Despite the growing prominence of sustainable travel, customers themselves are not necessarily pushing companies to offer sustainable options.

Nobert Fiebig, the president of the German Travel Association (DRV), said at the ITB Convention in Berlin: “My feeling is that the tourism industry is a bit more driven, but the pressure isn’t really coming from customers,” he said.

Rather, the industry has pressured itself to offer environmentally friendly travel options, he said. Environmental organization and NGOs can also serve as catalysts for sustainability initiatives.

“Look at the cruise industry,” said Fiebig. “They were being driven into the ground by NGOs until they finally took on the issue themselves.”

Now, new cruise ships are much more environmentally friendly then they were 10 or 20 years ago, he said.

“But the starting point was not the customer, although that might change in the future” he said.the future.”

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