How sustainability is changing travel

A majority of respondents to online travel agency Booking.com’s sustainable travel 2022 survey wish to travel ‘more sustainably’ – but what does that mean?

Why it matters

Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have for businesses; it is incumbent on companies to green their operations and to help their customers make green choices (or, better still, provide green default options), this is especially critical for the travel sector.

For WARC’s full collection of sustainability insight, best practice, and reporting, check out the Sustainability Hub.

What’s going on

Booking.com’s insights are based on a survey of 30,000 travellers from across 32 different countries.

• Sustainability grows in importance: 71% of global travellers say that they want to travel more sustainably over the coming 12 months, which is a 10 percentage point increase over 2021’s results.
• Half of all respondents (50%) cited that recent news about climate change has influenced them to make more sustainable travel choices.
• Over a third (35%) of global travellers say that the sustainability efforts of accommodations and transport providers play a strong role in their purchase decisions.
• Travellers want to avoid over-visited destinations with 33% choosing to travel outside of peak season and just over a quarter adapting their choice of destination for somewhere less popular than, say, Venice or Barcelona.
• Just under a third (30%) say they feel ashamed to fly because of its impact on the environment. Potentially a critical insight for aviation marketers to think about. 
• However, 23% say sustainability considerations play absolutely no role in their choice of transport.

What it means

Booking.com’s product has adapted to some of these consumer demands with initiatives like its ‘Travel Sustainable Badge’, which helps people to make better decisions.

This can be effective. In France, where consumer tech firms must display a “Repairability Score” next to their products, a study from Samsung France into its effects on consumer behaviour have been profound.

Eighty percent of respondents to the study would give up their favourite brand for a more repairable product. Furthermore, it appears that for 86% of French consumers, repairability scores will have some bearing on their future purchases.

Sourced from Booking.com, WARC. [Image: Booking.com]