On travellers’ changing priorities

We have a situation where demand is exceeding supply for truly sustainable and regenerative tourism experiences. Sustainable world class tour operators are fully booked way ahead, while there’s very high occupancy for accommodations in this space. Global surveys show there’s been a huge change in traveller sentiment. In 2017, less than 30 per cent of travellers were seeking sustainable services; now that number is between 70 and 80 per cent. Sustainable tourism isn’t a niche thing anymore. This is driven by younger travellers, but we’re seeing numbers climb with the older demographic as well.

On the effectiveness of carbon offsets

Verified carbon credits in the voluntary market have been around for a while now. We’ve seen some great projects, such as those that support Indigenous ownership and land management, and are transparent in their socio-economic and biodiversity benefits. Without carbon credits, these projects would never have been funded. Regarding questionable projects, we’re seeing more international standards to create rigour and deal with the bad apples. Another significant improvement concerns transparency and using blockchain technology, so that you’ll be able to trace your offset, have a record of it, and see how it was used. This is still niche, but I think it will become mainstream. The industry’s challenge is that offsets are fairly cheap, so it’s easier to pay for an offset than make any meaningful change. When offsets become more expensive, they support higher quality projects, and it incentivizes companies to change their behaviour. The market is under a microscope, so I think we’ll see those improvements.

On how Canadian tourism stacks up

Canada is a leader on a number of fronts, and representatives from other countries are visiting us to learn, and bring our ideas home. There’s been some great initiatives. For example, Frontiers North Adventures in Churchill, Man. have invested in community partnerships, science and research projects, and decarbonization through the custom retrofit of an electric Tundra Buggy. The Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria was named Canada’s first carbon neutral hotel over a decade ago, and they’ve continued to enhance their initiatives, looking at local food supply, pollinator programs, growing food on-site, and offering guest programs. Destinations like Bay of Quinte in Ontario have focused on capacity building and using regeneration to shape the development of their experiences. All this completely changes why people visit the region, what they do, and what they leave behind. It’s a great approach for other destination marketing organizations.

On how tourism can become more resilient

There needs to be more focus on resilience. Extreme weather events create pressure on our grid, along with the push to electrify everything.  To reduce this grid dependency, microgrid systems such as solar with battery back-up is a great solution, along with investing in geothermal energy.  When we look at the vast amount of waste in the global supply chain, we also see a wasted opportunity. We’re burying too much waste in our landfills. More resilient local economies can remanufacture waste into resources as a buffer to the global supply chain, which is often disrupted by climate change. A great example: there’s a Vancouver business called ChopValue that builds new furniture out of used restaurant chopsticks, collected weekly from hundreds of local restaurants. Circular economies and regenerative strategies work.  

On sustainable travel trends

When you book a flight on some services, you now see the estimated carbon impact of your ticket. It will be interesting to see if this carbon labelling will have an impact on consumer behaviour.  We’re also seeing a trend towards less frequent trips, longer trips to destinations, and reducing individual travel overall.  There’s also a rise in the popularity of alternative methods of travel, such as rail, and a general awareness that travellers can have a lower impact.  Most destinations and tour operators now bring sustainability into their strategies and action plans. Cruise ship and aviation have challenges because of their scale. Short term solutions there involve fuel switching to renewable fuels, while longer term solutions may involve smaller aircraft, and hydrogen. The first thing we have to do is get off the crude heavy oils and look at SAF (sustainable aviation fuel). That technology is still evolving.