Sustainability in tourism – is it just a marketing tool, or can it really make a difference?

Martin Girtler: It is quite clear that travel in itself is never 100 per cent environmentally friendly; travelling is, and always will be, a matter of conscience – that needs to be stated quite clearly. However, there are certainly a wide range of ways to travel on holiday or on a business trip in an environmentally conscious manner that conserves resources as much as possible. This starts with the mode of transport, continues with choosing accommodation based on certain criteria, and extends to how you behave at your destination. Many seemingly small measures can, when added together, make a big difference.

So are hotel guests deliberately looking for environmentally friendly accommodation, or is it not, after all, comfort and enjoyment that are their main priorities?

Martin Girtler: A large number of studies worldwide show that an ever-increasing number of hotel guests are specifically choosing sustainable accommodation. Interest in environmentally conscious hospitality continues to grow, and in my opinion this trend is set to continue; the tourism sector must therefore adopt a forward-looking approach to tackling the challenges of sustainable hospitality.

So how can hotel guests best find genuinely sustainable accommodation?

Martin Girtler: Fortunately, many hotels make an effort to highlight their environmentally friendly measures on their websites and present them to guests in a transparent and easy-to-understand way. Unfortunately, things are often marketed as sustainable when they are far from it. However, today’s hotel guests are increasingly aware of these issues, and many hoteliers realise that they must address them conscientiously.