WORLDWIDE: Booking.com has released its annual consumer research report with a focus on the impact on community as well as the environment.
The research, now in its 10th year, looks at traveller attitudes and intentions with a view to charting the social and ecological impact of travel.
This year 32,000 travellers across 34 countries took part, answering questions about the impact of tourism on destinations.
Globally, in 2025, travelling more sustainably remains important for most travellers (84 per cent) a bigger priority now than in 2016 when less than half of respondents (42 per cent) believed they travelled more sustainably.
This year 93 per cent of global travellers say they want to make more sustainable travel choices and, to some extent, have done so.
For the first time more than half of travellers (53 per cent) said they are now conscious of travel’s impact on communities, as well as the environment. Two thirds (69 per cent) now want to leave places better than when they arrived and 73 per cent want their spending to go back to the community.
Respondents were asked not just how they travel, but how they also experience visitors where they live. While more than half (57 per cent) feel that tourism has a positive impact overall on the place where they live, the response showed adjustments are needed for destinations to grow at a healthy pace.
Residents of popular destinations highlighted some of the challenges they face with traffic congestion (38 per cent), littering (35 per cent), overcrowding (30 per cent) and rising cost of living (29 per cent).
But the research found only 16 per cent of travellers believe that capping the number of tourists in their home destination is the answer.
Investing in the community was a preferred solution with travellers suggesting improved transportation (38 per cent), waste management (37 per cent), and environmental conservation (32 per cent) as the top types of support they’d like to see.
The eleven page report found that travellers are also now more aware of how they can reduce their impact while away.
In 2020, 43 per cent of travellers said they turned off the air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, and by 2023 this was up to 67 per cent.
Some travellers are also considering ways they can minimise the impact of the destinations they visit by looking at travelling at other times of the year (39 per cent) or visiting alternative destinations to avoid overcrowding (36 per cent).
Danielle D’Silva, director of sustainability at Booking.com said: “To ensure that destinations can continue to be enjoyed by both locals and visitors alike, tourism, infrastructure and innovation need to keep pace with travellers’ good intent.
“We want to make it easier for both travellers and partners to feel confident that the choices they make are helping contribute positively to the destinations they visit. That includes surfacing hotels and accommodations with reputable third-party sustainability certifications or providing training and guidance to our accommodation partners, as well as how to best engage with local communities or reduce their usage of natural resources.”
You can read the full report here.
In the 2023 report travellers faced the battle of cost over conscience when it came to booking more sustainable travel.
Booking.com report finds travellers are battling with cost and conscience
Image: Boodle McDougall