Tourism has come of age, and it’s going to change how we holiday
This article has been adapted from a keynote speech given by Responsible Travel Founder and Executive Chair, Justin Francis OBE, at the Association of National Tourist Offices and Representatives (ANTOR) Conference on 11th December 2024.
As we reflect on Responsible Travel’s 25th birthday, and look towards the next 25, we believe a new Age of Responsibility will fundamentally change how the tourism industry designs and manages holidays. And it will make them better.
Tourism’s Age of Innocence - its carefree and careless era - is maturing into something more truthful. The new Age of Responsibility will be defined by community consent, a sharpened realisation of tourism’s impacts and an emphasis on maximising its benefits, for people and places.
The end of The Age of Innocence
In 2017 we witnessed the end of tourism’s Age of Innocence, and the start of a period of profound change.
There aren’t many industries that can survive a century without facing environmental or social challenges. Yet for over 150 years - until 2017 - tourism was perceived by many as benign. Three carefully nurtured attributes led to its sustained growth:
But by 2017, severe environmental, social, and technological concerns were coming to a head.
Paradise lost?
In 2017, I made a documentary called Crowded Out about overtourism. It showed how, in some places, we’d broken the trust that we’d built with local residents – who took to the streets in angry anti tourism protests that have spread far and wide.
Essentially, residents reminded us that we take holidays in places that they call home, and that our welcome is not unconditional.
Customer trust and confidence in travel has been damaged in other ways too. Climate change has made some travel experiences unpredictable, increasingly uncomfortable or impossible. It will of course get much worse.
And with tourist numbers forecast to double by 2050 it isn't only residents who are asking hard questions of us.
Eyes are turning ever more sharply to the lack of accountability around aviation. According to a recent paper in Nature, the sector could account for 22% of all carbon emissions by 2050. But, these emissions are not included in country NDC‘s – or carbon budgets – under the Paris agreement. This means there are limited regulations in place to force the aviation industry to cut its emissions.
The new Age of Responsibility
As our industry enters a new phase, it’s important to decide what to keep from the past, the things we need to leave behind, and new ideas we should embrace.
I’m calling this new era the Age of Responsibility. It will be built on community consent for tourism development, and transparent evidence of low carbon, nature positive, fair and just actions. Without these things, tourism marketing is essentially smoke-and-mirrors - hollow, illegitimate and inauthentic.
Responsible tourism has come a long way over the last 25 years. When we look back in 25 more, we will see an industry that is actively supporting nature recovery and reducing – not offsetting – its carbon emissions. Some of the best parts of tourism today will stay, but much will need to change.
We will keep tourism’s superpowers
So how do we build this improved industry?
Community consent is key:
We need to stop tourism development - including cruise ship tourism - without free, prior and informed consultation – even consent – from local residents, and working with them to set limits of acceptable change. We need to also stop tourism development where we don’t understand its costs as well as its benefits.
Biodiversity must benefit:
We need to stop taking land from nature for tourism development without delivering a net gain in biodiversity and working to eliminate deforestation through our supply chains.
Fuel alternatives:
We need to change the toxic fuel used by cruise ships that damages human health as well as contributing to climate change.
Aviation reform: More expensive, fewer flights.
International aviation is forecast to double by 2050, dwarfing carbon reductions achieved from sustainable aviation fuels and new technology for short haul flights that is taking a long time to develop. Today’s highly polluting planes will also remain in operation for decades.
That’s why I agree with the Government’s climate change advisors that for the next 10-20 years, we need to fly less – until we have short haul hydrogen and electric planes – and swap out short haul flights for alternative rail routes.
Very cheap flights will cease. Flying will inevitably get more expensive to meet sustainable aviation fuel targets, carbon targets and pricing. I believe a tax on kerosene is also inevitable – it’s one of the only untaxed fossil fuels in the world and smaller charges like Air Passenger Duty (APD) cannot be a reason it is not taxed fairly.
As we price aviation to reduce demand, exceptions will need to be made for destinations that are otherwise hard to reach and despite efforts to make this as fair as possible some people – including those who have never had the opportunity to fly – will be priced out. This is personally and professionally deeply uncomfortable, but so are the impacts of climate change – especially on the least advantaged communities who are most vulnerable.
Improvements in rail infrastructure:
We need to see governments and transport planners creating rail networks that seamlessly link countries with tickets that can be booked 18 months in advance. Banning short haul flights – like France has done – will encourage rail use, but the infrastructure and booking facilities need to be available as an alternative.
We also need to see governments introduce a Green Flying Duty – an extended form of APD – which can be ringfenced for investment in improved rail networks as well as sustainable aviation research and development. Current net zero plans for the tourism sector are unfunded, and this needs to change..
New ways to manage overtourism:
While working with residents to manage tourism development, we also need to look at new ways to manage overtourism. Extending to shoulder seasons or marketing ‘lookalike destinations’ aren’t always solutions – they just spread the problem. Instead, we’ll need:
Encouraging customers to make lower-carbon choices:
Holiday companies will offer customers better choices on how their holidays can reduce the second and third largest contributors of carbon emissions – the energy used in accommodations and types of food that we eat. At Responsible Travel we already have holidays categorized in this way - as well as those offering flight-free transport from the UK and rail travel options. Tourism businesses will set voluntary carbon reduction targets, and be more transparent in disclosing their emissions.
Tourism will work for the least advantaged:
In the early 2000s there was a movement for tourism explicitly designed to benefit the world’s poorest communities. It got left behind as we focussed on climate, but if we want to successfully tackle the climate crisis we need to partner with the least advantaged so they can join us on that journey fairly.
Greater diversity:
We will encourage more diverse ownership and management of tourism businesses as well as reflecting customer diversity in our marketing
Accessibility must improve:
We will get morally and commercially serious about accessibility for those with mental and physical health issues – it’s over 20% of the market.
We need to focus on system change:
Whilst encouraging personal responsibility we’ll collectively realize that guilting tourists and businesses about their impacts isn’t effective. It obscures the underlying issues and protects the vested interests of those who seek to protect the status quo.
The result? An industry built for the next 25 years.
None of this will be easy. At some point, we’ll wish back the freedoms of travel in the past. But, unlike 25 years ago when I first started writing about this, we don’t have a choice. Either we make these changes or regulators, destination managers and climate change will make them for us.
But there is hope. In the Age of Responsibility we will have gained much stronger relationships with local residents in the destinations we visit. Our industry will be lower carbon, more positive for nature and it will champion the health of our planet, the places we love and the people who live there. This in turn will lead to more enriching and enjoyable experiences for visitors as well as better lives for local communities.
At Responsible Travel we are building our business around these principles and you can read more about it in our 2023 and 2024 Impact Reports.
