2.4 Storytelling the Local and Sustainable Business
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability. Ensuring sustainable tourism development becomes, now more than ever, a priority for tourism businesses, and the pandemic an occasion to build back a more resilient business model.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability. Ensuring sustainable tourism development becomes, now more than ever, a priority for tourism businesses, and the pandemic an occasion to build back a more resilient business model.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability. Ensuring sustainable tourism development becomes, now more than ever, a priority for tourism businesses, and the pandemic an occasion to build back a more resilient business model.
These are some of the most relevant trends we have observed:
Alongside these trends, two important concepts have started to matter for both consumers and businesses: Greenwashing and Green-Pressure.
Greenwashing is the practice of businesses making deliberate choices to hide some malevolous practices: here, businesses make conscious choices to hide some malevolous practices under the "facade" of sustainability.
Green Pressure is a more recent term: it describes a shift in consumer behaviour, which pushes people to select companies that are socially and environmentally responsible in their operations. This is valid also in the tourism industry, where visitors pay more attention to making conscious choices and undertaking sustainable actions.
As a business, it is important to not fall into the trap of greenwashing, limiting sustainability to catchy slogans and PR, without taking real action to implement sustainable practices. On the contrary, efforts should be made to embrace green pressure, responding to consumer needs taking bold sustainable actions.
Organisations of any level and in any industry are increasingly perfecting their sustainability strategy, recognising their social responsibility and environmental impact. Many are adopting sustainable approaches undertaking circularity models or simply finding the right way to give back to society. In this landscape, every action counts.
We have seen different best practices and we have grouped them into a 3-tier framework: Saying, Doing, Succeeding.
The ‘Saying’ part of our framework is where businesses make it explicitly clear to their potential customers what their plans for a sustainable future are. This often takes the shape of pledges showing how the business is committed to a sustainable future.
The tour operator pledges its commitment to make travel more sustainable, responsible and invite customers to do the same.
The company pledges to support local communities and the environment with a 10-point support plan, planting a tree every train service.
The ‘Doing’ part is where businesses take small but concrete steps that will eventually lead to a more sustainable business model. There are in fact lots of feasible actions businesses can take to shift towards sustainability, most of which require little investment.
The brand has adopted small but significant actions, such as solar panels on the roof, energy-efficient LED lighting that turns on with motion sensors, electric car charging points, encouraging consumers to make more eco-friendly choices.
The company produces sustainable cosmetics and aims to raise awareness about the natural wealth of the local environment where the company sources its ingredients.
A global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.
The ‘Succeeding’ part is where businesses make sustainability a key pillar of their strategy. In this case, they have completely re-defined and re-purposed their business model, shifting from scaling revenue to ensuring long-term environmental, societal and economical sustainability. An always increasing number of businesses is undergoing rigorous certification programmes to ensure the sustainability of their business model.
The restaurant eliminated the waste trading directly with farmers, using re-usable delivery vessels and choosing local ingredients that themselves generated no waste. Compost machines turn any restaurant scraps into a compost used to produce more food… Closing the loop.
Specifically developed for businesses and organisations the B Corp Certification is the only certification measuring the entire social and environmental performance of companies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the fragility of the global tourism ecosystem, exposing the problems related to sustainability. Ensuring sustainable tourism development becomes, now more than ever, a priority for tourism businesses, and the pandemic an occasion to build back a more resilient business model.
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