Travel and tourism requires a transformation as fundamental as that of digital in the past 30 years but does not have the time.
That is according to Pepijn Rijvers, executive vice-president for redefining value at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
He explained the Swiss-based council works with regulators and investors “to reward sustainable business performance with a lower cost of capital” and told the summit: “Tourism is extremely valuable but increasingly under pressure.
“The internet’s potential value took years to realise. You see similarities with sustainability. Companies say they are doing it, but it’s not integrated into everything they do every day. If it took 30 years to become OK at digital, it’s reasonable to think it could take the same to be good at sustainability, but we don’t have the time.”
He argued: “Transformations pose risk or opportunity. There is growing regulation by governments [and] a mounting number of methods and tools. Leading companies have transition plans and there is investor demand for protecting nature, [but] you need to know how your business will adapt.”
More: Tourism ‘not lagging’ behind on sustainability, claims European Commission environment trip
Tourism chiefs highlight knowledge gaps in sustainable planning
Etihad Airways ads banned over ‘misleading’ sustainability claims