerations can be overwhelming for event planning on any scale, and especially when hundreds or thousands of people are involved.
Sustainability & Events
Hosting sustainable events is about striking a balance between ecosystem health, human well-being, and economics. By focusing on reducing events’ negative aspects and on maximizing their positive aspects, the greatest good for ecosystems, communities, cultures, and the planet can be achieved.
Events are opportunities to come together and explore new destinations, to share knowledge, to co-learn, and for attendees to extend the reach of gained insights by taking new knowledge and experiences home with them. Events are a wonderful way to emphasize the sustainability practices of an organization. Event organizers have a unique chance and responsibility to make sustainable decisions that in turn have potential to offer educational opportunities that can shape other planners’ and attendees’ future behaviors.
ATWS 2022 in Lugano, Switzerland
The Adventure Travel World Summit 2022 was held in Lugano, Switzerland from 3-6 October. 718 adventure travel delegates from around the world gathered to connect with regard to the theme of the four basic elements: air, water, fire, and earth. Travel community attendees, including tour operators, adventure travel writers and influencers, tourism board representatives, gear partners, and industry partners converged in the Ticino region in southern Switzerland for this sold-out event.
Event Sustainability Highlights Include:
- Thanks to Switzerland Tourism (ST) and Swiss Travel Systems (STS), all delegates coming to the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) from outside Switzerland (93% of all attendees) received a complimentary Swiss Travel Pass to encourage the use of public transportation and to reduce carbon emissions. The 43 Days of Adventure were primarily accessed by public transportation.
- The amount of meat consumed during the convention was drastically reduced, led by ST’s creation of nutritious all-vegetarian menus at the convention center. Zero Hunger and Good Health and Well-being are the second and third SDGs, respectively.
- Event food, drinks, equipment, and supplies were sourced locally, which supports the local economy, key for the 8th SDG: Decent work and economic growth.
- Event organizers motivated Swiss suppliers to join the “Swisstainable” movement, the Switzerland-wide sustainability programme that reasserts commitment to sustainable businesses within the sector.
- The high standards of Switzerland’s social security, fair wages, and equality were met or exceeded throughout the event, demonstrating efforts toward Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities, SDGs 5 and 10, respectively, and again to the 8th SDG.
- Switzerland Tourism offset the carbon footprint of the event. They supported emissions measurement and nature-based carbon offsetting through MyClimate. Climate Action and Sustainable Cities and Communities are the 11th and 13th UN SDGs.
Event delegates were surveyed pre- and post-event on how well they think Switzerland is doing regarding their sustainability efforts in tourism. Participants’ perception of Switzerland’s sustainability efforts was more positive after the event in essentially all aspects, showing the effectiveness of the incredible work done by the event organizers and participants.
Sustainable Event Components
The Envisioning Sustainable Events report discusses the following components in more detail; a sample of each category is included here:
Selecting an Event Location
The single most important factor determining the sustainability of an event is the host destination and its supporting infrastructures. Other factors are innately tied to the overarching context of location, such as transportation to, within, and from the event. A sample of the sustainability factors to consider in the choice of a destination include:
- Proximity of destination to airports in consideration of keeping travel and carbon emissions at a minimum
- Small distance between event venues and accommodations
- Availability of natural and cultural educational offerings within the local and regional area
- If arriving by air, encourage attendees to choose airlines with commitments to sustainable aviation and select a flight plan to minimize layovers.
- When choosing event locations, be mindful that accessible public transportation or bicycles are available nearby.
- Encourage attendees to extend their trip before or after the event. Lengthening trips and traveling to fewer places is a great way to lower a traveler’s carbon footprint and have a deeper cultural experience.
Promoting Responsible Consumption
Event food and drink selections are opportunities to highlight the cultural cuisine of the destination locale and provide a sensory experience that directly immerses participants in local culture. Food waste, resource use, and conserving the natural environment are all important components of this facet. A few things to keep in mind are:
- Sourcing local foods and drinks reduces travel-related time and energy, helps to support the regional economy, and emphasizes the benefits of eating seasonally.
- Relying primarily on plant-based foods is a great way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at mealtimes. Plant-based eating reduces carbon footprints, i.e., foodprints, by 50% compared to meat-based diets.
- Announcing how event attendees can refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, or landfill items at the venues lends toward minimizing waste as well as educating participants.
- Utilizing reusable materials such as banners, tablecloths, and clothing and avoiding the use of one-time dates or text on event materials and decorations reduces waste.
- Instead of low-quality materials and giveaways or swag, choose consumable giveaways such as edible treats with limited packaging or gift certificates, which helps limit excess waste. Giving attendees the option to choose giveaways also limits material waste.
- Event organizers can encourage engagement in and conservation and respectful use of natural surroundings, including utilizing outdoor spaces.
Reducing Inequities Through Your Event
Ethical considerations (including social and accessibility), education, well-being, and communication can all contribute to reducing inequities.
- Choosing a host destination, suppliers, and partners with high standards for social sustainability contributes greatly to conscientious event operations.
- A way to increase accessibility and equality is to sponsor travel industry delegates from underrepresented countries, identities, and communities.
- Inquiring into event attendee requirements for accessibility and diet allows all potential participants to be included.
- Event-related presentations, performances, and excursions are all chances to learn what is new in adventure travel as well as experience the culture and nature within and surrounding the host destination.
- Providing event activities that balance and break up sitting during presentations contributes to attendee well-being.
- Providing ample time for meals and breaks ensures adequate nutrition, variety to maintain mental stimulation, and networking opportunities.
- Use inclusive marketing messages and imagery with that speaks to and represents a diversity of identities, and follow through on those messages to help all members of the community feel they belong.
Compensating Emissions
While reducing and eliminating emissions are the key to organizing more sustainable events, calculating the emissions that are generated through events and other activities plays an important role in knowing the impact of the activities involved.
- When an event organizer has done its best to reduce and eliminate emissions, purchasing carbon offsets or removal offers a sustainable choice for compensating the unavoidable emissions.
- Switzerland Tourism partnered with MyClimate, an international climate protection organization with Swiss roots, to calculate and offset emissions related to ATWS 2022, excluding flights that were booked and paid by non-hosted delegates directly. All CO2 produced in connection with the ATWS before, during, and after were calculated and compensated (excluding flights booked and paid directly by non-hosted delegates).
Conclusions & Taking Action
Organizing a sustainable event can be challenging. Taking into account previous research and examples, and the lessons learned from the 2022 ATWS, this report develops general guidelines for hosting sustainable events in the adventure travel industry. A Sustainable Events Checklist was developed to guide others toward transforming their events and prioritizing sustainability.