TOU0046

Written evidence submitted by The World Travel & Tourism Council

INTRODUCTION

Five of the warmest years recorded in history have occurred since 2010. Over 1.2 billion people currently experience water shortages, and each year, 10,000 species become extinct while 18.7 million acres of forests are lost to human processes. At the same time, natural disasters have dramatically increased in both frequency and magnitude, with the number of disasters quadrupling between 1970 and 2016.  Together, these shifts amount to a pandemic of epic proportions; with climate change and environmental degradation having become an inescapable reality for policymakers, the private sector and consumers alike.

The United Nations’ Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, launched in 2015, provided the global community with a new framework and action plan for people, the planet, and prosperity. The Agenda comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 specific targets for all countries to aim for. This includes eliminating poverty, ensuring equality, reducing environmental impact, and creating economic prosperity and jobs, among others. Travel & Tourism is explicitly identified in three of the 17 goals, but its potential contribution to this new Agenda is much wider and the sector has a role to play in each of the 17 SDGs.

Given the importance of the preservation of natural resources to the Travel & Tourism sector, sustainable tourism has moved out of the margins and into the mainstream of travel policy and practice. For example, as consumers demand more responsible trips, both the public and private sectors have responded with wildlife protection programmes, the installation of public green zones, and policies to spread tourists across sites and seasons. The sector has learnt how to effectively leverage tourism dollars towards the protection of natural habitats, and in turn promote those habitats as sustainable havens worth visiting. Travel & Tourism is also proving that precious wildlife species are worth more alive than dead, and that a carefully managed industry can benefit local communities immeasurably.

The World Travel & Tourism Council has published several reports on Sustainable Development that can be found in our website, including:

-          Economic Impact of Global Wildlife Tourism

-          Destination 2030: Global Cities’ Readiness for Tourism Growth

-          World, Transformed: Megatrends and Their Implications for Travel & Tourism

-          Fairer and More Intelligent Tax Policies In Travel & Tourism

-          Sustainability Reporting in Travel & Tourism

-          Coping with success: Managing overcrowding in tourism destinations

-          Climate Friendly Travel

WTTC

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the body which represents the Travel & Tourism private sector globally. Our Members include over 170 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world's largest economic sectors and conducts research on the Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism in 185 countries for nearly 30 years.

Travel & Tourism grew faster than any other industry sector in 2018, generating US$8.8 trillion in GDP and supporting 319 million jobs. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is forecasting that the number of international arrivals will grow from 1.4 billion in 2018 to 1.8 billion in 2030. Ensuring that this growth is sustainable, that it contributes positively to the communities and the ecosystems on which they depend and protects the natural and cultural heritage core to its success, is a top priority of WTTC and its Members. Under the umbrella of sustainable growth, WTTC aims to advance the agenda of the following six issues: 

1. Climate and Environment Action: Setting an ambition for the global Travel & Tourism sector to be climate neutral by 2050 as well as taking action on minimising waste and the sector’s contribution to it.

2. Destination Stewardship: Promoting best practice in destination planning and management, with a focus on public, private and community partnerships, to ensure that Travel & Tourism benefits all.

3. Future of Work: Ensuring that the sector remains a driver of job creation in the face of digital transformation, while enhancing its attractiveness and increasingly creating quality jobs.

4. Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Promoting sector-wide action to support global efforts to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife. At the Global Summit 2018 in Buenos Aires, WTTC launched the Travel & Tourism Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade, a commitment by Members to participate actively in the global fight against illegal wildlife trade.

5. Human Trafficking: Raising awareness of how Travel & Tourism can prevent Human Trafficking and providing a forum for collective action.

6. Sustainability Reporting: Encouraging and supporting Travel & Tourism companies to measure, monitor and report their Environmental, Social and Governance activities. The Sustainable Travel & Tourism Partners (STTP) initiative, launched by WTTC this September as part of our new sustainability action plan (OSCARS), will be a driver for this.

WHAT CAN THE GOVERNMENT DO TO SUPPORT A SUSTAINABLE INBOUND TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE UK?

The government has a key role to play in the support of sustainable tourism. Still, a sustainable inbound tourism industry requires governments to partner and actively engage with the private sector, destination bodies as well as local communities.

Enabling a sustainable tourism industry which delivers benefits to all stakeholders requires a supportive physical, regulatory, fiscal and social environment. In effect, good tourism management practices and stringent planning are key to the sustainable development of tourism.

For each of the six initiatives that WTTC has identified, we could advise/recommend:

1. Climate and Environment Action: Communicate the nature and importance of the interlinkages between Travel & Tourism and climate change. Raise awareness of the positive contribution Travel & Tourism can make to building climate resilience. Reduce the contribution of Travel & Tourism to climate change by providing incentives for companies to invest in renewable energy, scale the use of synthetic fuels, promote recycling and the circular economy.

2. Destination Stewardship: Integrate sustainable tourism growth in destination planning, considering citizen engagement, tourism flow management policies, sharing economy policies as well as using any tourism development taxes to help fund these policies.

3. Future of Work: Inform and communicate what a graduate career in Travel & Tourism could offer. Co-ordinate efforts between the private sector, educational establishments and the governments to develop proactive and careful talent supply management policies and programmes to ensure the best enabling environments to grow and develop the skills most needed for Travel & Tourism. Promote Travel & Tourism as an attractive sector for women and young workers.

4. Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Create awareness of the importance of flora and fauna as key drivers of Travel & Tourism activity, and as such, build interest within the sector to support initiatives to combat the illegal trade of them.

5. Human Trafficking: Increase industry and consumer awareness of human trafficking. It is proven that the more we know, the more we can do to prevent this crime. Work with the private sector to train employees and travellers on how to identify and report suspected cases. Encourage enacting and enforcing legislation which recognises human trafficking as a crime throughout the entire chain, and develop resources and support needed, such as national hotlines. Provide assistance, employability training and employment opportunities to survivors.

6. Sustainability Reporting: Help Travel & Tourism companies understand the key concepts behind reporting, to provide an outlook on the regulations and trends that are driving this practice forward and to identify the implications and opportunities for the sector. WTTC’s Sustainability Reporting in Travel & Tourism report provides guidelines for this.

HOW SHOULD THE UK TOURISM INDUSTRY BALANCE THE NEED TO ENCOURAGE TOURISM WHILST PROTECTING FRAGILE ENVIRONMENTS?

The industry could be tempted to promote destinations to attract as many tourists as possible, but nowadays we are seeing more destinations focusing on “value over volume”.

A good approach for some destinations could be the need to shift their focus from promotion to broader planning and management challenges. Those with a clear, long-term strategy built upon a solid fact base are more likely to achieve sustainable growth and mitigate—or even prevent— overcrowding. An important consideration could be not to exceed the carrying capacity, defined as “the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, and socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors’ satisfaction.” Determining these maximum thresholds requires research funding and the linking up of academic and private sector organisations.  Knowing the precise needs of the area are also important, so without the Regional Development Agencies or regional tourist boards, UK must still find a way to gather important information on stresses at local level so that effective policy actions can be taken.

Our research and interviews with tourism experts highlighted the following four best practices:

1. Build a comprehensive fact base and update it regularly. Countries, regions, cities, and sites must begin by gathering detailed data and developing their analytics capabilities to inform and refine tourism strategies.
2. Conduct rigorous, long-term planning to encourage sustainable growth.
3. Involve all sections of society—commercial, public, and social. The perfect data and strategy can only work if all stakeholders are engaged throughout the process. Tourism authorities should create committees and other formal mechanisms to work with stakeholders, including scientists and local communities, to discuss problems and devise solutions.
4. Find new sources of funding. Once data, strategy, and stakeholders are aligned, destinations can explore a growing number of innovative approaches to finance investments in infrastructure and sustainability.

There is no easy fix. Once destinations have sorted out the fact base, strategy, stakeholders and funding, they must then identify and execute practical actions, both for the long- and the short-term. Among the possibilities:

1. Smooth visitors over time. Many destinations suffer from imbalances of visitors during certain seasons, days of the week, and times of day, as well as during headline events. Destinations must develop tactics to “smooth” these imbalances so communities and businesses can continue to reap the benefits of tourism.
2. Spread visitors across sites. Spreading visitors geographically can help distribute tourists more evenly across residential and under-visited areas and thwart bottlenecks in overcrowded locations.
3. Adjust pricing to balance supply and demand.
4. Regulate accommodation supply. Some destinations place direct controls on the supply of tourism accommodation—including beds in both hotels and short-term rentals.
5. Limit access and activities. When overcrowding reaches a critical stage, the measures above may not be enough to mitigate or recover from it. As such, some destinations in consultation with government,  must be prepared to limit or even ban certain tourist activities.

HOW WELL IS THE UK INDUSTRY MANAGING THE IMPACT OF TOURISM IN LINE WITH ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, AT HOME AND ABROAD?

The UK government has made – and continues to make – efforts to encourage the industry’s commitment to sustainable development.

Visit Britain has partnered with several other tourism organisations in the UK to formulate a wide-ranging plan for the sustainable promotion of destinations in the UK. In London, for example, the plan aims to spread tourists beyond top attractions by inviting them to “experience the capital like a Londoner” and spend time in the city’s outer neighbourhoods, thus avoiding overcrowding at London’s main tourism areas. This plan includes spreading tourists across Scotland’s different terrains. For both London and Scotland, the strategy is accompanied by a smoothing plan to encourage tourists to visit during the off-season.

Also, as part of its Visit Britain campaign, the UK made a significant push on domestic tourism by launching its GREAT tourism campaign to encourage visitors to explore the whole of Britain. The campaign builds on themes of British culture and heritage, positioning them in the context of fun and adventure, with the goal of enticing modern travellers to forgo international holidays for staycation. More information about this policy and its results can be found in our Best Practices Repository.

Another good example of sustainable development is the Tourism Zones initiative contained in the 2019 Tourism Sector Deal. The government will create up to five new zones to support areas wishing to improve their tourism offer, particularly focusing on those areas looking to boost off-season visits.

In support of the Government Clean Growth Grand Challenge, this initiative includes a commitment to develop and adopt a sustainable development plan to reduce environmental impacts within the Zones and to report on progress in order to drive change. Ensuring that there is greater use of measuring and monitoring of the impacts from tourism, both domestic and international, and that this monitoring aligns with targets within the UN SDGs, would be an important next step.  Support for SMEs is likely to be required in this regard.

SHOULD THE UK GOVERNMENT TAKE MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE IMPACTS OF OUTBOUND TOURISM, FOR EXAMPLE WASTE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTING HABITATS AND SPECIES AND COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL IMPACTS?

The UK Government should take some responsibility for the impacts of outbound tourism caused by UK visitors. This could be by helping UK residents to understand the resource stress that overseas destinations may face and by promoting the sustainable behaviour of tourists in these destinations. 

Dedicating part of its international aid budget to help protect habitats and species in destinations abroad could also help mitigate some of the impacts caused by outbound UK tourists.  

HOW CAN THE GOVERNMENT REACH ITS NET ZERO EMISSIONS TARGETS THROUGH INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL PATTERNS? IS THERE A ROLE FOR OFFSETS IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM?

According to some studies [1], tourism is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

While a significant proportion of this contribution can be attributed to the aviation industry (40% of the contribution of CO2 emissions from the Tourism sector), the whole tourism industry has a role to play in reaching net zero emissions and supporting the wider Travel & Tourism sector, as other activities within tourism are important contributors as well (cars and other transport contribute 35% and accommodations 21% for example). [2]

Tourism activities have indirect and induced effects that are highly demanding of energy. However, companies need more support to monitor and disclose the carbon associated with the service they provide. 

Hence, the whole tourism sector has a big opportunity to influence a sustainable development agenda due to its indirect and induced contribution to the economy.

Given the responsibility of Travel & Tourism in the area of greenhouse gas emissions, it is important that the industry has a role for reducing its emissions and then offsetting any remainder. Tourism companies can design schemes so tourists can offset the emissions produced by their trips. However, most travellers don’t know what a carbon footprint is, so government support for education and building awareness among consumers is essential to help the necessary shifts in behaviour.

WHERE SHOULD THE BALANCE LIE BETWEEN AFFORDABLE TRAVEL AND INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL CHOICES? ARE TAXES AND INCENTIVES NEEDED?

Pricing can be an effective way to balance demand with supply. Increasing the cost is likely to limit the number of visitors, but it also raises issues regarding elitism and the impact on domestic tourists who may find themselves less able to access their own heritage. As such, destinations must approach pricing carefully and with input from all concerned stakeholders.

Policies to adjust pricing can include levying taxes and fees, or price segmentation for different types of visitors; for example, students and locals. Newer approaches set pricing based on long-term sustainability costs or time of day. While raising prices can, in principle, address the challenges associated with overcrowding, it is important to note that price changes will be most effective when clearly aligned with overall destination strategy and invested in the long-term sustainability of the sector. The perception that a destination is raising revenues on the back of travellers without a clear purpose can damage its reputation and cause visitors to lose trust.

Taxes should be used to stimulate and promote, not hinder, economic growth and job creation. As a labour-intensive sector, Travel & Tourism has a large, indirect impact on the wider economy. Taxes on the sector should be hypothecated, with revenues put back into tourism promotion and development linked to the goals and essence of the destination. Relevant infrastructure projects could also be given funding from Travel & Tourism revenue and ultimately enhance growth potential, attracting investment and subsequent employment.

There are some good examples of destinations that have used taxes in sustainable planning.

In Barcelona, a tax is charged on all overnight stays in the city’s tourist accommodation. The local government, which directly administers 50% of the funds raised, reinvests this amount into many tourism-related projects. A badge has been created so residents and visitors can see which projects are funded by the tourist tax. In addition, €4.5 million raised from the tourist tax was given to the Barcelona Tourism Consortium in 2017 to help set up a joint work plan for Barcelona as a sustainable destination. Meanwhile, in 2018, €9.6 million was spent on projects such as re-modelling pedestrian areas and other infrastructure upgrades, the promotion of culture and the fight against illegal accommodation.

Dubai started levying a tax, named the ‘Tourism Dirham’, on all tourist accommodation in 2014. The fee varies depending on the type of lodging, the maximum is Dh20 (just over US$5) and the revenue raised will support international promotion of the emirate, fund Expo 2020 projects and help to drive growth of tourism and trade.

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PRACTICES BY LARGE TOURISM COMPANIES SUCH AS CRUISE SHIP AND PACKAGE HOLIDAY OPERATORS?

The industry in general still has many challenges ahead. However, some progress has already been made to reduce emissions and waste. Here are some selected examples of measures undertaken by WTTC member companies:

TUI Travel:

-       In 2018, 9.2 million ‘greener and fairer’ holidays (measured by the number of customers using hotels with credible sustainability certification recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council) were delivered (12 per cent increase year-on-year), showing strong progress towards the company’s ambition of 10 million a year by 2020.  A total of 81 per cent of TUI Hotels & Resorts held sustainability certifications in 2018.  Nearly 1.2 million TUI Collection excursions (excursions that promote unique, authentic and responsible holiday experiences) were delivered in 2018 – a growth of 15 per cent year-on-year. Each excursion meets specific sustainability criteria to minimise environmental impacts and demonstrate benefits to local people.

-          By the end of 2018, TUI Group had removed 140 million pieces of single-use plastic and aims to raise this to 250m by the end of 2020.

-          TUI’s airlines earned top ranking in the 2018 Airline Index from the independent climate protection organisation atmosfair, which compares the carbon efficiency of the world’s 200 largest airlines.

-          The company is also improving the environmental performance of its cruise operations by investing in new, more fuel-efficient ships. Between 2015 and 2018, TUI reduced carbon emissions per cruise passenger night by 11.7 per cent.

Carnival Corporation:

-          In 2018, Carnival reduced the intensity of CO2e (equivalent carbon dioxide) emissions from operations by nearly 28% relative to 2005.

-          In 2018, Carnival delivered the first cruise ship in the world (the AIDAnova) powered at sea and in port by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). In August 2019, announcement that AIDA is partnering with Corvus Energy to enable electrical energy from lithium-ion battery storage systems.

-          74% of their fleet is equipped with Advanced Air Quality Systems.

Royal Caribbean Cruises:

-          Committed to a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

-          RCCL’s Quantum of the Seas is one of the first vessels to have all engines use a multi-stream exhaust gas cleaning or Advanced Emissions Purification (AEP) system, designed to treat exhaust gases created by the ship’s generators. The cleaning system removes approximately 98% of sulphur dioxide emissions, and 60-80% of particulate matter. 

-          The Icon-class of ships, set to be delivered in 2022 will be powered by LNG (liquid natural gas) and fuel cells.

-          100% of wastewater and solid waste is treated before going into ocean. Already 75% of the waste landed from ships never sees a landfill.                                                                                    

-          The newest ship, 'Symphony of the Seas’ features no plastic straws, stirrers or picks onboard. The rest of the fleet will follow suit.

MSC Cruises:

-          By the end of 2019, 11 of 17 MSC Cruises ships will be equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems to reduce SOx emissions released from the main engine & 74% of total berths will be covered by exhaust gas cleaning technology.

-          All newly-built ships either have hybrid Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) installed or will be fuelled by LNG and are equipped to receive shore side power. For older ships, there is a retrofitting programme of hybrid EGCS technology. First LNG-powered ship will enter into service in 2022.

Hilton Hotels:

-          Since 2008, it has reduced carbon emissions intensity by 34% across its managed hotels.

-          It has reduced landfilled waste by 41% across managed hotels since 2008.

              Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group:

-              It reduced greenhouse gas intensity reduction by 25% per sq m in 2018 (from a 2007 baseline); 2 years ahead of schedule.

-              In 2018, it diverted 38% of waste from landfills (compared to 17.3% in 2012). It recycled & donated 13,780 kg of used soap and bottled guestroom amenities.

September 2019