Optimising our holidays’ environmental, economic and social impacts
The environment and people in destinations are what our holidays are all about. We know that the leisure travel industry can have both positive and negative impacts on communities and the natural environment, depending on how these impacts are managed.
The environmental impacts of our industry are wide-ranging. Waste and waste water can pollute, as can ground and air transport. Water used in accommodation can exacerbate often scarce supplies and the issue of water availability will grow as climate change takes greater effect in water-stretched destinations. Tourist activities can impact biodiversity, animals and marine life and new hotel developments can disrupt the landscape and put pressure on natural resources. From a social perspective, the contrast in culture between tourists and local communities can disturb or offend.
When managed well, tourism supports conservation and preserves natural heritage. The tourism value chain – accommodation, catering, retail, excursions, transfer and airport services – provides employment and training opportunities, and stimulates local enterprise, to the extent that in 2007 tourism accounted for 30% of the world’s exports of services (UNWTO World Tourism Barometer).
We are committed to learning more about how our holidays can benefit local livelihoods and protect the environment – and putting this into practice. This is fundamental to preserving the quality of our product in years to come and is therefore the focus of the two Groupwide Destination workstreams, Supplier Management and Destination Projects.
Board sponsor: Richard Prosser, Managing Director, Specialist & Emerging Markets
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