The road ahead: trends and challenges in sustainable travel

Gone are the days when sustainability was a niche sector of travel – far from it. For the travel industry as a whole, sustainability is now front and center; and should be the guiding star for every traveler, government body and tourist-driven business today. In this article we explain what we mean by ‘sustainable travel’, what the current sustainable tourism trends are, and the challenges everyone faces in making sustainability ‘the new normal’ for the entire travel industry.

What is sustainable travel?

The movement towards ‘sustainable tourism’ or ‘sustainable travel’ generally comes from the awareness that while travel can have endless economic and societal benefits, it can also be extremely detrimental. The negative environmental and cultural impacts of travel are well documented, and will only become more severe as the popularity of travel soars, alongside a ballooning population and the intensifying effects of climate change.

At its core, sustainable travel champions the need for all of us to make greener, more thoughtful choices that put preservation of people, wildlife and the planet above all else when we travel. This is neatly captured by the Three Pillars of Sustainability: economic balance, environmental health, and sociocultural respect; as each of these umbrella terms encapsulates why sustainable tourism matters.

The growing importance of sustainability in modern tourism

Today’s tourism businesses and travel operators have a responsibility: to make it easy for customers to make better, more sustainable travel choices. It’s no longer seen as an ‘alternative’ option, and these days, making false claims around sustainability with no demonstrable action (known as ‘greenwashing’) is an easy way to sink a business reputation. According to Booking.com’s 2023 Sustainable Travel Report, more than three quarters of people want to make their vacations more sustainable. These travelers want to make authentic, ethical choices when it comes to where and how they travel, and who they invest in – and at TravelLocal we’re on board to support that mission.

Our vision for reshaping travel: making business a force for good

We know it can be tricky to find a truly sustainable business, and we are committed to reimagining travel so that it’s a force for good. Not only are we a certified B Corp company, we donate 1% of our revenue to four charities under our Fund for Good initiative. You can rest assured that every day, our local experts build custom trips to honor the preservation of local communities, ecosystems and environments, making it easier for you to make ethical choices when going on that much anticipated trip of a lifetime.

Current sustainable tourism trends

As sustainability takes center stage in the tourism sector, several emerging sustainable tourism trends are shaping the industry and shifting how people travel.

Slower, more mindful travel

Slower travel is greener travel; there’s no better way to immerse yourself in a destination and reduce your carbon footprint. Overall, slow travel means staying longer in one place, getting curious about where you are and seeking out lesser-known experiences, rather than rushing to tick off well-trodden hotspots. Adopting a more meandering, explorative attitude encourages visitors to invest in local businesses and spend longer integrating with the culture. The ideal outcome is to foster a deeper respect for the place being visited, which in turn, improves the local-tourist relationship. It’s little wonder, then, that slow travel has become one of the more popular sustainable tourism trends of the 21st century.

The rise of eco-friendly accommodation options

As travelers look to make greener choices, eco-friendly hotels, hostels and lodges represent another of the more popular sustainable tourism trends in 2024 and beyond. At these accommodations, sustainable and ethical practices are the focus – running on renewable energy sources, using water-saving measures, and offering locally-sourced, organic food from zero-waste kitchens. In rural or coastal areas, eco-lodges often work in harmony with the environment – helping protect biodiversity by seamlessly integrating with local habitats. Some good examples of emerging ‘eco-destinations’ include the Seychelles, where guests to the many eco-lodges can even join marine conservation efforts; and Costa Rica, which generates nearly all of its energy from renewable sources.

Curbing the effects of overtourism

Overtourism has strained many popular areas over the decades, leading to environmental degradation and reduced quality of life for locals, who are speaking up more and more about its corrosive effects. There are ways to balance the effects of overtourism: traveling to lesser-known areas, visiting out of season, and opting for community-centered activities. This approach improves tourist-local relationships and helps preserve these sites for future generations, while still providing a memorable vacation.

Smarter flying habits

Flying and international travel go hand in hand, but as aviation is one of the biggest contributors to air pollution, being considerate about flight frequency is key to traveling sustainably. Taking fewer flights for longer stays and choosing direct routes can reduce aviation emissions, and if done on a large scale, can have huge impacts on the environment. Many airlines are adopting smarter, fuel-efficient practices and exploring biofuels to make flights less environmentally damaging – though there’s still a long way to go.

Effective carbon offsetting programs

Once the quickest named example of ‘greenwashing’, carbon offsetting programs are now an engrained business practice, and cover all manner of initiatives from reforestation to renewable energy and carbon capture. Widespread discrepancies still exist, however. For an offset program to be effective, it must be verified by reputable standards (such as Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard) to ensure accountability and measurable evidence of its impact.

Businesses must be ambitious in sustainability – and transparent

To stay ahead of the curve, tourist-driven businesses must keep up with what the leading players in travel are doing with sustainability – and goals must be ambitious, with consistent striving for more and better. Today’s conscious travelers aren’t afraid to ask questions, and any sustainable business worth their salt should expect this interrogation and provide answers in full. They should adopt transparency around the challenges they’re facing in achieving certain sustainability goals, and be open about how they’re working to overcome those blockers.

The challenges for sustainable travel

True sustainability in travel requires a delicate balancing act: that of the diverse and nuanced needs of tourists, local communities and the planet at large. Making sustainable changes produces complex challenges that much of the industry is only beginning to address. Here are some of the core issues:

Environmental: tourism’s overall carbon footprint

Tourism produces a lot of carbon. Transportation alone accounts for a large portion of tourism-related emissions, with air travel proving one of the trickiest sectors to decarbonize. Airlines are adopting biofuels and trying out eco-aviation technologies, but these are still far from mainstream. Hotels and resorts are also huge carbon producers. For tourism to become sustainable it will require widespread adoption of greener technologies across the board, with businesses and travelers committing to responsible choices, and making strong commitments to carbon offsetting. Of course, local and international governments must put focus on this shared goal.

Economic: the affordability of sustainable travel

There’s always the issue of cost when it comes to ‘the green option’, not just in travel but all industries. Sustainability requires a larger investment, and right now, an overwhelming sector of the tourism market places affordability first. The challenge for the travel industry is in blurring the lines between ‘sustainable’ and ‘affordable’ trips so that customers value sustainability, no matter the cost of their trip. The current cultural shift towards sustainable business practices as a ‘must-have’ rather than a ‘nice to have, if you can afford it’, will continue – especially considering the newer legal implications.

Social: balancing community well-being with tourist satisfaction

As we’ve mentioned, the benefits and negative impacts are two sides of the same coin. While tourism boosts economic growth, can improve societal relationships and encourage environmental conservation, it can also erode cultures, communities and natural habitats, and in doing so, widen tourist-local divides. Second home ownership, for instance, and the trend of buying homes purely to turn into vacation lets has eroded the local life in tourist towns, with locals forced to move elsewhere. Balancing the well-being of a community with tourist satisfaction is a difficult one; it requires hearing the voices of local people and local businesses, in a wider cultural conversation around tourist behavior and ethical accommodation choices.

Making sustainability a core element of global tourism

While sustainable tourism is gaining traction, there is still much ground to cover. The future demands a shift not only in how destinations operate, but in the culture of traveling; i.e. how tourists choose to experience a new place and what they value. Everyone plays a vital role in keeping tourism a force for positive change: governments, tourism boards, tourist-driven businesses, and the travelers themselves.

As more and more people desire greener, more ethical options for travel, and sustainability is now at the center of the tourism industry outlook, the continued focus should be on widespread education, innovation, and consistent open conversations about a shared vision for the future.

To read more about the outlook for sustainability in tourism, and get tips on making sustainable choices when you travel, explore the resources below:

• UN Tourism: Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism
• ABTA: Sustainability Trends for Travel Companies in 2024
• TravelLocal: What is sustainable tourism and why does it matter?
• TravelLocal: The environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable travel

Make it happen

If you’re making changes to travel more sustainably, learn more about how we’re reimagining travel. Our locally-based travel experts use their on-the-ground knowledge to create an itinerary that serves local communities and environments, while offering you the trip of a lifetime in your chosen destination.