Is tourism a victim of success? Report of the panel discussions at the Industry Day CBTS/ATLAS

The perspective of the destination

In the first panel, Jos Vranken - NBTC, Jeroen Klijs - CELTH/Breda University of Applied Sciences and Ionna Farsari Dalarna University spoke about the destination perspective regarding sustainability transformations in tourism & leisure.

Government intervention necessary

The discussion started with the question of whether the development of more sustainable tourism should come from demand or supply. And that led to a heated conversartion with an 'inconvenient truth'. Vranken does not believe that the key lies with consumers or the travel industry: “I think that both consumers and companies are in such a growth mode that government intervention is needed. But then consumers and companies also must adapt.” Farsari agrees: “Governments must start regulating. But I am enthusiastic about the new generations.”

Klijs takes those present a step back to the pandemic: “After coronavirus, we thought we would build back tourism better under the motto: 'build back better'. That did not happen and so the conclusion is that more is needed. Governments must set things in motion, but then the market has to pick it up.”

NBTC from long haul

And NBTC has already acted. Vranken: “After Perspective 2030, where we focused more on the residents, we came up with NBTC Next. This resulted in us withdrawing from six long-haul markets. Just not from the US because that was also important to the conference market there. And we still have one man in China. He does not promote the Netherlands there, but is our eyes to understand what is happening there.” These were painful choices for Vranken, who is looking for balance. When asked a critical question about the presence of NBTC in the US, he responds irritably: “How do you assess a pulmonologist who flies intercontinental to the Netherlands for a conference compared to German young people who cause a nuisance in Amsterdam but travel to the Netherlands with an electric car?”

Looking for the right balance and control instruments

Vranken, together with the Dutch tourism sector, is looking for new management information and instruments. All this is to balance tourism at the destination. “We are still a long way from achieving a good balance at destination level, national or European level. I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. But we are taking steps every day.” The word balance triggers Farsari: “It is not about balance but about making hard choices that do not make everyone happy.” Various destinations have already made these hard choices when it comes to private rentals and crowds. Klijs: “In the Netherlands, municipalities can already regulate locations where private rental disrupts the living environment. Barcelona has banned it completely and in Venice day visitors must buy a ticket.” These are measures that were unthinkable twenty years ago. “Overtourism is tourism that has crossed the boundaries of residents,” says Klijs, who believes that overtourism should certainly not be called mismanagement. “Of course, you can do anything, but there are also market forces that cause tourism to grow organically.”

Lack of knowledge

Farsari would like to nuance crowds due to tourism: “When we look at crowds at destinations, we must also realise that there are many residents on the streets.” That statement strikes a chord with Vranken, who completely agrees with Farsari: “There is a complete lack of understanding of knowledge about overtourism. People talk about nuisance, crowds, carrying capacity, you name it. But these are all different concepts that each require their approach.” To illustrate, Vranken cites the measures taken by the municipality of Amsterdam: “If you know that two-thirds of the visitors on the street are day visitors, it is not effective to only impose an additional burden on overnight tourists. I don't blame the city council for that. They take measures that are easy to implement and respond to sentiments in the city.” Vranken does cry from the heart: “We must get the story right and talk about the right things. Otherwise, we are 'all over the place' and therefore nowhere. That is why knowledge institutions are so important.” This is something that comes from the heart of researcher Klijs: “That is why you need to have the data in order so that you can take the right measures and evaluate them. Then you make it concrete and measurable.”

The elephant in the room

Farsari zooms out from the destination and does not make it easier, but it does make it more realistic: “Is it only the destination that we need to focus on or is it a larger system that we need to understand better.” The painful elephant in the room is identified by the audience. This concerns the fact that tourism workers are generally poorly paid, and tourism no longer allows them to live in the destination. Vranken is clear about this: “The private rental market is rightly an increasing source of concern in many destinations. They put pressure on the housing market and the social cohesion of a neighbourhood.” According to him, that is the death knell for tourism. “The tourism ecosystem as we have had it for years with a lot of growth cannot continue like this. The system will eventually kill itself.”

The consensus of this first panel was that we are still far from a good balance, whether in the destination, in the country or in Europe. Both consumers and businesses are in such a growth mode that government intervention is needed to initiate a more sustainable development of tourism. It is up to knowledge institutions to feed the discussion with the right facts.

The travel industry perspective

In the second panel, Floor Bregman - Corendon, Frank Radstake - ANVR, Ko Koens - CELTH/InHolland and Jim Butcher - Christ Church University discussed the perspective of the travel industry.

Growth can be done differently

The kicker was kicked off by Corendon's sustainability manager, Floor Bregman. She is very ambitious: “Corendon wants to become the most sustainable tour operator in the Netherlands.” With one million travellers per year, almost every one of whom flies to their destination is certainly not easy: “It is a very difficult goal to achieve, but it puts everyone in the organisation on edge.” Researcher Jim Butcher has some compassion for travel companies: “We are in a global transition from the carbon-based system that we have relied on for 200 years.” He sees it as an infrastructural problem that affects many sectors. “I am not against growth because there will be no money to realise the transition.” And following the publication of the Envisioning Tourism 2030 report from CELTH and the Travel Foundation, we can confidently look at growth differently. Researcher Ko Koens: “There is certainly room for growth in local travel. The problem is with a small group that travels frequently and often far.” For Butcher, part of the solution lies in producing much more SAF worldwide. “When I read that India has ordered 500 new aircraft, then we must produce much more SAF. There are many consumers there who would like to fly internationally.”

Radstake also expects tourism to continue to grow in the future. “Worldwide, 5% annual growth is expected and 3% in a mature travel market in Europe. Solid research has shown that there is room for tourism growth, but we must do things differently. We cannot achieve our goal without producing more SAF.” He also sees an important role for education: “If we really want to change, it is about behavioral change and then education is necessary.”

Customers do not ask for sustainability

For Bregman, the biggest challenge is changing tourist mobility. And that is very difficult: “Our customers do not ask for sustainability. It is very difficult to sell a product that your customers are not interested in.” On the other hand, she sees that every step is one that can contribute to the greater goal.” In her view, travel companies really need a long-term vision. This has to do with the large investments in aircraft and resorts, for example. These will be depreciated over decades and investments made now will still have an impact on emissions well after 2030. Butcher sees the solution in nice places where tourists are welcome. “This must be done by gaining more control over tourist real estate. I'm talking about real democracy where communities have real influence. We should also not underestimate undertourism.”

Koens really wants to focus on the forerunners: “We only have a limited influence on consumer behavior. We need to reach groups of consumers who are willing to make different choices. We need to look at the whole system and learn from best practices.” For Koens, the answer also lies with politics. “The airline lobby is ridiculously strong, and their interests are not always the same as those of the travel industry. You can set up a counter-lobby yourself. That is probably more efficient than trying to change consumer behavior.”

Difficult choices cannot be avoided

Radstake expects to make difficult choices in the future: If you want to become a sustainable tour operator, you will have to make painful choices and radically change your business model.” ANVR also faces difficult choices: “I can be the most sustainable travel industry organisation in the world tomorrow by throwing out all air tour operators, but then I will not bring about any change.” However, ANVR is moving forward, and sustainable requirements are also being included in the membership conditions.

Bregman summarised the dilemmas nicely: “The big challenge for travel companies is to become more sustainable but still be competitive. We see that flying will become more expensive in the future. For us it is crucial that the EU ensures a level playing field.”

Conclusion

Overall, the panelists concluded that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for a net zero travel industry. We must take small steps every day. If we take the right steps, mostly toward less long-distance travel, tourism can even grow. The big challenge for travel companies is to become more sustainable while remaining competitive in the current market so that they can finance the transition.