How the Travel Industry Can Bounce Back More Sustainably

We’ve all seen the articles about how sea turtles are thriving in Thailand and animals like deer and goats have reappeared in cities as people stayed home due to the coronavirus-related lockdowns and travel restrictions. Studies show that air pollution was significantly reduced during the lockdowns that affected much of the world. Carbon emissions are projected to be 7% less this year than they were in 2019. This is all good, and indicates that it is possible for the earth to recover, but it’s not enough.

“Even if we were to maintain the level of global emissions we’re at right now—the reduced rate due to COVID-19’s slowing of the economy—we would still need to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 if there’s a hope of stopping global temperatures from rising 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, which scientists believe is necessary to avert some of the worst impacts of climate change,” according to Time.

The tourism industry accounts for about 8% of carbon emissions globally, so tour operators, cruise companies, hoteliers, airlines, and others within the industry have their work cut out for them. We talked to some of the leaders in sustainable tourism to find out what the industry—and travelers—can do in order to help the travel industry bounce back more sustainably.

Decarbonizing Travel

“When you think from a [COVID-19] vaccine point of view, we will hopefully have one in the next year, but there won’t be a vaccine for the impacts of climate change,” Dr. Susanne Etti, environmental impact specialist at Intrepid Travel, tells AD. That’s why Intrepid recently released A 10-Step Quick Start Guide to Decarbonise Your Travel Business, which is available to download for free. Key steps include measuring, reducing, and offsetting your carbon emissions.

“We take responsibility for the emissions within the trip,” says Dr. Etti, explaining that Intrepid has been a carbon-neutral company since 2010. In addition to reducing carbon emissions in their offices, Intrepid has made adjustments like swapping out internal flights for train trips on many of their itineraries. They offset unavoidable emissions by investing in clean energy and other carbon-offset projects like reforestation in Borneo and the prevention of illegal logging in Peru.

As the travel industry picks up steam again, reducing carbon emissions and offsetting unavoidable emissions is critical. And industry insiders believe the trend is taking off.

“You can have a pretty huge trip that comes to, say, under $100 to offset all of the carbon for it and that can be a trip that’s like $50,000. So I don’t think people realize how affordable it is to offset the carbon on a trip,” Colin Heinrich, the global impact manager for Indagare, which partners with AD on design-focused trips, says. “I think if people did, they’d be much more likely to offset it.”

Of course, offsetting emissions is never going to be a perfect solution. “The first choice is always preventing the emission in the first place, and so with that in mind we try to recommend that people fly as little as possible, spend a longer time in further destinations, stay in these hotels that are eco-friendlier, travel in more eco-friendly ways like electric vehicles or train travel, dine at places that have locally sourced food, everything like that,” Heinrich continued. “But when we can’t get any further than that in their trip or they don’t want to sacrifice anything more, then we can offset the rest.”

Building Hotels More Sustainably

“Sadly, I think there is a [predisposition] to think that building green is innately more expensive than a standard build,” Bangkok-based designer Bill Bensley tells AD. “Since the buildings which created those ideas of high costs were built, the technology has grown leaps and bounds and become much more accessible—and accessed!”

According to Bensley, project owners often don’t realize the harm that building a new hotel inflicts on the planet. He notes that the construction sector alone contributes to 23% of air pollution, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill waste worldwide. Choosing eco-friendly construction methods can not only save the planet, they can save money too. That’s why he recently released a white paper outlining sustainable best practices for fellow architects, designers, and hoteliers setting out to build a new hotel.

“At Capella Ubud I talked my client out of building a 120-room Novotel that would have destroyed the forest completely, instead building a 24-tent camp that tiptoes ever so softly on the land, and did not change drainage patterns. Instead of standing tall on an overbuilt island it hunkers down and is essentially invisible to the outside world—with not a single tree cut down,” Bensley continues. “Using this principle, which I call Low Impact High Yield, you spend far less on building materials for a handful of tents than for an enormous, carbon-dioxide-emitting concrete structure of 120 rooms, and are able to sell those ever-so-exclusive tents for far more than a standard room.”

The proof is in the pudding. Capella Ubud currently commands the highest room rate in Bali and was recently named the World’s Best Hotel in the 2020 edition of Travel + Leisure’s annual reader’s choice survey. That hotel, along with Bensley’s own Shinta Mani Wild, a luxury tented camp set on 865 protected acres in Cambodia’s Cardamom National Forest, show how successful sustainable hotels can be.

Supporting Leaders in Sustainability

“We have a system where we will rate hotels based on their environmental commitment, and we look at a whole host of factors,” Melissa Biggs Bradley, Indagare’s founder and CEO, reports. “So if you’re going to Africa for instance, we work pretty much exclusively with lodges that are making an impact on the conservation experience.”

Biggs Bradley believes that travel trends are moving in a more sustainable direction as savvy travelers demand more than a pretty place to rest their head. “With the impact of COVID on people’s perspective on travel I think there is a real shift. In the same way that over the years the aesthetics of tourism has increased and people are much more sophisticated about what they’re looking for in the look and feel of their environment, I think we’re going to see an ethics consideration,” Biggs Bradley says. “So a hotel will have to look beautiful, but people will also have to know what the hotel is doing for the community and that is how people are making their decisions.”

Travelers can use their purchase power to send a message that sustainability is a priority. Instead of staying at, say, a luxurious resort in the Maldives that flies in food and staff from other countries, you can book an overwater villa at Soneva Jani, which is carbon neutral, serves fresh fruit and vegetables grown in its gardens, and partners with NGOs to remove single-use plastics from the Maldives and provide opportunities for local Maldivians. When choosing a safari lodge, consider booking with a brand like Singita, which runs culinary schools in Kenya and Tanzania to uplift local villagers, hires former poachers to protect the wildlife in their concessions, and employs state-of-the-art technology to track elephants and protect them. Instead of cruising on a big ship that dumps waste into the ocean, book with Quasar, which is currently developing the most sustainable ship to sail the Galapagos and brings scientists onboard to monitor the impacts of tourism on the destination.

These are just a few of the brands leading the way in sustainable hospitality, but there are many more out there. It’s up to each of us to educate ourselves about sustainable best practices and which hotels are implementing them. “Usually when hotels are making a genuine and notable effort, they will be vocal about it,” Bensley says. “Don’t be shy to ask the reservations team questions—if they come back empty or with thinly veiled answers, be wary. Hotels who are trying want people to know all about it!”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest