Sustainability in tourism
a trend, a necessity and an opportunity
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Sustainability in tourism
The topic of sustainability and how to deal with it is also increasingly present in the tourism sector. More and more tourism companies, organisations and destinations are aiming to develop strategies and manage their emissions. Three main factors are driving this development.
- Adaptation and prevention of climate change are necessary to preserve the livelihood of tourism. Tourism is inextricably linked to nature and landscape like no other economic sector. It depends on nature being intact and the landscape being attractive and productive, which means that the landscape provides many values such as recreation, leisure, sport, food, diversity, work and accommodation. One of the latest EU barometers revealed that 43% of European citizens cite landscape as a reason for choosing a holiday destination (European Commission 2021). This represents a huge opportunity for the tourism industry. On the other hand, the tourism industry in particular has a very high ecological impact, which puts the very landscape and the natural conditions that underpin it at risk.
- Larger companies, in particular, are increasingly subject to the reporting obligation under the CSRD. About 49,000 companies (75 per cent of the total turnover of EU companies) will be subject to the new reporting obligation in the EU. Initially, companies with a balance sheet total of at least EUR 25 million and/or a net turnover of at least EUR 50 million and/or an average number of employees of at least 250 persons during the financial year 2025 will be affected. Even if the number of tourism enterprises directly affected remains rather low in percentage terms, this and other regulatory developments will have an impact on the entire sector. From suppliers and service providers to hotels. Regulations such as the emerging Green Credit Directive or others like the Directive on consumer empowerment in the ecological transition could also become relevant for tourism.
- Last but not least, the growing interest of guests in this topic is also an important factor. More and more guests are making sustainability a condition for their choice of holiday destination and are paying attention to sustainability criteria. In the EU Tourism Barometer 2021, 82 per cent of respondents stated that they intended to change their travel behaviour to take more sustainable holidays (European Commission 2021). This is also reflected in tourism booking portals, such as Booking.com, which recently added a category for certified sustainable establishments to facilitate their search (Booking.com 2024).
On this basis, the tourism sector is undoubtedly particularly challenged to conserve the Earth’s natural resources and to change towards sustainability in its relationship with nature and the landscape, focusing on resource efficiency and climate protection in order to make a lasting contribution to regional value creation. Tourism has great potential to promote more sustainable forms of consumption: The close relationships between hosts and guests can be used for ‘transformative tourism’, which supports guests in making sustainable and responsible choices.
At the same time, economically sustainable tourism must meet the increasing quality demands of customers in order to survive in global competition. Sustainability, comfort, enjoyment and health are essential components of sustainable tourism products and the hallmarks of a modern and successful tourism industry.
International sustainability certification creates credibility: for a hotel and a destination
A rigorous, science-based certification process, subject to regular audits and linked to clear framework conditions, measures and actions, creates the acceptance and trust that consumers today often demand.
Consumers know all too well the many negative aspects of conventional tourism: the use of means of transport pollutes the climate and the increased volume of waste and waste water has an impact on environmental pollution. Excessive tourism and the massive commercialisation of a region can lead to the loss of a people’s culture and the destruction of once unique and unspoilt places and landscapes. Tourism often exploits labour, employing people from low-income countries in sometimes inhuman conditions and overburdening local infrastructure. Wild animals are disturbed in their habitat and driven away.
The responsible consumer wants to travel, but with a clear conscience, ensuring that his or her travels contribute to local value creation and are not at the expense of nature and society.
A sustainability certification that takes into account all international standards creates transparency and trust.
Earthcheck Certified: the benchmark for sustainability in tourism since 1987
EarthCheck (www.earthcheck.org) is the world’s leading scientific research, consulting and certification group for the tourism and hospitality industry. Since 1987, it has been helping businesses and destinations become more sustainable through certification and consulting. EarthCheck’s certification programmes are known and respected by travellers, hotels and destinations worldwide and help customers make informed choices.
We at Terra Institute partner with EarthCheck and support companies on their path to certification, assisting companies and destinations with strategic and operational decisions and helping them optimally integrate the tools of the certification process into their existing processes.
Earthcheck certification offers many advantages and opportunities
- Compliance with regional and international regulations and standards. Earthcheck guarantees that all national sustainability guidelines are met and exceeded.
- Cost reduction. During the certification process, drastic cost reductions are often achieved: by analysing in detail the consumption of energy, water, fuel, food, etc., new priorities and strategies can be implemented without compromising quality or reducing the service level. service level.
- Credit and financing options. Facilitated access to loans and financing at subsidised interest rates.
- Reduce your environmental impact. Reduce your environmental impact by monitoring the CO2 emissions of your activities. Promote the circular economy by measuring and managing waste.
- Marketing and Communication. The programme provides you with data and experiences on activities in all areas and enables you to communicate these in your sustainability report. With clear facts and figures and transparent communication, you can strengthen your company’s reputation and attract guests who are increasingly sensitive to sustainability issues.
- Strategy and governance. The certification process also lays the foundation for structuring a sustainability strategy and sustainability governance, including measures, key indicators and responsibilities. It helps maintain and increase employee commitment and productivity and enables operational efficiency through innovation in management and operational processes. By analysing the company’s risks and opportunities, it creates a systematic basis for decision-making.
THE COMPANIES
WHO HAVE CHOSEN US
SUSTAINABILITY FOR HOTEL AND TOURISM ENTERPRISES
The sustainability process for hotels
There are two different levels of support for hotels: smart-earth support, which is used to provide initial orientation and to understand where one stands, and comprehensive support, which extends to a detailed sustainability strategy or certification.
Accompaniment smart Terra:
This process is particularly suitable for smaller companies or those who are still at the beginning of their journey and want to get a picture of their status quo and level of ambition. This process is based on three appointments, with the possibility of further appointments, and is accompanied by two essential tools: the Sustainability Checklist and the Footprint Calculator.
Step 1: Analysis of the current state, reflection and definition of objectives
The status quo of your company in terms of sustainability is determined. Aspects such as ecology, social responsibility and sustainable management are analysed and reflected upon. An in-company sustainability check is carried out with an analysis of the company’s current situation using our checklist and subsequent evaluation. This reveals how the company is doing, in which areas it is already performing well and where there is still room for manoeuvre.
Phase 2: Implementation Strategy
Development of concrete goals and measures. The sustainability strategy is developed with the entrepreneurs and the GreenTeam. You will also receive tools and processes with which you can implement the sustainability strategy and certification. This involves reflecting on the analysis of the current situation with the company managers and working out the company’s overall goal in terms of sustainable development. Specific measures and implementation strategies are developed together.
Phase 3: Follow-up and support
TERRA FOOTPRINT POWERED BY EARTHCHECK – CO2-CALCULATOR
Terra Footprint is an innovative tool for calculating CO2 emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3), developed for the Terra Institute by EarthCheck.
- It is a system for managing and controlling the consumption of energy, water, waste and other resources and the associated costs.
- It is a digital platform that is easy, fast and intuitive to use and can be accessed via the Internet with a username and password.
- It offers a real-time display of consumption and CO2 emission data, as well as comparative data over time (or with others in the sector ).
- Terra Footprint can be a first step towards certification (e.g. for the GSTC).
The calculator is suitable for the following areas.
- Hotels and hospitality
- Well-being and sport
- Transport
- Culture and tourist attractions
- Municipalities and communities
- Operators and services
- Trade and offices
- Wine and beer producers
The global sustainability strategy:
- System analysis and vision
- Risks, opportunities and effects
- Data Entry
- Stakeholder Dialogue
- Fields of action and measures
- Employee Training
- Finalisation of the platform
- Audit
- Reporting and communication
- Realisation
Excursus on anti-greenwashing and sustainability communication
Communication and language are fundamental components of our lives that significantly influence the way we think, perceive things and shape or can shape our lives. This becomes particularly relevant when we talk about our future, climate change and the topic of sustainable development. This is where we need strong narratives and effective motivational communication to inspire people to act.
Society is also increasingly focusing on authenticity in communicating sustainability. Consumers, customers and the public are increasingly scrutinising environmental statements. This presents companies with the challenge of communicating their sustainability efforts in a credible manner. This is why we also assist in developing a communication strategy, providing information and training on topics such as greenwashing and effective strategies to avoid it. Training can take the form of a seminar or a series of workshops. If desired, it can be integrated into existing processes as an excursus.
Terra Academy
As the official centre of excellence for ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ of the United Nations and the UN University, Terra has been engaged in knowledge transfer and capacity building since 2012. Our Terra Academy is the centre of excellence in the field of ESG and corporate sustainability. The Terra Academy supports our processes by informing and training employees who are not directly involved in the sustainability process through our learning paths. The Terra Academy offers a number of benefits:
- Our courses are designed and curated by over 50 Earth sustainability experts with decades of experience in the field.
- A powerful, multi-level, multi-device learning platform helps in the qualification of employees, from basic sustainability knowledge to role- and sector-specific skills.
- The didactics and methodology of the learning content and transfer tasks are based on the latest results of educational research.
- The learning content can be customised according to the business or company, thus offering optimised training.
SUSTAINABILITY FOR DESTINATIONS
The sustainability process for destinations
- System analysis and vision
- Risks, opportunities and effects
- Dialogue with stakeholders
- Fields of action and measures
- Information events
- Realisation
An important step for destinations: load capacity calculation
What is the load capacity?
The debate on limits to growth and the carrying capacity of tourist destinations is not new. Carrying capacity is at the heart of sustainable tourism management and aims to provide ‘time- and space-specific responses’ in individual locations or destinations.
There are many definitions of this concept, the most important for tourism being that of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It defines carrying capacity as follows:
‘The maximum number of people who can simultaneously visit a destination without causing destruction to the physical, economic and socio-cultural environment and without an unacceptable reduction in the quality of the visitor experience’.
The carrying capacity analysis is a scientific tool that identifies critical impact thresholds and analyses possible acceptable changes. The results of the analysis are recommendations to support sustainable planning of visitor flows in the destination (better flow management = mitigation of damage caused by tourist congestion).
Load Capacity Analysis Methodology
The approach we recommend is based on the DPSIR (Determining Forces, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses) causal model. This model has been adopted by the European Environment Agency for the assessment of environmental issues, including the carrying capacity of an area. In the project, the team collects and analyses information on these five factors.
Determining Forces: e.g. industry, tourism, economic growth, population, visitor preferences.
Pressures: e.g. pollution, land use changes, population growth, visitor volumes and peak flows, visitor behaviour, industry and community sentiment, seasonality.
States: e.g. water quality, soil quality, air quality, habitat, vegetation, CO2 footprint, quality of life of inhabitants, economic performance.
Impacts: e.g. visitor experience, public health, safety, habitat/biodiversity, economic outcomes, environmental damage, loss of biodiversity, damage to cultural heritage.
Responses (strategies): e.g. policies, regulations, visitor management tools.
AUSTRIAN ECOLABEL AND EU ECOLABEL
We are official consultants for the Austrian Ecolabel and are pleased to be able to support companies in achieving this certification.
WHAT IS THE AUSTRIAN ECOLABEL?
The Austrian Ecolabel is one of the oldest environmental and sustainability certifications in Europe. The Ecolabel therefore has many years of experience and offers comprehensive support via the certification platform and numerous supporting documents. It is also an ISO Type 1 certification.
PERIOD OF USE
The Austrian Ecolabel has a useful life of 4 years and can then be renewed with a re-audit.
CONNECTION WITH THE EU ECOLABEL
The Austrian Ecolabel was established in the 1990s and served as the basis for the EU Ecolabel. To this day, it is the only label that also takes into account the European Ecolabel EU Ecolabel. All the criteria of the EU Ecolabel are integrated into the Ecolabel. This means that the Austrian Ecolabel is not only interesting for Austria, as it is also possible to be certified for both ecolabels at the same time.
Our consultants are authorised both as consultants for the Austrian Ecolabel and as consultants for the EU Ecolabel. In the case of simultaneous certification and counselling, there is a fee reduction for the final audit.
Difference: The Austrian Ecolabel is somewhat more comprehensive in some chapters than the EU Ecolabel (transport, food).
GSTC AND ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES
The Austrian Ecolabel is also recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) for accommodation establishments. So far, 315 accommodation establishments have been certified by 2023 and a further 21 certifications have been received by June. This means an annual growth rate of 20%.
‘Establishments with the Austrian Ecolabel contribute a great deal to a liveable environment, focus on regional and seasonal products and can actively communicate this to the outside world. Environmental certifications are part of a long process on the way to practising sustainability and do not mean that the goal has already been achieved. They not only help to tackle climate change, but also provide businesses with a roadmap for extensive potential savings. These include switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy for heating, saving water, implementing waste systems, remodelling, cleaning and hygiene and catering. Guests can rely on a good selection of regional and seasonal products, with a minimum proportion of organic food,’ according to the Austrian Ecolabel website.
Your Terra team for destinations, hotels and other tourism enterprises:
Paolo Agnelli
Paolo studied economics and advises companies of all sizes and from a wide range of sectors. He has a sound knowledge of marketing, coupled with creativity and extensive intercultural experience. He speaks several languages and is thus considered a door opener and bridge builder.
As a true South Tyrolean with Sicilian roots, he moves easily between Hamburg and Palermo and knows the cultural differences of these markets like no other. Growing up in a multicultural family, he quickly learned to always face things in the world with open eyes and to solve challenges creatively.
Helene Thierig
Helene Thierig works at Terra Institute in the field of regional development and has been involved in projects such as the “Strategy Landscape of South Tyrol” and participatory processes in the context of community development.
In addition to regional development, she accompanies employees of companies in processes of personal development and works on topics of sustainability and climate communication.
Alexander Schweitzer
Alexander Schweitzer has many years of practical experience in various management positions and supports companies in the development and realisation of corporate strategies and organisations. As part of his consultancy services, he also provides clients with his in-depth marketing expertise in the B2B sector. In addition, Alexander wants to support a change in awareness towards a sustainable way of thinking and acting in companies and in people.
Ursula Pichler
Ursula Pichler worked for more than 20 years in internationally positioned food companies, leading product and innovation management. In the social and tourism sectors she practised in the management and development of projects and organisations.
At Terra she combines these experiences with the tools for sustainability strategies, following her motivation to be part of a future-oriented transformation process of companies.
Renata Rizzo
After a long career in multinational companies in various sectors, from tourism to food and beverage, as Senior Director of Marketing and Product Innovation, Renata is now fully dedicated to helping businesses and local communities determine the most appropriate path to sustainability for their needs.
She also provides her diverse experience to areas and companies in the hospitality industry to develop strategies, measures, and communications to support CO₂ footprint measurement and Earthcheck certification processes. In the United States, Renata earned the Success Coach Certification and accompanies groups and leaders on their awareness and development journey.
Margit Holzhammer
Lawyer, long-time director of a hospital, CSR lecturer at various universities, and CSR and sustainability consultant at Terra Institute. Her focus industries are healthcare, banking, and tourism. Margit heads the Terra office in Innsbruck.
Sources
Booking.com. (2024). Zertifizierung. Booking.com for Partners. https://partner.booking.com/de/mehr-erfahren/zertifizierung
European Comission. (2021). Eurobarometer. Flash Europarometer 499 “Attitudes of Europeans towards tourism.” Europa.eu. https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2283
Contacts
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