Tourism for the 21st Century

How tourism can help the environment

Climate change is now accepted as being something very real – rather than just an hypothesis. We have therefore seen a shift towards less damaging forms of consumption and customers are at the forefront of this – wanting to book their trips with companies that exercise good corporate social responsibility (CSR) and have an understanding of key environmental issues. Some people are already changing the way they live – moving towards less harmful forms of consumption and opting for ethical travel, which means they are more likely to holiday closer to home.

The tourism industry is recognising that it needs to show environmental awareness and the hotel sector, for instance, is introducing environmental friendly practices in its day-to-day operations.

Greater environmental awareness has resulted in a growth in UK rural tourism – involving travel to locations outside major towns and seaside resorts. Rural tourism, a growing sub sector, currently accounts for £14 billion in income and supports 380,000 jobs. Around 17% of farmers, for example, have diversified (due to declining traditional incomes) into tourism, sport or recreation to supplement their businesses and attract visitors. Farm tourism, defined as any accommodation business (including cottages and caravans) or visitor attraction based on a working farm is growing, with visitors participating in activities such as walking, riding and visiting heritage attractions.

Flexible working is one way in which the tourism sector can benefit the environment – with many travel agents, for instance, employing home workers. Booking online is another way. Shopping accounts for 12% of car and taxi mileage in the UK – so buying travel from home cuts down on unnecessary car journeys to the travel agent, thus reducing CO2 emissions.

Key facts:

• Rural tourism in the UK accounts for £14 billion and supports 380,000 jobs.
• Increased home working has the potential to cut the worse peak traffic by up to 10% within five years – a reduction that would save 14.5 billion miles a year. This equates to 17 million cars foregoing a trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Many small businesses have traditionally been reluctant to invest in technology, as they consider it to be non-essential, expensive and difficult. A lack of skills and knowledge is also to blame – with over half of all tourism organisations having no internal IT resource, a figure that is thought to be much higher among accommodation providers.

While travel and hospitality companies are being encouraged to work increasingly with technology, they must be careful not to alienate the 55+ market – which is rich in leisure time and represents major buying power. To target these ‘silver surfers’, there is a need for easy to- use Internet sites, with a focus on transparency and security.

Broadband technology is moving the market forward – providing an increasingly efficient medium for travel research and purchasing, provided websites are user-friendly.

Change needs to be embraced by the sector and ICT can be the springboard to an expanding market. For example Stretton Hall a small 12 bedroom independent family run hotel in Shropshire won the DTI National e-Commerce Award for Best Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology recently. ICT is now transforming how they do business, attracting customers from around the world, providing a depth of information previously unimaginable and facilitating online real-time bookings.