Governments and trade bodies need to start to measure tourism post crisis in terms other than purely economic and consider environmental and social impacts.

• Travel brands will need to be more transparent; data will be key to consumer confidence in travel
• Amidst the trauma of coronavirus, there are green shoots and ‘green swans’ innovating their way out of the crisis
• ‘Sustainable tourism’ needs to be simply, ‘tourism’ done well, carbon offsetting is a ‘band aid’, not the solution

A recent FINN Partners webinar on Responsible Travel featuring Jane Madden, Managing Partner, Global Sustainability and Social Impact, and Fiona Jeffery OBE, Senior Partner, Finn Partners Global Responsibility Tourism Practice, and Founder and Chairman of Just A Drop, was hosted on Wednesday 29 April 2020 and is now available to view online. The first in a series of planned webinars from FINN, it discussed the importance of responsible tourism in a post-lockdown world and how travel brands and destinations that embrace sustainable practices as part of their recovery process will reap the rewards in years to come.

With many sources identifying that post-lockdown travellers will be more thoughtful with their travel spend and will travel with purpose and sensitivity towards the health of people and planet, it was within this context that Madden and Jeffery provided long-term strategic insights and practical tips for travel companies and DMOs keen to develop sustainable offerings for these conscientious travellers of the future.

The panellists discussed the need for destinations to move away from acting as marketing organisations and focus on being responsible management companies with an environmental and social emphasis which will in turn, reap economic benefits.

Madden and Jeffery also identified traveller trends including how people will take fewer, but longer trips and will have a desire for more experiential travel that is seen to benefit local communities directly. They will also be looking for greater transparency from travel brands and as a result, robust data on their sustainable measures, as a key driver of consumer confidence.

Health and safety will also be embedded into travellers’ decisions and the panellists stressed the importance of destinations working closely with the health ministries, banks, investors, insurance companies and the private sector to achieve this moving forward in a well-coordinated, informed and transparent way. Carbon offsetting also needs to be looked at more closely by all travel brands to ensure their schemes are ethically driven.

The Finn Partners Responsible Travel webinar can be viewed here