Just 1% of travellers pay for sustainable travel options although 73% say they are prepared to

TIS – Tourism Innovation Summit 2022, the global summit of technology and innovation for the travel and tourism industry celebrated its third edition in Seville (Spain) earlier in November, bringing together over 6,000 visitors. Research presented at the show by Phocuswright, with data from Lufthansa and Hopper, revealed that although 73% of travellers surveyed say that would be willing to pay more for more sustainable options, only 1% actually had done so. International consultancy firms in the tourism sector participated in the show, analysing the major trends transforming the sector. Wouter Geerts, director of Research at Skift, Douglas Quinby, co-founder & CEO of Arival, and Cristina Polo, market analyst EMEA at Phocuswright, revealed key travel and tourism trends. According to a Skift study analysing the industry’s performance with figures from 2019 to the present day, the sector still stands at 86% of the level recorded in 2019. However, there are success stories from countries, such as Turkey, which are experiencing a boom in demand and stronger performance than the years before the health crisis. “The recovery from the health crisis has not been the same. Leisure travel has been much stronger than business travel and has picked up much of the losses. Domestic travel has been the main driver compared to international travel, which has had an impact on the performance, composition and distribution of travellers in countries such as Spain, which until the pandemic were very dependent on international travellers,” said Wouter Geerts. Even so, a possible recession in 2023 and the high inflation that many countries are currently experiencing are starting to affect tourist demands. “I think the key conclusion is that the pandemic has shown us that neither growth nor full recovery is a given. We are seeing high demand today, but this could soften in 2023 as concerns about the economy, inflation and high prices are having an impact on decision-making,” Geerts added. On the other hand, Douglas Quinby presented the conclusions of a study carried out by Arival on 10,000 travellers from all over the world that analyses trends in experiences. It showed a significant increase in bookings made via mobile phones and at the last minute. Fifty eight percent of Generation Z travellers and millennials place much more importance on experiences than on things. In addition, social networks such as TikTok and Instagram are their tools for discovering places and deciding on one place or another”.