Your Replies: Are We Talking about Sustainability Too Much?

Our recent column, “Are We Talking about Sustainability Too Much?”, got advisors thinking about the role of sustainability in travel, how much of what’s talked about is actually sustainable, and how much discussion is too much.

In general, advisors agreed that suppliers should be sustainable and that some education and discussion is important, but they were less certain about how much discussion is needed. At least one advisor also pointed out that some of what’s being discussed and proposed might actually be greenwashing, though he didn’t use that exact term.

Here are some of the e-mails we received:

Amen. Thank you for speaking up about an issue that seems to engender a lot of emotion and sound bites about responsibility, but in the end doesn’t seem to affect what my clients do or don’t do at all.

I love your statement that the industry should reduce waste and adopt environmentally safe practices just because it’s the right thing to do. Of course, it’s also in their best interest since polluted waters, dead corals, or other depleted resources will also hurt tourism. I do believe there’s some education required on the part of the industry when it comes to helping a client/guest understand why they have certain policies. It’s nice for a hotel to inform guests why they don’t have individual shampoo bottles in the shower and request that towels be used more than once when possible. But this is done at the time of service.

I’ve never had a client ask me about any environmental factors when booking a trip. They generally consider cost, safety, expedience and the type of experience they’re seeking.

Noelle Wachter
Insights In Travel

Your piece on sustainability in the leisure travel industry was spot on and it is even more pronounced with business travel. 

At a recent business travel meeting this topic overwhelmed and dominated the subject matter.  There were breakout sessions, general session speakers, and even a Sustainability Pavilion. It was almost as if the attendees completely lost sight of their original purpose, to learn more about corporate travel management, and signed on to sustainability to the point where it conflicted with their own interests. 

One of the keynote speakers addressed a general session and said it should be the objective of the organization to REDUCE the amount of business travel overall.  Can you imagine the Cattlemen’s Association suggesting we eat less beef? 

It gets better.  There were a number of sessions on SAF – Sustainable Airline Fuel – whereby jets are fueled with biofuels instead of petroleum-based fuels. It costs substantially more to produce, much of the biomass used in production will result in cutting down rain forests and cultivating grasslands to grow it, and the dirty little secret is that a jet using SAF emits almost as much carbon as one using regular jet fuel but the win is supposed to be that the biomass absorbs CO2 and emits oxygen. Oh, and the energy used to grow, cultivate, fertilize, and distill the SAF exceeds that which is used to presently produce jet fuel.

I agree with you that we should be actively helping to reduce our carbon footprint wherever practical, but some of the solutions that the travel industry has been pursuing need to be re-examined.

Mark Altman
Travelsavers Forte Business Travel Division

“What is important to them when making travel decisions? Money.  Quelle surprise.”

Absolument. I very much appreciated your article. I agree to a major extent. Yet, the only way to make progress on sustainability is to keep talking about it. If you keep talking about it then it MUST be important.  Nevertheless, at some point it’s more important to know where the ship actually goes or who the appropriate clients for a tour or destination are.

A U.S. Travel Advisor