A friend runs master’s degree courses, which pull together students from both public and private sectors. I recently asked whether the exposure to each other brought common understanding between the two? “You must be joking,” he retorted, “they are just as stuck in their silos as ever.” Unfortunately, much the same appears to be true in tourism when it comes to powering the green transition. Despite all the starry-eyed talk of collaboration, too often the reality appears to see tourist offices and the travel trade, occupying entirely different solar systems.

Do NTO’s favour B2C for sustainable messaging?

Now, there is no doubt that a growing group of destinations are “all-in” with developing their sustainability. This was once again highlighted by some stellar scores in the recently published GDS top 40 cities chart https://www.gds.earth/index/top-40-cities/ .  Similarly, destination membership of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council https://www.gstc.org/ has ballooned since the pandemic, with over 50 National Tourist Offices (NTO’s) signed up. However, when it comes to influencing customers, destinations largely remain oblivious to the travel trade’s potential to broadcast their message. The huge majority of “green” communications from destinations, focuses on the direct-to-consumer / B2C channel. This neglects any contribution the trade can make. The pioneering “Copenpay” initiative https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenpay from Wonderful Copenhagen is a good example. It incentivises travellers to minimise their impact. However, research indicates that no major operators or OTA’s share the promotion. This is not an isolated case. A marketing representative in the B2B channel for a highly rated green destination; candidly advised that the quantity of sustainable messaging within their trade promotion brief  is … “zero.” As a consequence, destinations are missing a trick in harnessing the power of the trade to engage and influence their loyal customers.

Who are the innovators setting new standards?

Of course, honourable exceptions exist. Insiders single out Australia as a poster-child for successfully weaving sustainability into every aspect of its product offering. As so often, Switzerland has been proactive in aligning the trade with their strategy, via the “Swisstainable” programme. Credit also goes to Visit Scotland’s for work with The Travel Corporation or Abbey Group. The latest “shout out” is for Greece. The GNTO’s Eleni Skarveli is partnering with AITO, on webinars which bring together tour operators and destinations, raising awareness not only of best practice, but also the amazing initiatives happening on the ground. On the supply side Failte Ireland must be lauded for its continued investment in upskilling the Irish supplier community, targeting hundreds of hotels with hands-on GHG measurements & other support.  However, sadly this is not the rule. Canvassing DMO’s at a recent sustainability conference, overwhelmingly highlighted that engagement with the visitor economy supply chain remained the most challenging aspect of their sustainability work. The “Chinese walls” also work both ways. One leading UK tour operator complained that trying to collaborate with many NTO’s on sustainability initiatives is akin to “talking to the wall.”

What are the practical solutions?

So why the impasse? The root cause remains an enduring lack of understanding between the various players in our industry, with one side undervaluing the potential of the other to contribute.  DMO managers tend to underestimate the capacity of the distribution chain to influence and embed best practice. Partially this may stem from concerns that the long communication line risks resulting in greenwashing. On the other hand, many operators have been happy to sit firmly on their hands and piggy-back off the sustainability efforts of others, rather than being proactive. … or maybe it’s just that everyone is too busy with the day job to communicate?! The end result is a disjointed approach with initiatives failing to make the impact that they should. Collaboration and teamwork across the value chain are key to executing successfully on strategy. In practical terms this can mean:

• Ensuring strategy is shared and gets commitment from travel trade partners.
• Establish robust communication channels which empower the trade to speak regularly and incorporate tangible sustainable elements into their product offering.
• Getting the message to the “coal-face,” so that trade colleagues in purchasing, operations, sales or marketing, can confidently incorporate the learnings into their roles.
• Making subsequent communication to inbound markets “omni-channel” or just plain joined-up!
• Bringing sustainability out of its silo and integrating it with core business strategy

The result will be seamless connection between foundational activity in-destination; with the aspirations of potential customers across the globe. Achieving this will entail each stakeholder taking responsibility with a clear role.  So, who is prepared to step up to the sustainability challenge, work in partnerships and reap the rewards of a purpose driven dividend?

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