International Tourists and Sustainability
Sustainability is an increasingly recurring topic, with an extremely broad bibliography, but also quite thorny. It mixes environmental issues with economic development and social justice, and, due to its malleability, allows multiple interpretations and adaptation to various contexts.
The terms " sustainable " and " sustainability ", originally related to the capacity to sustain over time, were modified with the introduction of the idea of sustainable development, being incorporated into it. This idea emerged in the midst of the environmental discussions of the last century, being widely disseminated from 1987 onwards, when the so-called "Annual Statistical Reporting Report" was launched. Brundtland ", the result of the work of the UN's "World Commission on Environment and Development". In it, economic development, social equity and environmental protection are exposed as pillars of sustainable development, and controlling the use of natural resources and population growth appear as global needs.
With Eco-92, a United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the environment and development, the corporate world was opened up to the possibility of assimilating sustainability and enjoying it. Two years later, the so-called " Tripod of sustainability ", a concept that proposed that the success of companies should be evaluated not only by the economic factor (profit), but also by social (people) and environmental (planet) factors.
As a human activity, which therefore generates impacts on the environment, tourism did not pass unscathed from the debates of the last century on environmental degradation. Such debates led to the emergence of the idea of sustainable development of tourism and, consequently, the expression " Sustainable tourism ", first conceptualized by the World Tourism Organization in 1995.
Sustainability is a common theme in tourism literature, as well as in plans, projects, documents, speeches by authors, technicians, teachers, institutions, and advertising.
In the current administration of the Federal Government, which began in January 2023 - even due to the advancement of the so-called " Environmental agenda " - the theme gained even more relevance, bringing with it the fight against climate change. It is a commitment, present in the government proposal, in the speeches of the most varied ministers and in the government structure.
The Ministry of Tourism added sustainability to the name of the " National Secretariat for Planning, Sustainability and Competitiveness in Tourism " and " General Coordination of Sustainability and Climate Actions in Tourism ", which replaced, respectively, the " National Secretariat for Tourism Development and Competitiveness " and " General Coordination of Responsible Tourism ", existing until 2022.
The Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion - Embratur created its Sustainability and Climate Action Management, with the mission of
conduct a sustainability and climate action agenda to support Brazil's positioning as a destination that respects nature, preserves and values its natural and cultural resources, and promotes social inclusion as a competitive advantage in the global tourism market.
(sustentabilidade.embratur.com.br, accessed November 15, 2023)
Recently, Embratur published its Sustainability Plan and Climate Actions in Tourism , for the period 2023-2026, structured in four axes of action: decarbonization, climate resilience, socio-bioeconomy and circular economy.
The bet of Embratur's new management is that sustainability can be a differential to promote Brazilian tourism abroad. But, after all, is this topic really important for consumers? What aspects are they most concerned about? What should companies do to be more sustainable, according to consumers? What do international travelers mean by sustainability on a trip? Are they willing to pay more for sustainability?
The perspective of consumers - of international products or travel - was the starting point of the document Sustainability and International Tourism: indicators , recently launched by the agency. In addition to bringing " Consumer and traveler perceptions of sustainability and their influences on the travel buying process ", the compilation uses data and facts to address the climate issue and the comparative and competitive advantages of our country over others.
Data from various sources, especially from international consultancies and large tourism companies, were used in the document, and Embratur is responsible for selecting, organizing and diagramming the information to present it to public and private tourism managers, as well as members of academia and the third sector. Using these sources, the document is divided into consumer perceptions and traveler perceptions.
In the first part, data from 2022 by the market research consulting firm NilsenIQ deserves to be highlighted, which reveals the biggest concerns of global consumers regarding sustainability: climate change (45%), water pollution (43%), air pollution (41%), plastic waste (38%) and deforestation (31%).
It also reveals what, in the opinion of respondents, companies should do to be more sustainable: reduce the use of plastic (53%), eliminate waste (51%), use more sustainable packaging (46%) and reduce carbon dioxide emissions 2 (37%).
These two questions, from the same survey, already demonstrate how sustainability is still a diffuse topic in the minds of consumers. They differ from each other, since those surveyed reveal, on the one hand, that they have climate change as their greatest concern (45%) and air pollution as their third largest (41%), but the reduction of CO 2 , one of the gases responsible for air pollution and climate change, is not pointed out as the main challenge of these companies to become more sustainable. It is also worth noting that only the environmental aspect of the sustainability tripod appears in the consumers' responses.
Moving on to the second part, which addresses traveler perceptions, a Booking.com survey carried out in 35 countries demonstrates a willingness of respondents to " travel more sustainably" (76%), despite not knowing how to do it: 47% look for tips for this and 44% do not know where to find it" Sustainable options ”. 49% think the " Sustainable travel "Very expensive.
By demonstrating the relevance of the theme for international tourists, these data reinforce the bet made by Embratur. At the same time, they reveal the unpreparedness of companies in the tourism sector to offer options that meet the desires of consumers and even a fear on their part about the so-called greenwashing , the misappropriation of environmental virtues by companies, after all, most respondents (43%) revealed that they would pay a little more for trips certified in sustainability.
Another survey, carried out by Trip.com in 11 countries, questioned what were the biggest concerns of travelers when looking for a "sustainable trip": only 30% remembered the cultural aspects and 25% the economic aspects, demonstrating that the number of people who associate sustainability with aspects other than environmental aspects is still low. Another concern revealed by this survey is that the number of people who accept to pay more to include "sustainable options" in their trips is also low and what most of these people accept to pay more does not reach 10% of the total amount.
A third survey, this time carried out by Agoda in 14 countries in 2021, revealed that respondents still believe that the main responsible for promoting changes towards sustainability in travel is the public sector (48%), followed by travelers themselves (20%), leaving only 32% for the other actors, including the tourism productive sector, which, effectively, it is the one that causes the greatest impacts, positive or negative.
Once again, the association of sustainability made by travelers is restricted to environmental aspects, since the main practices recognized as " Sustainable " by those surveyed by Agoda were the use of renewable energy; the replacement of single-use plastics; animal conservation; and the reduction of the carbon footprint. It is worth mentioning that those interviewed by the Trip.com also related sustainable travel to the protection of the natural environment (65%); the preservation of wildlife (55%); and boosting the local economy (43%).
As it was possible to see in this brief text, research indicates that sustainability has been highlighted as important by travelers around the world. However, the share of those who are willing to make great efforts and spend significant amounts for sustainability is still small. Also, it is clear that there is a lot of dispersion around what sustainability means in a trip.
There are certainly differences between the behavior of consumers and their perceptions of sustainability, depending on the issuing market. The agency promised to soon release statements on some strategic markets demonstrating these differences, as well as interactive panels with new data, so that interested parties can focus on the topic.
More than bringing ready-made answers, the compilation made by Embratur, from various sources, encourages us to ask new questions about the relationship between tourism, sustainability and the desire of consumers, whether they are travelers or not. In any case, only time will show if the bet on sustainability as a competitive advantage for the promotion of Brazilian tourism abroad was successful.