Amsterdam,
03
June
2021
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10:00 AM
Europe/Amsterdam

Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential Watershed Moment for Industry and Consumers

Latest research from Booking.com reveals how the ‘pandemic effect’ could finally tip sustainable travel intent into impactful action

Summary
  • 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future
  • Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not providing recycling facilities
  • While 3 out of 4 accommodation providers say they have implemented at least some kind of sustainability practices at their property, only one-third actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests
  • To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, Booking.com is now showing third-party sustainability certifications and details on a range of 30+ impactful practices in place at hundreds of thousands of properties around the world

 

AMSTERDAM, 3 JUNE 2021 - New research released today from Booking.com, containing insights gathered from more than 29,000 travelers across 30 countries, suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travelers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 72% of global travelers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (49%) admitting that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, with recycling (49%) and reducing food waste (42%) being the top priorities at home.

According to the findings, travelers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 84% wanting to reduce general waste, 83% wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 79% wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars. Respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost three quarters (73%) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 84% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 76% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally in all levels of society. Furthermore, 69% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

Breaking down sustainable travel barriers

Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travelers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 45% made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, 43% took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation and 33% did activities to support the local community. In fact, over half (53%) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities. The positive signs are indeed there, but there is still lots of room for improvement with more than half of travelers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimise their impact.

While 81% of travelers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year - which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 74% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic - barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 40% of global travelers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 36%  said they didn’t even know that they existed, 32% said they couldn’t find any options where they were traveling and 31%  said that they didn’t know how to find them. In fact, 49% of travelers still believe that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travelers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com's accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 83%  of travelers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although 3 out of 4** accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59%**), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travelers at earlier stages of the booking process.

Closing the gap, step by step

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com Partner Hub.

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. From this global roll-out, hundreds of thousands of properties have already started to share at least some of their sustainability information with Booking.com, which can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability initiatives’ banner on each of their property pages. While it’s still early days, this is an important first step in providing more sustainability information in a transparent way to consumers, ultimately making it easier for them to start making more sustainable travel choices.

“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” said Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com. “The good intentions are there on all sides, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sustainable travel an easy choice for everyone. The more sustainable practices we can help our partners to identify and implement, the more we can experiment with how best to highlight this information to customers and ultimately make sustainability a transparent and easily identifiable part of their travel decision-making process. A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation, but multiplied by millions of travelers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”

To view the full Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2021, please download it via the link at the top of this page. 

Methodology

*Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of 29,349 respondents across 30 countries and territories (1,000 from USA, 1,007 from Canada, 1,000 from Mexico, 964 from Colombia, 1,000 from Brazil, 1,000 from Argentina, 999 from Australia, 941 from New Zealand, 1,001 from Spain, 1,000 from Italy, 1,000 from France, 1,000 from UK, 1,000 from Germany, 1,003 from Netherlands, 986 from Denmark, 1,000 from Sweden, 997 from Croatia, 1,005 from Russia, 1,003 from Israel, 1,000 from India, 1,000 from China, 1,005 from Hong Kong, 968 from Thailand, 963 from Singapore, 1,000 from Taiwan, 1,005 from Vietnam, 1,000 from South Korea, 1,000 from Japan, 1,002 from South Africa and 500 from Kenya ). In order to participate in this survey, respondents had to be 18 years of age or older, had to have traveled at least once in the past 12 months and must be planning to travel in 2021, and be either the primary decision maker or involved in the decision making of their travel. The survey was taken online and took place in March 2021.

**Research conducted by Booking.com with a representative sample of 3,390 accommodation providers from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey was taken online and took place in April 2021.

About Booking.com:

Founded in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com has grown from a small Dutch startup to one of the world’s leading digital travel companies. Part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com’s mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. By investing in the technology that helps take the friction out of travel, Booking.com seamlessly connects millions of travelers with memorable experiences, a range of transportation options and incredible places to stay - from homes to hotels and much more. As one of the world’s largest travel marketplaces for both established brands and entrepreneurs of all sizes, Booking.com enables properties all over the world to reach a global audience and grow their businesses. Booking.com is available in 44 languages and offers more than 28 million total reported accommodation listings, including more than 6.5 million listings of homes, apartments and other unique places to stay. No matter where you want to go or what you want to do, Booking.com makes it easy and backs it all up with 24/7 customer support.

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