Customers view the importance of sustainability differently depending on where they are from, according to The Travel Corporation’s tour brands boss Gavin Tollman.
The division’s chief executive said sustainability was more “prevalent” in search engine data in Australia, compared with America, with the UK falling somewhere in between the two countries.
He added some source markets were “further along” than others in terms of how their customers viewed sustainability and said customers tend to book with an operator that appears to be “more sustainable”.
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Speaking on a panel at Travel Weekly’s Sustainability Summit in London last week, he said: “Sustainability varies immensely in terms of importance not just for different age groups but by source market.
“In markets like Australia sustainability is more prevalent in searches than here in the UK but regretfully in the US sustainability is not one of the searches. It really varies by destination.”
Tollman noted how “one of the biggest challenges” in the travel sector were pricing models that are currently used.
Customers look at price over other factors, such as sustainability, when deciding which operator to book with, said Tollman, who runs brands such as Contiki, Costsaver Tours, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold.
“We’re driving that behaviour,” he commented. “When I look at the airline industry, everyone is screaming about air fare rates but if you look at profitability, some of the airlines are having some of the most profitable years they’ve ever had.”
Tollman confirmed TTC would not increase prices as its brands become greener. “One of our big changes post-Cop27, was instead of looking at off-sets we made the decision to move net zero by 2050,” he said. “We will not be adding that to price.”
Fellow panelist Hedda Felin, chief executive of Hurtigruten Norway, admitted the maritime and travel sectors were “far behind” other sectors in their pursuit of carbon neutrality.
“We need to be more ambitious,” she said. “It’s important that we take responsibility from our point of view.
“We need governments to be more ambitious. I have a lot of conversations with the government of Norway.
“We push, we ask and we want to collaborate. The role of the private sector is hugely important. We should not just wait for things to be regulated.”
Tollman echoed Felin’s thoughts, warning that if the travel sector accepted the “status quo” then it would end up with governments imposing more regulations on it.
“If we go out of our way, and make that positive change for good, governments will embrace and want to work with us,” he concluded.