Sustainability plans, eco-tourism, and regenerative travel; in the travel and tourism industry you cannot go a day without hearing a buzzword surrounding the sustainable travel movement. With 3 in 5 consumers opting for more environmentally friendly travel or lodging options, destinations can no longer afford to avoid investing in more environmentally-conscious practices. How can the travel and tourism industry ease into small changes that make a big impact?
- Incorporate technology that can be easily updated and scaled;
- Use digital signage to drive awareness throughout your destination;
- Reduce the use of hard resources through electronic information sharing.
Destinations must strike a balance between unlimited growth and economic needs.
When tourism growth goes unchecked, community pressure grows triggering political action in the form of policy, regulatory control and extreme code enforcement. While no destination wants to make tourism illegal, there can be detrimental impacts as a result of overcrowding in some of the most popular destinations. Some of the best ways to curb this are to:
- Broaden demographics through customized itineraries and experiences which will naturally disperse crowds allowing relief to hot spots;
- Provide off-the-beaten-path adventure information to visitors;
- Focusing on softer visitation periods and increasing special events or incentives to travel during non-peak times;
- Hone in on the visitor’s interests by capturing their “vacation vibe” and serve up the most enjoyable itinerary based on their visitor profile;
- Drive traffic to lesser-known attractions, restaurants and lodging options;
- Explain and make it part of planning different types of transportation options, providing peak times and even ways to notify visitors of open parking.
Dispersing the visitor load through creating customized experiences tailored toward each visitor’s interests keeps traffic and parking in check.
- Providing communication that results in ease in which a traveler is able to move about a destination is critical in providing the best possible experience;
- It is critical that parking, local transportation options and planning tools; both vehicular and pedestrian traffic information is relayed in an organized and easily accessible manner that can be used on any device, online or off;
- Provide better mapping and options based on the area, for ground transportation information lessening the use of rental cars or vehicle traffic;
- Explain and make transportation options part of the pre-trip planning process by providing transportation options, peak and off-peak times and notify visitors of open parking or capacity in high traffic areas with real-time data during their visit.
Create the Ultimate Guest Experience
When a sustainability plan impacts or disrupts the typical visitor experience, it is of the utmost importance to give the visitor the reason and the “why” behind the change. More often than not, the change will be widely accepted as travelers look to the industry to stop talking and start acting.
- Hotels should notify visitors if they have moved away from plastic key cards, housekeeping is reduced or made on request only;
- Food waste can be greatly reduced when options are limited to higher quality over quantity and guest requests are taken into consideration where possible;
- Brochures are digitized saving physical space and paper product use;
- Allow guests who use tech options such as room choice and hotel mapping, specific upgrades, and amenities;
- Destinations can provide itineraries, digital ticketing, digital brochures, coupons, and access recommendations that help create a more authentic experience;
- Recycling is thought to be a “good thing”, but ultimately reducing the consumption of resources is the key to a long-term sustainability plan.
Implementing Tech into Long-Term Tourism & Travel Sustainability Planning
- Coordinated messaging;
- Campaigns;
- Brand consistency across all platforms;
- Ultimately provides a more seamless experience for visitors.
When destinations are ready to take steps to implement real change, the introduction of tech and going from talk and awareness to action, are primary to getting an operable sustainability plan off the ground. True Omni is happy to be part of this transition and and discover new ways to connect, collaborate and experience everything the destination has to offer. If you need help moving your team to the next level in providing a next-generation visitor experience, we’re just one click away. Email us at info@trueomni.com または888-334-6664までお電話ください。.
;
