The growth of Travel & Tourism continues to outpace that of the global economy for the ninth consecutive year. Moreover, international arrivals reached 1.5 billion in 2019 and are forecast to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. Therefore, we must ensure this growth is sustainable and inclusive and contributes positively to the communities, natural ecosystems, and cultural heritage upon which our sector depends.
WTTC works on several sustainable initiatives with leading associations and organizations to ensure that Travel & Tourism benefits people, businesses, nature, and the environment. These include:
Climate & Environment Action
Affordable air travel, growing middle-class urbanization, increased connectivity, new technological advances, disruptive business models, and more excellent visa facilitation worldwide have driven continuous international and domestic tourism growth over the past decades. Yet, at the same time, the increasingly harmful effects of global warming have impacted people, nature, and businesses worldwide.
Today, climate change represents one of our most significant global challenges. Its impacts are extensive and are already felt at all levels: countries, businesses, and individual lives. They include extreme weather events, coastal erosion, loss of biodiversity, destruction of infrastructure and property, cultural and natural heritage disruption, and increasing stress on essential natural resources.
Travel & Tourism contributes to and is impacted by climate change; therefore, the sector is responsible for being part of the change needed to mitigate impacts and adapt to the threats posed by climate change.
Rethinking Single Use Plastic Products SUPPs in Travel & Tourism
COVID-19 has led to a proliferation of single-use plastic products (SUPPs), adding urgency to the global challenge of single-use plastic pollution, which has significant environmental impacts and negatively affects the attractiveness of destinations. Yet, the pandemic has also provided a unique opportunity to reflect on the changes required to build a greener, more sustainable future. While the Travel & Tourism sector is increasingly implementing SUPP elimination strategies to move towards more circular approaches, more than individual efforts are needed. To ensure a transition towards reducing and reuse models, in line with circularity principles, the public and private sectors must collaborate across the value chain while implementing the proper waste infrastructure at the destination level.
As part of WTTC’s partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and to tackle this issue, we have put together a joint report to support the sector to reduce or eliminate SUPPs where possible and move towards a more sustainable future.
Human Trafficking
Every day, the Travel & Tourism sector is unwittingly used for human trafficking as traffickers transport their victims on planes, trains, and buses and book hotel rooms to exploit vulnerable individuals. Given the sector’s inadvertent position in the path of human traffickers, it has a role and responsibility to protect the individuals it serves, transports, accommodates, and employs and is uniquely positioned to make a difference.
During 2020, COVID-19 dramatically exacerbated this global challenge with a rise in extreme poverty and unemployment, with many men and women out of work, and many children out of school, making families and children more vulnerable than ever. In this context, the sector must unite to share and implement tangible solutions to end this global crime. As a sector, Travel & Tourism has the power and ability to counteract and help prevent human trafficking.
Given the importance of this issue and the dedication of many World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Member organizations to end human trafficking, WTTC formed a Human Trafficking Taskforce launched at the 2019 Global Summit in Seville, Spain. To help eradicate human trafficking, the Taskforce developed an action framework focusing on awareness-raising, education and training, advocacy, and support.
Destination Stewardship
Destination stewardship is an approach that balances and meets the needs of a destination and its community. It requires active engagement from both the public and private sectors with the local community.
The growth in Travel & Tourism over the past few years has seen many destinations around the globe become victims of their success, with terms like over-crowding, over-tourism, and tourism-phobia dominating media headlines worldwide.
WTTC believes that Travel & Tourism should and can contribute positively to the communities it depends on while protecting cultural and natural heritage. In this context, WTTC convenes stakeholders from the public and private sectors and local communities to devise strategies for tourism management based on long-term planning.
Destination Stewardship is essential for futureproofing Travel & Tourism and making destinations better places to live and visit.
In 2021, WTTC, European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI) at NHL Stenden University, and The Travel Foundation produced the latest report on Destination Stewardship focusing on “Achieving Destination Stewardship through Scenarios and a Governance Diagnostics Framework.” The report presents four Destination Stewardship scenarios based on different levels of engagement from the public and private sectors. In addition, it provides a framework for assessing the governance model in place to support destination stakeholders in determining their current context and the pathway toward more excellent stewardship.
Biodiversity & Illegal Wildlife Trade
In recent years there has been a surge in the illegal wildlife trade amounting to US$20 billion annually, with over 7,000 species of animals and plants from all regions impacted. With wildlife being a key driver of Travel & Tourism activity, it is in the sector’s interest to support initiatives that protect them.
In April 2018, WTTC launched the Travel & Tourism Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), a commitment made by over 100 Members to participate actively in the global fight against illegal wildlife trade. Following the declaration, in October 2018, WTTC partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to drive industry action.
In 2021, WTTC created industry guidelines for Members and the wider industry to encourage the adoption of a Zero Tolerance Policy for IWT.
What’s more, WTTC, with partners including Google and Trip.com, are working on an ambitious plan to use digital technology and the power of the Travel & Tourism signatories’ distribution networks to change the behavior of 1 billion travelers.
Sustainability Leadership
Since 2019, WTTC has been collaborating with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to support decision-makers in Travel & Tourism to broaden their understanding of sustainability, ensure the viability of the sector, and the co-creation of thriving sustainable societies. In November 2019, WTTC and Harvard organized a 2-day transformational leadership and personal development program focusing on sustainability, bringing together 20 industry leaders and leading Harvard professors.
To drive sustainability leadership and help build a business case for sustainability in the sector, WTTC and faculty and scientists of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released two vital case studies in May 2021 showcasing The Travel Corporation and Intrepid Travel. This collaboration encouraged sharing best practices and supported sustainability as a core strategic priority. In addition, four learning insights have been released to address sustainability from a thematic perspective to delve into the culture of health, science-based targets, behavioral economics, and leadership in sustainability.
Inclusion, Diversity & Social Impact
Travel & Tourism has always been a sector for the people, by the people, relying on the wonders of this world to thrive. It is a sector that meaningfully changes the lives of the people and communities it touches. It creates jobs, reduces poverty and inequality, and enriches communities economically and socially.
In 2019, 330 million people were employed by the sector, with Travel & Tourism accounting for 1 in 4 new jobs created in the last five years. Unlike many other industries, Travel & Tourism is highly inclusive, employing and offering opportunities to people from all walks of life, including minorities, youth, and women, who account for 54% of the sector’s employment. The industry also fuels entrepreneurship, with 80% of our sector being SMEs. As a result, the Travel & Tourism sector has a unique ability to protect further and engage vulnerable groups and communities while fostering innovation and preserving ecosystems, ultimately having a tremendous social impact.
In light of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the sector, there is an additional need to band together to recover hundreds of millions of jobs lost, and livelihoods impacted and continue supporting the millions benefiting from the sector by rebuilding together in an even more sustainable and responsible way.
While the sector was on hold, world citizens have been re-invigorated to tackle social and environmental sustainability, providing a unique opportunity to build on this newfound momentum to accelerate meaningful changes in Travel & Tourism that will make a lasting difference for future generations and the planet.
Sustainability Reporting
The UN Sustainable Development Goals set a path toward sustained global, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. Goal 12 focuses on sustainable consumption and production, while goal 12.6 aims to “encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.”
Future of Work
The Travel & Tourism Sector accounts for 330 million jobs, or one in ten jobs on the planet, which is only forecasted to continue increasing, creating one in four new jobs globally in the last five years.
For the Travel & Tourism sector to support 421 million jobs by 2029, the industry must be able to attract, upskill and retain qualified talent successfully. In addition, the evolution in the Travel & Tourism space and shifts across the global workforce will require businesses and governments to pay special attention to talent models.
