Technology and the ability to mine data and social behaviour will be at the heart of attempts by companies to reach the caring hearts of so-called ethical travellers.
Amadeus has been examining the ways in which consumers think about and then purchase "ethical travel"-focused products, in an attempt to give sellers a better idea of how to cater to this subset's needs.
The analysis, which is part of the company's Traveller Tribes 2030 research, has identified six areas where ethical travellers may differ from other consumer types.
These areas cover issues such as: when to target travellers; how likely are they to need and accept a tailored service; what type of trip they might purchase; type of interaction between consumer and brand; and level of information they seek through devices.
Interestingly, ethical travellers are generally less interested in "wellness" or "local"-type trips, having a clearly defined desire to have solely an "ecological"-led experience.
But they do want is a high degree of personalisation in their trip - clearly an element that will need a some degree of work behind the scenes from a technology perspective for tour operators and agencies, primarily due to many products in that long tail of ethical travel not being linked into the mainstream of the travel ecosystem.
Patricia Simillon from Amadeus's airline IT division, says the so-called ethical travel "tribe" is defined by its purchasing behaviours reflecting its core ethical values.
"These values are not homogenous; some travellers will consider some issues more important than others. It will be important to understand the nuances of Ethical Travellers and the issues that matter most to each traveller.
"This will be possible by using social data and machine learning techniques allowing for predictive analytics.
"Crucially, this tribe will value transparency and personal decision making; travel providers must be explicit when and how they are using traveller data."
NB:Ethical travel image via Shuttestock.