How the pandemic has affected travelers’ views on sustainability

As the world slowly reopens and travel resumes, a recent survey from Booking.com finds the pandemic is influencing consumers’ views on sustainability and how they will travel in the future.

An online survey of nearly 30,000 people in 30 countries and territories finds 46% say the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future. Survey results are detailed in the company's Sustainable Travel Report 2021.

And since Booking.com’s first sustainable travel study in 2016, the percentage of travelers intending to stay in a sustainable accommodation at least once in the upcoming year has increased from 62% in 2016 to 81% in 2021 – with the largest jump this past year, up from 74% in 2020.

“The findings from Booking.com’s annual sustainable travel report are even more poignant this year, as the travel industry looks to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic. Our research uncovers how the travel hiatus has opened travelers’ eyes to the impact, both positive and negative, that their trips can have on local ecosystems and communities around the world,” says Marianne Gybels, Booking.com’s director of sustainability in the report.

Top concerns about travel for those surveyed include excess waste such as single use plastics (43%), threats to local wildlife and natural habitats (38%), overcrowding popular destinations (34%) and carbon dioxide emissions (22%). 

But Booking.com’s report finds a gap between what travelers want and expect, and what accommodation providers are doing and sharing. 

While 61% of travelers say they would be more likely to choose a place to stay if it has implemented sustainability practices, about 40% say there aren’t enough sustainable travel options and they don’t know how to find them when planning a trip. 

In April Booking.com surveyed 3,400 accommodation providers in 20 countries and found that while about three-quarters have implemented some sustainability practices at their properties, less than a third (31%) actively communicate that to potential guests, and most that do wait to do it at check-in. 

To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, since the start of this year, Booking.com is displaying sustainability certifications on property pages. The certifications are sourced directly from the certifying organizations, such as the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. 

Currently more than 5,600 properties globally listed on Booking.com have at least one certification visible, and thousands more properties are sharing their sustainability efforts in banners that appear on their property pages. 

Booking.com is also sharing data and best practices about sustainability with properties through its online Partner Hub.

“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,” Gybels says.

“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.”