Tourism Sustainability: Bridging the Say-Do Gap
HKUST IEMS Thought Leadership Brief No. 73
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After being severely hit by the Covid19 pandemic, the tourism industry has rebounded strongly, yet most companies and destinations did not take this reset opportunity to chart more sustainable travel products and services.
After the pandemic, studies evidenced a ‘say-do gap’ of travellers wishing to travel more sustainably, yet struggling to choose responsible options.
Policymakers and industry associations should become key enablers to fill this say-do gap by bridging travellers with service providers by using innovative strategies for the promotion of trustworthy information and monitoring of sustainable practices.
About the Author
Angela Tritto is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Division of Public Policy and a Postdoctoral Fellow jointly appointed by the Institute of Emerging Market Studies and by the Division of Social Science. She is also a Fellow of the Global Future Council of Sustainable Tourism at the World Economic Forum. She is currently working on multiple research projects on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and recently published several works in collaboration with a team of international scholars on its sustainability. She holds a PhD from City University of Hong Kong.
References
World Economic Forum, 2022. ‘How to Create the Sustainable Travel Products Customers Want’ https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/how-to-create-the-sustainable-travel-products-customers-want
Agoda, 2021. Sustainable Travel Trends Survey, 2021: https://www.agoda.com/press/agoda-sustainable-travel-trends-survey.
Araújo, L., 2022. Forewords. Exploring Consumer Travel Attitudes and Expectations to Drive Tourism Recovery, European Travel Commission Market Intelligence Report, Brussels: ETC.
ETC, 2022. Forewords. Exploring Consumer Travel Attitudes and Expectations to Drive Tourism Recovery, European Travel Commission Market Intelligence Report, Brussels: ETC.
Booking.com, 2022. Sustainable Travel Report, 2022: https://globalnews.booking.com/climate-community-and-choice- bookingcom-reveals-the-trends-shaping-sustainable-travel-in-2022/.
Skyscanner, Sustainability in Air Travel, 2021: https://www.partners.skyscanner.net/insights/sustainability-in-air-travel.
World Economic Forum, 2022. The Global Risks Report 2022: 17th Edition, 11 January 2022: https://www.weforum.org/ reports/global-risks-report-2022/.
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