How Quickly We Forget. A Call To action.

My questions are simple…

What needs to happen?

What is it going to take?

How much damage needs to be done before we finally stop and say ‘enough’?

I ask these with immense frustration, and sadness.

Last week, on the day I was meeting to review the successes of our Switzerland Tourism, ‘’Swisstainable’’ partnership, the CNN headline ‘This month is this month’s hottest on record’ came across my news feed. With the highest temperatures in the past 120,000 years, its incomprehensible to know that we are watching, in accelerating motion, our shared world burn.

We are leaving a legacy for future generations literally in flames. It is real, it is happening now. It is shameful.

It has been a while since I last wrote, but this advancing unforgiving reality has provoked a visceral reaction to once again re-examine the actions, or better said, inactions within the travel industry to do what it can to arrest the speed of climate change.

I looked back; the last time I wrote my personal reflections on the world reopening to travel after the pandemic and the devastating grounding we all endured, I had hope in my heart. And confidence in a new future. I was confident that we, the world’s travellers and travel industry, would welcome the “new” with our eyes open to the responsibility we all have to ensure that our industry reconnects people and places carefully, thoughtfully and sustainably. I was confident that all the lessons we learnt over the almost 1000 days of global grounding would carry us forward. I was confident we would do better, be better, build forward better, together.

I was wrong. 

How quickly the lessons are forgotten. Think back to a year ago. We all eagerly projected, in a way prayed, that our travel volumes in 2023 would return to those of 2019 when travel dreams were last fulfilled, and bookings were strong. Based on current trends, as well as booking and activity indicators, it is expected that 2023 will not only reach but outperform 2019. This is remarkable, especially considering the worldwide travel ecosystem is still struggling to fill staffing shortages across airlines, airports, restaurants, hotels, and other essential links in the visitor experience chain.

The reasons for the surges vary: pent up demand, past milestones being fulfilled, unspent holiday budgets now being used, the recognition of travel as a vital part of our mental and physical wellbeing, work-from-anywhere lifestyles, new connections. The reasons are numerous, the impact of demand, immense.

But with it, we are witnessing, once again, the increased reality of overtourism. How many times did we say during our COVID-times online meetings, webinars, calls and conversation that we must absolutely, not, find ourselves in that position again? We know that overtourism is an enduring risk to, and a bruise on, the immense good our industry can do. We know it is a result of not only bad management of traveller numbers and bad management of resources by the industry, but also bad manners of travellers. We know how it results in tourists, rightly, being pushed out of the places and spaces locals call ‘home’.

The universal laws tried to help us avoid the risks of falling into the overcrowding, entitlement trap again. Increased alarm about overtourism in 2019 was countered by the emergence of undertourism, and even no tourism, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world’s pause, Mother Nature shone the spotlight on the aspects of the industry we knew we needed to focus on, own up to, and correct.

We saw La Serenissima’s waterways of Venice transformed, with a return of blue waters and sea life.  Greenhouse gas emissions fell 10%, leatherback turtles laid their eggs on the Phuket beaches. As the world reopened and the industry recovered, we established the need to change.

Yet today we see that somehow, somewhere over the last year the guiding light has been lost on so many, as the focus, selfishly, on the here and now.

The consequence, all the lessons learned, are rapidly fading into obscurity. Overtourism, driven by my descriptor of the ‘ice cream tourist’, or simple crowd pollution, has once again started to spread. And as expected, the locals are pushing back on the many negative impacts unsettling local economic, social and environmental balance caused by throngs of tourists doing nothing more than stopping to take selfies and leave their litter behind. Just last month Amsterdam took the decision to close its city centre port, effectively banning cruise ships from docking, accepting the economic losses in order to protect the city’s communities, natural spaces and dignity. Amsterdam is not the first. Venice and Dubrovnik are already actively applying their cruise ship policies to ensure very limited arrivals. There will be more, of this I am certain.

The damage of the travel industry must stop. The good intentions of the industry must restart. Tourism can and should be a force for good once more:

1. Protecting the environment, its natural resources, and wildlife,
2. Providing socio-economic benefits for communities who live in and outside of tourist destinations,
3. Conserving cultural heritage and creating authentic tourist experiences, and importantly,
4. Creating genuine respect and understanding across borders, cultures, religions, ages and communities, for generations to come.

This raises the question: Can the industry innovate and find its place in solving this problem in the future?

Yes, but it requires active thought and action. Tourism itself can be the part of the solution. Beyond merely minimizing harm, but rather a regenerative force with the potential to create positive impacts.

While this concept is said to been uncorroborated, numerous examples illustrate that creative approaches within this transformative journey are achievable. These include initiatives that focus on revegetation, minimizing disturbances to nature and vulnerable species, and promoting a more equitable distribution of economic benefits by redirecting traveller flows off traditional tourist trails and toward year-round travel rather than just peak season. It’s a journey, but as Lao Tzu’s wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step“. This is a crucial reminder of the imperative of taking that first step, regardless of the obstacles that lie ahead.

But importantly, these ideals are not simply ‘we could one day…’ mindsets. They are impacts, required, now. Proudly, I can say, unconditionally, we are proactively advancing with these within TTC, across our brands, our teams and our travellers.

TTC’s recently released second Impact Report shows how transparently we look to where we are making a difference through our operations, projects,  and people across the TTC network, as well as acknowledging where we still have work to do.

Accountability is vital. As an industry we must, absolutely must, think more holistically and develop more sustainable practices and diversify our sector. But it is not easy. Embrace this, know this.  At TTC, we are committed to MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® throughout How We Tread Right (HWTR) 5-year sustainability strategy and our not-for-profit Tread Right foundation.

At the end of 2022, we shifted our focus to prioritise decarbonisation, by both innovating our operations and investing in nature-based solutions projects developed to address climate change as well as the rapid loss of biodiversity. Our Climate Action Plan outlines how we will reach net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2050 from a 2019 baseline year. We are the first tour operator to have near-term, long-term and net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). We understand how critical these steps are in securing the future of our industry.

Correspondingly, central to our HWTR efforts are our MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences that as of 2023 are included on 100% of our touring brands trips. When I engage with Tasha and Lucie, the team members who help find these immersive impact experiences for our trips, I’m immensely proud that today each and every one is chosen specifically for the positive social or environmental impact they have on their communities and those who experience them. We use a proprietary assessment tool, endorsed by industry experts and developed exclusively for TTC’s family of brands, to assess our advancement against a robust set of criteria directly tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).

Each experience contributes to improving challenges faced by local people and places in the destinations we visit.

In Brussels, refugees seek access to the labour market as a fundamental core to prospering in their new lives. On our Insight Vacations tours, guests enjoy a dinner at We Exist, a restaurant managed by those who lived through and fled the Syrian war.

Their aim is to share the love of Syrian cuisine and warm hospitality, and create a world based on mutual respect. They facilitate refugee integration and provide training and work opportunities for people who have fled conflict and persecution. This experience advances SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.

Depopulation of rural villages in Italy is dramatic, entire parts of the Italian culture, crafts, recipes, traditions are disappearing. Grottole, a small Italian village just 20 minutes away from Matera, one of Italy’s most visited sites, has seen a decrease from 2000 to 300 inhabitants in recent years, mostly due to lack of education and work opportunities for young people, aging population, loss of interest for regional cultural heritage. A couple of years ago, the historic centre had over 600 empty homes.

Our Insight Vacations guests enjoy a village visit, organised by a social enterprise to promote urban regeneration, which has helped keep Grottole on the map. We not only create new employment opportunities for the locals to become tour guides, but we’re also creating new economies. The village has now an apiary, a ceramic workshop, a cultural centre, a communal garden and a small wine cellar. This experience advances SDG 11: Responsible Cities and Communities.

Scotland has seen its biodiversity decrease at an alarming rate over the last century and is just about recovering from years of environmental damage caused by sheep, goats and deer gazing, extensive farming, and the accelerated impacts of climate change. This is not only disastrous for the local wildlife and biodiversity, but also taking away a huge part of the Gaelic culture which is deeply rooted in the natural environment, especially in the Highlands. Our not-for-profit TreadRight foundation has invested in Trees For Life as a Nature Based Solution (NBS), which guests can visit on our Trafalgar trips. This investment is the third NBS that TreadRight has invested in, and part of our Climate Action Plan and our efforts to restore the lands to combat global warming.

A visit to the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre supports the active reforestation of the native Caledonian pine forest and reintroducing Scottish animal species that were on the verge of being extinct. Thanks to the close collaboration with the landowners in the area they’ve been able to carry out those rewilding activities in the most organic way, helping the trees to naturally regenerate and using ways that are the least harmful to the habitat. It has not only been bringing the community closer together and educating the locals around preserving the land for future generations, it has also given impetus for the Gaelic culture to be revived and getting engagement from the local community. This experience advances SDG 15: Life on Land.

The power of these experiences is juxtaposed against the fact that our contracting teams, are united, frustrated with the current reality, that many partners continue to operate with short term vision. But I then reflect on this year, one in which we actively looked to see how we can move trips beyond peak season, to spread the tourist dollar to support local livelihoods throughout the year. Today, I have immense pride that our highest percentage growth in 2023 will be in the months of April and October, as we have worked hard to help our guests to see the benefits of traveling in these months, rather than only May and September.

This is the reality, the question is therefore simple, “What difference can we really make”? “What impact can one person, or one company really have”? Whenever I get asked this, whenever someone pushes back on the climate crisis being beyond our control or influence, I always think of a favourite African proverb which says: “If you think you are too small to make a difference you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.“.

Every person, every business matters because every action matters. Every moment is a chance to change course off the destructive path that we are firmly travelling. The future demands we journey along a new path.

We must never forget the difference that travel can and does make for those people and places that we visit, when we do it right. What does this modest word ‘travel’ define? To me, it’s about learning new things, embracing the unfamiliar, gaining understandings from others, uncovering different realities, shaping fresh thoughts. Travel is living. Travel is fulfilment. We talk about the difference that travel makes to people’s lives. The impact that travel has to travelers, changing perspectives, changing mindsets, changing attitudes, changing opportunities, and changing the excitement that one feels for the future.

We have the opportunity, and the ability, to go far beyond unlocking local pride, as well as critical economic and social activity in communities through our ongoing efforts. I am thrilled to see that demand for travel returned rapidly, strongly, and with the spirit of faith and determination that can only be credited to be the spirit of the travellers. We can unlock a sense of stability, security, and hope.

We can, must, make a difference not only to the economies, but to the homes, hearts and hopes of the people and places we visit. And we must do it now. Not later when we are less busy, not later when we are confident travel recovery is achieved. Now.

The choice is ours. This is a moral issue, not simply an industry issue. This is our call to action, our duty. Mother Nature, a world of travellers, and children of generations to come, are watching.

The time is now. Your time, my time, is now.