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Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential Watershed Moment

(Shared from globalnews.booking.com )

Latest research from Booking.com reveals how the ‘pandemic effect’ could finally tip sustainable travel intent into impactful action.

83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future.

Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not providing recycling facilities.

While 3 out of 4 accommodation providers say they have implemented at least some kind of sustainability practices at their property, only one-third actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests.

To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, Booking.com is now showing third-party sustainability certifications and details on a range of 30+ impactful practices in place at hundreds of thousands of properties around the world.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

New research released from Booking.com, containing insights gathered from more than 29,000 travelers across 30 countries, suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travelers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 72% of global travelers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (49%) admitting that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, with recycling (49%) and reducing food waste (42%) being the top priorities at home.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

According to the findings, travelers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 84% wanting to reduce general waste, 83% wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 79% wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars. Respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost three quarters (73%) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 84% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 76% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally in all levels of society. Furthermore, 69% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

Breaking down sustainable travel barriers Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travelers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 45% made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, 43% took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation and 33% did activities to support the local community. In fact, over half (53%) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities. The positive signs are indeed there, but there is still lots of room for improvement with more than half of travelers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimise their impact.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

While 81% of travelers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year - which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 74% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic - barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 40% of global travelers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 36% said they didn’t even know that they existed, 32% said they couldn’t find any options where they were traveling and 31% said that they didn’t know how to find them. In fact, 49% of travelers still believe that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travelers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com's accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 83% of travelers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although 3 out of 4** accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59%**), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travelers at earlier stages of the booking process.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Closing the gap, step by step

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com Partner Hub .

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. From this global roll-out, hundreds of thousands of properties have already started to share at least some of their sustainability information with Booking.com, which can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability initiatives’ banner on each of their property pages. While it’s still early days, this is an important first step in providing more sustainability information in a transparent way to consumers, ultimately making it easier for them to start making more sustainable travel choices.

“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” said Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com. “The good intentions are there on all sides, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sustainable travel an easy choice for everyone. The more sustainable practices we can help our partners to identify and implement, the more we can experiment with how best to highlight this information to customers and ultimately make sustainability a transparent and easily identifiable part of their travel decision-making process. A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation, but multiplied by millions of travelers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Methodology

*Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of 29,349 respondents across 30 countries and territories (1,000 from USA, 1,007 from Canada, 1,000 from Mexico, 964 from Colombia, 1,000 from Brazil, 1,000 from Argentina, 999 from Australia, 941 from New Zealand, 1,001 from Spain, 1,000 from Italy, 1,000 from France, 1,000 from UK, 1,000 from Germany, 1,003 from Netherlands, 986 from Denmark, 1,000 from Sweden, 997 from Croatia, 1,005 from Russia, 1,003 from Israel, 1,000 from India, 1,000 from China, 1,005 from Hong Kong, 968 from Thailand, 963 from Singapore, 1,000 from Taiwan, 1,005 from Vietnam, 1,000 from South Korea, 1,000 from Japan, 1,002 from South Africa and 500 from Kenya ). In order to participate in this survey, respondents had to be 18 years of age or older, had to have traveled at least once in the past 12 months and must be planning to travel in 2021, and be either the primary decision maker or involved in the decision making of their travel. The survey was taken online and took place in March 2021.

**Research conducted by Booking.com with a representative sample of 3,390 accommodation providers from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey was taken online and took place in April 2021.

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Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential Watershed Moment for Industry and Consumers

New research from booking.com suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travellers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 70% of canadian travellers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. as the world of travel starts to open up again, booking.com’s 2021 sustainable travel report reveals that canadian travellers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with almost half (47%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and roughly the same amount (48%) sharing that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, with recycling (48%) and reducing food waste (43%) being the top priorities at home. .

According to the findings, travellers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 84% wanting to reduce general waste, 81% wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 77% wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars. Respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost three quarters (72%) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 80% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 72% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally across all levels of community. Furthermore, 67% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

  • Respect for local community is high on the list as 72% of Canadian travellers want to have authentic local culture experiences, 80% believe increasing cultural understanding and cultural heritage preservation is crucial, and 72% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread across all levels of community
  • 78% of Canadian travellers believe sustainable travel is important, however, although 3/4** of accommodation partners have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only 31%** actively communicate these efforts to potential guests
  • To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, Booking.com is now showing third-party sustainability certifications and details on a range of 30+ impactful practices in place at hundreds of thousands of properties around the world

Breaking down sustainable travel barriers

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travellers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 37% made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, 44% took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation and 32% did activities to support the local community. In fact, over half (57%) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities. The positive signs are indeed there, but there is still lots of room for improvement with almost half of travellers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimise their impact.

While   71% of travellers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year – which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 63% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic – barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 50% of Canadian travellers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 34% said they didn’t even know that they existed, 29% said they couldn’t find any options where they were traveling and 27% said that they didn’t know how to find them. In fact, 48% of travellers still believe that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travellers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com’s accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 78% of travellers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although 3 out of 4** accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59%**), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travellers at earlier stages of the booking process.

Closing the gap, step by step

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travellers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com  Partner Hub .

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. From this global roll-out, hundreds of thousands of properties have already started to share at least some of their sustainability information with Booking.com, which can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability initiatives’ banner on each of their property pages. While it’s still early days, this is an important first step in providing more sustainability information in a transparent way to consumers, ultimately making it easier for them to start making more sustainable travel choices.

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sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Booking Holdings 2021 Sustainability Report

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Booking Holdings is the world’s leading provider of online travel and related services across more than 220 countries and territories through six primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Rentalcars.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK and OpenTable. Their online platforms connect consumers with travel service providers around the world — as well as other services such as travel-related insurance products and restaurant management services. The company’s 2021 Sustainability Report highlights their sustainability framework and progress made thus far.

In 2021, Booking.com surveyed 29,000 travelers about sustainable travel.

In 2021, Booking.com surveyed 3,390 accommodation providers about sustainable travel and found that 82% of partners we surveyed think sustainability is an important topic.

Agoda’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Survey states the top three additional measures needed to make travel more sustainable are: easy identification of sustainable eco-friendly travel options, limited use of single-use plastics, and financial incentives for accommodation providers that maximize energy efficiencies.

Recycling is the biggest concern for travelers at home, and excess waste while away from home. 81% of travelers surveyed say they want to stay in sustainable accommodations.

Across their brands, the company has created useful tools and guides that enhance experiences and include information about the environmental impact of customers’ travel options.

In 2021, KAYAK launched several new sustainable travel awareness initiatives, including the addition of a Most Sustainable Airlines category to its annual KAYAK Travel Awards 2021 in partnership with Atmosfair.

In 2022, Booking.com plans to further increase transparency around sustainable travel options across flights and ground transportation and is exploring the ability to sort flights by carbon footprint and offering electric or hybrid car rentals.

In 2021, the Booking.com Travel Sustainable Program launched its program’s flagship initiative: the Travel Sustainable badge for accommodations. The badge facilitates an impact-driven roadmap for partners to improve their sustainability practices and is also a cost-free recognition of a property's current sustainability efforts.

They have already awarded the badge to 76,470 partners as of the end of 2021, and plan to expand it in 2022 by defining the framework for flights, car rentals, and taxis. The eventual hope is to launch the program badge across all relevant Booking Holdings brands by 2023.

Agoda was recognized for its contribution to the environment through carbon sequestration with a Climate Action Award during the Sustainable Wellness Destination Climate forum, hosted by FeedUp@UN and the Agricultural and Food Marketing Association for Asia and the Pacific.

In 2021, Booking.com worked closely with other Travalyst partners (a nonprofit organization that is convening a global alliance of leading travel and tourism service providers) to unify its framework for sustainability.

Booking Holdings has reduced their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 92% from the 2019 baseline. By the end of 2030, the company aims to reduce their scope 1 and 2 emissions by 95%.

The reduction thus far has been primarily due to a 2021 transition to 100% renewable electricity across the enterprise through the purchase of unbundled energy attribute certificates (EACs) that matched their total electricity consumption for the year (of which 92% is compliant with the RE100 market boundary criteria).

The company’s scope 3 emissions generated within their supply chain account for 99% of their total footprint.

In 2021, Booking Holdings expanded their scope 3 emissions by adding Employee Commuting and Purchased Goods and Services to the existing Business Travel category.

They set a target reduction of 50% in scope 3 carbon emissions by 2030, and key reduction initiatives include: business travel, employee commuting, and purchased goods and services purchased.

The company has four carbon offset projects located across Zimbabwe, Argentina, Indonesia, and Canada.

Under the electronic recycling program, out-of-use equipment is refurbished and resold or dismantled for recycling. In 2021, Booking.com and Agoda collectively diverted more than 8,500 units of electronic equipment for recycling.

Together with the World Wide Fund for Nature, Agoda planted 5,000 trees on behalf of Agoda’s Gold Circle Award winners, an awards program that recognizes property partners who have distinguished themselves with superior service and guest reviews.

As an exclusive incentive for vaccinated travelers, Agoda donated $10 per booking for a total of $20,000 towards WWF-Philippines' whale shark and habitat conservation programs.

of travelers say they want to stay in sustainable accommodations

travel provider partners have been awarded the Travel Sustainable badge

We made important strides throughout 2021, focusing not only on helping the travel industry continue to recover, but also working to make travel more sustainable.

Glenn Fogel

CEO and President of Booking Holdings

From climate change to animal welfare, Booker is working to create a more sustainable travel future that amplifies the benefits of tourism and mitigates the negative impacts — and ultimately makes certain the planet, its people, communities, habitats, and wildlife can thrive today and into the future.

Through product innovation, travel provider partner support, and industry collaboration, Booking Holdings and their brands have committed to (and made progress towards) making sustainable travel and education easier for millions of customers worldwide.

reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions from the 2019 baseline

units of electronic equipment diverted for recycling

As a company, we believe Sustainability is multifaceted, and we have evolved from a more traditional corporate citizenship approach to embracing a shared-value sustainability framework.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

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sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential Watershed Moment for Industry & Consumers

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

According to the findings, U.S. travelers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 81 percent wanting to reduce general waste, 78 percent wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 72 percent wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars. Respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost two thirds (65 percent) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 74 percent believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 68 percent want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally in all levels of society. Furthermore, 65 percent will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they are not contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

Breaking Down Sustainable Travel Barriers

Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with American travelers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 31 percent made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they were not there, 36 percent took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation and 28 percent did activities to support the local community. In fact, almost half (48 percent) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities. The positive signs are indeed there, but there is still lots of room for improvement with more than half of travelers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimize their impact.

While 66 percent of U.S. travelers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year—which is a slight decrease from 68 percent in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 4 percent from 62 percent in 2020, just prior to the pandemic—barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 40 percent of American travelers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 37 percent said they did not even know that they existed, 16 percent said they could not find any options where they were traveling, and 26 percent said that they did not know how to find them. In fact, 42 percent of travelers still believe that in 2021, there simply are not enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travelers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com’s global accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 73 percent of American travelers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although three out of four** global accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31 percent**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59 percent**), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travelers at earlier stages of the booking process.

Closing the Gap, Step by step

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com  Partner Hub .

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. From this global roll-out, hundreds of thousands of properties have already started to share at least some of their sustainability information with Booking.com, which can be viewed on the “Sustainability initiatives” banner on each of their property pages. While it is still in its early days, this is an important first step in providing more sustainability information in a transparent way to consumers, ultimately making it easier for them to start making more sustainable travel choices.

“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” said Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com. “The good intentions are there on all sides, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sustainable travel an easy choice for everyone. The more sustainable practices we can help our partners to identify and implement, the more we can experiment with how best to highlight this information to customers and ultimately make sustainability a transparent and easily identifiable part of their travel decision-making process. A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation but multiplied by millions of travelers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”

To download Booking.com’s full 2021 Sustainable Travel Report, visit the Booking.com U.S. media room  here .

**Research conducted by Booking.com with a representative sample of 3,390 accommodation providers from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey was taken online and took place in April 2021.

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[Booking.com] Key Findings from 2021 Sustainable Travel Report

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

  • An analysis on the ‘pandemic effect’ which explains how intentions for ‘sustainable travel’ come to fruition
  • 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future
  • Even though 3 out of 4 accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, more than half (52%) of Korean travelers say they didn’t even know that sustainable properties existed

Booking.com revealed key findings from its 2021 Sustainable Travel Report*. Marking its sixth year, the annual report contains insights gathered from more than 29,000 travelers across 30 countries, including 1,000 from Korea.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

COVID-19, the ‘turning point’ for sustainable travel

The research suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travelers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 72% of global travelers (Korea 71%) believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. As the world of travel starts to open up again thanks to vaccination and travel bubbles, travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%, Korea 64%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future. 61% of Korean travelers admitted that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, which was 12% higher than the global average of 49%.

In addition, travelers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 84% (Korea 81%) wanting to reduce general waste, 83% (Korea 84%) wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 79% (Korea 68%) wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars.

Respect for the local community is also high on the list as 84% (Korea 81%) believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial. Furthermore, 69% of global travelers and 71% of Korean travelers will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Breaking down the sustainable travel ‘information barriers’

Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travelers revealing that while on vacation, 45% (Korea 52%) made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there. However, while 43% of global travelers took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation, only 25% of Korean travelers did the same, implying there is still lots of room for improvement despite the positive signs.

While 81% of travelers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year – which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 74% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic – barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 40% of global travelers (Korea 45%) that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 36% (Korea 52%) said they didn’t even know that they existed, 32% (Korea 29%) said they couldn’t find any options where they were traveling and 31% (Korea 44%) said that they didn’t know how to find them. In fact, 49% of travelers (Korea 61%) still believe that there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travelers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com’s accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 83% of travelers (Korea 77%) who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although 3 out of 4** accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travelers.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Closing the gap, step by step

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com Partner Hub .

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. Their sustainability information can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability initiatives’ banner on each of their property pages.

“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” said Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com . “A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation, but multiplied by millions of travelers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”

To download Booking.com’s full 2021 Sustainable Travel Report, please visit the Booking.com global media room.

Methodology 

*Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of 29,349 respondents across 30 countries and territories (1,000 from South Korea). In order to participate in this survey, respondents had to be 18 years of age or older, had to have traveled at least once in the past 12 months and must be planning to travel in 2021, and be either the primary decision maker or involved in the decision making of their travel. The survey was taken online and took place in March 2021.

**Research conducted by Booking.com with a representative sample of 3,390 accommodation providers from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey was taken online and took place in April 2021.

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sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Booking.com 2021 Sustainable Travel Report: the pandemic effect generating mindful travel

  • 17 June 2021
  • Posted by: Sara Marchetti
  • Category: OTA, Travel Agencies & TO

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

We have lately  reported  how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the way people travel and their decision-making process. Indeed, the effects of irresponsible practices in the tourism sector have become always more visible, leading critical actors in the field, such as the  UNWTO  and the ETC , to identify sustainability as the key  element and prerequisite for a  Responsible Recovery  of the sector .   

The recently published  2021 Sustainable Travel Report  by  Booking.com  indicates that “the events of 2020 could be a crucial tipping point for travellers to truly commit to their own sustainable journey, both at home and during their trips”:  

  • 83% of global travellers think sustainable travel is vital , in particular, 61% say the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future (as regards Italy, 57% of travellers involved in the survey)  
  • 84% of travellers want to reduce general waste  on future trips (as regards Italy, 89% of travellers involved in the survey)  
  • 73%   would be more likely to   choose an accommodation implementing sustainability  practices.  

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Thus, the mission of supporting and enabling a sustainable recovery and development of the tourism & travel industry is being pursued also by Booking.com, which  is currently rolling out a programme  for properties taking the next steps towards sustainability, in addition to displaying over 30 certifications provided by the  GSTC  ( Global Sustainable Tourism Council ).  GSTC Criteria for Hotels  include several indicators of performance, divided into four pillars: A Demonstrate effective sustainable management, B  Maximize social and economic benefits to the local community and minimize negative impacts, C  Maximize benefits to cultural heritage and minimize negative impacts, D  Maximize benefits to the environment and minimize negative impacts.   

At  Twissen  we observed that all the initiatives fostering and promoting sustainable tourism, such as the Booking.com programme, the GSTC Criteria and the  EDEN  award for destinations, focus on the critical role of a  long term and holistic vision  producing benefits for the local community and related networks as well as the environment.  Moreover, even if sustainability is still not pursued by most tourists, reports and data show us that travellers’ emerging mindset is following this path, which implies that players of the travel & tourism industry willing to attract the new “responsible tourist” and be competitive in the post-COVID era, must be able to address travellers’ needs by considering sustainability not just as a final goal but as a pillar of their management and communication strategy .   

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

She graduated in Planning and Management of Tourism Systems and enjoyed study experiences abroad. At Twissen, she coordinates the editorial plans and the research department of the company.

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sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report

Latest research from Booking.com reveals how the ‘pandemic effect’ could finally tip sustainable travel intent into impactful action

New research released today from Booking.com, containing insights gathered from more than 29,000 travelers across 30 countries, suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travelers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 72% of global travelers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com’s 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (49%) admitting that the pandemic has shifted their attitude to make positive changes in their everyday lives, with recycling (49%) and reducing food waste (42%) being the top priorities at home.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

According to the findings, travelers’ day-to-day sustainable commitments are consistent with their intentions for future trips with 84% wanting to reduce general waste, 83% wanting to reduce their energy consumption (e.g. by turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room) and 79% wanting to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars. Respect for the local community is also high on the list as almost three quarters (73%) want to have authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture when they travel, 84% believe increasing cultural understanding and preservation of cultural heritage is crucial and 76% want to ensure the economic impact of the industry is spread equally in all levels of society. Furthermore, 69% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

Breaking down sustainable travel barriers

Fortunately, it’s not just good intentions. Many of these sustainable pledges are coming to fruition, with travelers revealing that while on vacation in the past 12 months, 45% made a conscious decision to turn off their air conditioning/heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there, 43% took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation and 33% did activities to support the local community. In fact, over half (53%) have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not offering recycling facilities. The positive signs are indeed there, but there is still lots of room for improvement with more than half of travelers not yet thinking about the local community during their trips or taking these small steps to minimise their impact.

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

While 81% of travelers say they want to stay in a sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year – which is a notable increase from 62% in 2016, when Booking.com first conducted its sustainable travel research and up 7% from 74% in 2020, just prior to the pandemic – barriers still remain. In fact, when looking just at the 40% of global travelers that said they have not stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, 36%  said they didn’t even know that they existed, 32% said they couldn’t find any options where they were traveling and 31%  said that they didn’t know how to find them. In fact, 49% of travelers still believe that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available.

In terms of awareness and intentions, travelers and properties do appear to be on the same page, with new research revealing that 82%** of Booking.com’s accommodation partners surveyed view sustainability in the hospitality industry as being important. This mirrors the 83%  of travelers who also believe sustainable travel is an important issue. However, although 3 out of 4** accommodation partners say they have implemented sustainable steps at their property, only one-third (31%**) actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests, with this mostly happening at the time of check-in (59%**), indicating that significant challenges remain to making sustainability information easy to access for travelers at earlier stages of the booking process.

Closing the gap, step by step

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and as a leader in travel, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. That’s why the company is currently rolling out a program for properties that will support them in taking the next steps to become more sustainable, no matter where they might be on that journey. This includes sharing guidance, insights and best practices with properties via various educational opportunities, including handbooks and dedicated content, all available via the Booking.com  Partner Hub .

In connection, Booking.com is currently displaying over 30 certifications officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, as well as multiple hotel chain sustainability programs. The company is sourcing this information directly from the certification bodies and displaying it on the property pages of partners who hold one of these established third-party certifications. To complement this, Booking.com is also encouraging its accommodation partners to update their sustainability information, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. From this global roll-out, hundreds of thousands of properties have already started to share at least some of their sustainability information with Booking.com, which can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability initiatives’ banner on each of their property pages. While it’s still early days, this is an important first step in providing more sustainability information in a transparent way to consumers, ultimately making it easier for them to start making more sustainable travel choices.

“Over the six years we’ve been conducting this research, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow, both with our customers and now with our partners, too,” said  Marianne Gybels, Director of Sustainability for Booking.com . “The good intentions are there on all sides, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sustainable travel an easy choice for everyone. The more sustainable practices we can help our partners to identify and implement, the more we can experiment with how best to highlight this information to customers and ultimately make sustainability a transparent and easily identifiable part of their travel decision-making process. A small change like eliminating single-use plastics or switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs might seem insignificant in isolation, but multiplied by millions of travelers and properties around the world, these small steps all start to add up to a much bigger potential positive impact.”

To view the full Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2021, please download it via the link HERE .. 

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Booking.com 2023 Sustainable Travel Report

Cost vs conscience: booking.com delves into the dilemma dividing sustainable travel in 2023.

76% of travellers express a desire to travel more sustainably Environmentally-conscious habits are growing in popularity 67% turn off air conditioning when not in use, driven in part by cost reduction needs 60% reuse towels for similar reasons 500,000+ accommodations globally are being recognized for their sustainability efforts with a Travel Sustainable badge on Booking.com

sustainable travel report 2021 booking.com

  • Nearly half (49%) of travelers believe more sustainable travel options are too expensive, in contrast to 43% willing to pay extra for travel options with a sustainable certification.
  • Taking conscious habits from home when traveling, 67% now turn off the air conditioning in accommodations when they aren’t there (up 29% from 2022), while 60% re-use the same towel multiple times (up 25% from 2022)

At a time of general global uncertainty, traveling more sustainably continues to be front of mind for travelers, with three-quarters (74%) believing people need to act now and make more sustainable choices to save the planet for future generations. The news continues to be a key influence driver for 53%, who say the recent climate change news agenda has encouraged them to be more sustainable, and yet it also speaks to a quandary facing people when it comes to being more mindful about when, where and how they travel. While nearly half (49%) think the environment will get worse in the next six months, 64% believe the cost of living crisis will also get worse, leaving people unsure of what to prioritize as they work to reconcile what is important to them with the demands of everyday life.

A tale of two wallets in an unsteady global climate

© Booking.com

© Photo from Booking.com

The economic weather has changed drastically since last year, and the big topics at the front of people’s minds today are the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis. Over three quarters (76%) of travelers say they want to travel more sustainably over the coming 12 months, while the same amount think the global energy crisis and rising cost of living is impacting their spending plans. For some travelers the two are mutually exclusive.

With rising inflation, nearly half of travelers are stuck in the notion that they must make a choice between sustainability and spending, with 49% believing more sustainable travel options are too expensive (up 11% from Booking.com’s 2022 data). For these respondents, sustainability and travel combined can seem non-urgent when they are worried about affording bills and the energy crisis.

On the flip side, with travel well and truly back for others and a more urgent focus on conscious choices, 43% of today’s travelers would be willing to pay more for travel options with a sustainable certification , dialing up their spend to feel reassured they are driving impact. As an increasing number of travelers feel the pinch, they are seeking more sustainable travel options rich in rewards, highlighting the perceived trade-off between making conscious choices and saving money and the need for incentivization. Nearly half (49%) want discounts and economic incentives in order to opt for eco-friendly options (up 12% from 2022) while 42% would be encouraged to travel more sustainably with reward points for making more sustainable choices that they could use for free extra perks or discounts through online travel booking sites.

More sustainable travel for everyone

As part of Booking.com’s mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, the company believes they have an important responsibility to make sustainable choices easier, both for accommodation providers and travelers. The company’s Travel Sustainable badge provides travelers with an easy-to-understand way to identify a wider range of more sustainable stays. The initiative launched in 2021 and is available to any kind of property from apartments to hotels and even treehouses that have implemented a combination of sustainable practices that meet the requisite impact threshold for their destination. With more than 500,000 properties globally now being highlighted for their sustainability efforts with a Travel Sustainable badge on Booking.com, the company has also further expanded the number of third-party certifications and labels that automatically qualify accommodations to receive it. [ this includes accommodations certified by GSTC-Accredited Certification Bodies and accommodations that are verified to a GSTC-Recognized Standard].

“While travel may be back, rising living costs and climate anxiety has led to greater demand for more budget and planet-friendly options,” said Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking.com. “Travel can be a force for good and travelers themselves are proving to be today’s changemakers, adopting more sustainable travel habits and seeking responsible experiences. We are listening and together with our partners across the industry, we are leading positive change and examining every part of the trip to support travelers and benefit local communities and environments. More sustainable travel is an investment for the world, and we are committed to making it easier for everyone to experience travel in a more mindful and responsible way, no matter where they are on their sustainability journey.”

Read the full report

Press Release: Cost vs Conscience Booking.com Delves into the Dilemma Dividing Sustainable Travel in 2023 (April 17, 2023)

Booking.com 2023 Sustainable Travel Report (full report in pdf)

Make your accommodation sustainable now!

As the report suggests, travelers and fellow travel provider clients are seeking confirmation that sustainability practices are in place.

Sustainability certification for accommodations is a voluntary, third-party assessment through an audit to ensure compliance with sustainable tourism standards. GSTC does not certify directly. Certification is conducted by Certification Bodies (CB) while GSTC provides an accreditation program through its partner Assurance Services International to accredit Certification Bodies.

Accommodations certified by a GSTC-Accredited CB can use the GSTC logo along with the CB’s mark. The logos are also shared with OTAs and other buyers of hotel space.

Learn more about how to become certified as a sustainable accommodation .

GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training

You can also join one of the regular GSTC courses:

  • Want to gain in-depth knowledge of the GSTC Criteria and understand sustainable tourism? The GSTC Sustainable Tourism course is for you.
  • Engaged with corporate and business travel? The GSTC Sustainable Business Travel course is for you.
  • Are you a hotelier or work in the hospitality sector? GSTC Sustainable Hotel course

✓ Gain in-depth knowledge of the GSTC Criteria, the global standard for sustainability in travel and tourism. ✓ Make informed decisions on how to implement sustainability practices for your company or destination. ✓ Get ready for developing viable and actionable sustainable tourism policies and practices for your organization.

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GSTC Japan Members Meeting to be held on the 13th of May, 2024

GSTC Japan Members Meeting to be held on the 13th of May, 2024

Booking.com Ends ‘Possibly Misleading’ Sustainability Program

Dennis Schaal , Skift

March 25th, 2024 at 4:15 PM EDT

Booking.com's Travel Sustainable program ran into a regulatory buzzsaw.

Dennis Schaal

Booking.com initiated a program in 2021 to highlight properties that were standouts in their sustainability practices – on Monday, it began removing its badges from listings in response to regulators in the Netherlands.

Booking’s program was called “Travel Sustainable” and designated properties with scores between 1 and 3+ as well as green leaves badges. On March 25, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets said the program “was a possibly misleading sustainability claim.” Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam.

“It implies that traveling and staying at one of the program-affiliated accommodations are sustainable, even though this is incorrect,” the regulator found. “The use of the green leaf reinforces this implication.”

The consumer authority found that the program gave a “distorted” view of hotels that Booking didn’t provide with green leaves designations because these properties might be carrying out sustainable practices that weren’t recognized.

The Travel Sustainable program didn’t clearly state the basis of the scores and erroneously credited properties with measures, such as not using single-use plastics, that were already required under European Union law, the regulator stated.

“It’s important that companies use clear, correct and relevant sustainability claims,” said the regulator’s director, Edwin van Houten, in a statement. “Consumers are more and more aware of the impact that they themselves have on the climate, including when traveling. That is why, when choosing accommodations, consumers must be able to understand and rely on the sustainability claims that are used.”

Sustainability Badges Are Being Removed

In April 2022, Booking.com reported that more than 100,000 properties listed on its site had received a Travel Sustainable badge, and the company was recognizing them for their sustainability efforts. That was more than 25% of the 400,000 “hotels, motels and resorts” listed on Booking.com that year.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets said Monday that Booking.com was taking that sustainability program “offline,” adding that the company informed the regulator that “they are working on an improved system.”

A Booking.com spokesperson downplayed the end of the Travel Sustainable program.

“This work is not changing, but how it is displayed will change slightly,” the spokesperson said. “We will now include official certification notices for those partners who are certified by government-approved third party sustainability bodies. For those that don’t quite meet levels for official certification, we will still include information on some of the steps they are taking for consumers. But we won’t have the leaf tiered system.”

The Booking.com spokesperson added that the company’s strategy will be the same: It wants to educate partners, including hotels, on sustainability practices, and highlight hotels to travelers that engage in sustainable practices.

What Booking.com Is Telling Hotels

Booking.com has an FAQ for partners about the “evolution” of its sustainability program, and stated that it will be relying more heavily on third-party certifications.

The company acknowledged that the Travel Sustainable name will be gone. “This shift ensures consistency and clarity to help make it easier for travellers to make informed choices that are more sustainable,” Booking.com stated.

Booking.com will display properties’ third-party certifications and travelers will continue to be able to search via a filter for properties that have such certifications.

Booking.com said properties will continue to be able to highlight their sustainable practices on their property pages on Booking.com. “You’ll remain in control of editing and managing the practices you share with us,” Booking.com stated.

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Tags: booking holdings , booking.com , online travel newsletter , regulations , sustainability , the future of lodging

Photo credit: Many travelers want to choose hotels practicing sustainability. Source: raw pixel/freepik https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/hands-holding-out-small-globe_2861182.htm#query=sustainable%20travel&position=5&from_view=search&track=ais rawpixel / Freepik

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Vacation Rentals: How to Shrink Your Carbon Footprint

An illustration shows a woman from above, lying on the deck of a tall urban apartment building, reading a book. Birds fly around her, and plants surround her. A grouping of solar panels is in one corner of the deck. Many stories below her, is a busy street.

By Elaine Glusac

Elaine Glusac is the Frugal Traveler columnist, focusing on budget-friendly tips and journeys.

Travelers choosing to stay in a vacation home instead of a hotel may have to spend more time searching for sustainable lodgings, but ultimately they will have more control over their environmental impact. The following are steps short-term renters can take to shrink their carbon footprint.

Search for sustainable rentals

The company Sustonica validates short-term rentals based on sustainability standards, including conserving water and minimizing waste. But it does not act as a search engine. Instead, travelers will find its logo on certified listings on platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com.

Airbnb’s rental categories can help travelers find off-the-grid options, highlighting more than 9,000 listings that rely on renewable energy sources or have no electricity, and Earth Homes , a set of accommodations built with organic materials such as mud or rammed earth.

Booking.com, which lists vacation homes as well as hotels, allows travelers to search for listings with sustainability certifications from more than 65 organizations doing third-party reviews of practices ranging from renewable energy sourcing to recycling.

The company said that more than 16,500 properties, a combination of hotels and rentals, have separate, third-party sustainability certification.

The vacation home rental platform Vrbo does not have an eco-friendly search filter, citing the lack of industry consensus on what makes a rental more sustainable. Properties listed by its sibling agency Expedia may say they are “eco-certified” and users can search using that filter. But read the results carefully; some listings lack information on their sustainable features.

Wherever you search, scrutinize the listings, said Bob Garner, the founder of EnviroRental , a service that works with short-term rental owners on sustainability practices. Do bathroom photos show shampoo in large, shareable dispensers? Does the description mention recycling? If the host has a separate website, look for press links or blog posts related to sustainability.

Talk to the host

According to Airbnb, more than 80 percent of its hosts say they incorporate at least one sustainable feature, such as composting, minimizing single-use plastics and providing guidance on using public transportation. The platform maintains a guide for hosts on sustainable tourism practices, with tips on things like creating a manual to direct travelers to local shops, restaurants and markets.

“When you think you’ve found the right property, ask some questions,” Mr. Garner said. “If they can’t answer them, then there’s a red flag.”

Just the act of asking about environmentally friendly features can have a lasting effect.

“If they think you care, there’s a greater chance of moving the needle,” said Diane Daniel, the founder of Vacation Donations , a nonprofit that encourages short-term renters to donate leftover food in the Tampa, Fla., area.

Consider a pedestrian- or public-transit-friendly location

Even if you can’t find a solar-powered stay, you can choose a location that allows you to get around with minimal emissions.

Connect your “environmental consciousness with the idea of being a good traveler,” said Beth Santos, the chief executive of Wanderful , a global women’s travel community, and the author of “Wander Woman: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World, Solo.”

She recommends travelers live like locals, including taking public transportation, visiting neighborhoods beyond city centers and patronizing small businesses. Take a “day zero,” or a single unscheduled day to walk the neighborhood to find nearby shops as well as transportation options.

Conserve energy

Conserve energy by turning air conditioning off or down when you’re out, switching off lights when you leave and turning off the tap while you brush your teeth.

“This could be one area where you say, ‘I don’t care, I’m on vacation,’” Ms. Daniel said. But travelers should stay vigilant, she said. “Short-term rentals are the easiest places to regulate your footprint, because it’s really up to you.”

Plan meals, reduce waste

Renters usually have the option of cooking meals. To avoid food waste , plan meals and shop for them as you go — and as plans change — rather than buying everything at once. Bring staples like salt and pepper and ask the host if the kitchen is stocked with other supplies like cooking oil and coffee.

“Buying slowly over the week as you need things is a really nice experience if you’re in a location where they’ve got some nice delicacies and interesting farm shops,” Mr. Garner said.

Ms. Santos of Wanderful recommends packing a collapsible food container. “You can throw it in your luggage, take home leftovers and have a place to reheat them,” she said.

Donate leftover food

Take as much leftover food home as you can and look for food pantries that accept donations for whatever you can’t take.

“Perishables are very challenging unless you’re near a pantry that takes them and is open when you’re checking out,” said Ms. Daniel of Vacation Donations.

Don’t assume the cleaner wants your food. In a pinch, Ms. Daniel recommends knocking on neighbors’ doors if you’re staying in an apartment building, or searching Facebook for local groups seeking food donations.

Consider ‘community offsets’

Carbon offset programs invest in activities like tree farming that reduce carbon in an amount matching the emissions generated by a trip. But it’s a controversial practice that has led to inflated, if not bogus, claims of carbon mitigation.

Instead, consider donating your time to a local cause in the area where you’re renting.

“Community offsets or volunteering work are opportunities to spend two hours one morning of a holiday to help in whichever volunteering work there is in this local area, from picking up trash to feeding homeless people,” said Vanessa de Souza Lage, the co-founder and chief executive of Sustonica.

An earlier version of this article inaccurately described Sustonica, a company that focuses on sustainability standards at short-term rentals. It is not a nonprofit.

How we handle corrections

Open Up Your World

Considering a trip, or just some armchair traveling here are some ideas..

Italy :  Spend 36 hours in Florence , seeking out its lesser-known pockets.

Southern California :  Skip the freeways to explore the back roads between Los Angeles and Los Olivos , a 100-mile route that meanders through mountains, canyons and star-studded enclaves.

Mongolia : Some young people, searching for less curated travel experiences, are flocking to the open spaces of this East Asian nation .

Romania :  Timisoara  may be the most noteworthy city you’ve probably never heard of , offering just enough for visitors to fill two or three days.

India: A writer fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting Darjeeling, in the Himalayan foothills , taking in the tea gardens and riding a train through the hills.

52 Places:  Why do we travel? For food, culture, adventure, natural beauty? Our 2024 list has all those elements, and more .

COMMENTS

  1. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    (Shared from globalnews.booking.com)Latest research from Booking.com reveals how the 'pandemic effect' could finally tip sustainable travel intent into impactful action. • 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future. • Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren't ...

  2. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (49%) admitting that the pandemic has ...

  3. Booking.com 2021 Sustainable Travel Report

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with 61% stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future. According to the findings, travelers' day-to-day sustainable ...

  4. PDF 21

    0 3 Sustainable Travel 15 0 4 Sustainable Operations 23 Our Environmental Stewardship ... BOOKING HOLDINGS 2021 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT. GLENN D. FOGEL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PRESIDENT A Note from Our CEO 2021 was a year defined by continued hardship mixed with resiliency and hope. While the pandemic

  5. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    New research from Booking.com suggests that the pandemic has been the tipping point for travellers to finally commit to their own sustainable journey, with 70% of Canadian travellers believing people have to act now to save the planet for future generations. As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals

  6. The Momentum

    The company's 2021 Sustainability Report highlights their sustainability framework and progress made thus far. In 2021, Booking.com surveyed 29,000 travelers about sustainable travel. In 2021, Booking.com surveyed 3,390 accommodation providers about sustainable travel and found that 82% of partners we surveyed think sustainability is an ...

  7. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that Canadian travellers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with almost half (47%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and roughly the same amount (48%) sharing ...

  8. Booking.com Releases Sixth Annual Sustainable Travel Report

    As the world of travel starts to open again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that American travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with just under half (46 percent) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future. Interestingly, the United States ...

  9. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that American travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with just under half (46 percent) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (42 percent ...

  10. [Booking.com] Key Findings from 2021 Sustainable Travel Report

    Booking.com revealed key findings from its 2021 Sustainable Travel Report*. Marking its sixth year, the annual report contains insights gathered from more than 29,000 travelers across 30 countries, including 1,000 from Korea. ... To download Booking.com's full 2021 Sustainable Travel Report, please visit the Booking.com global media room. ...

  11. Booking.com 2022 Sustainable Travel Report

    Booking.com's Sustainable Travel Report 2022 contains insights gathered from more than 30,000 travelers across 32 countries and territories, highlighting that the impact of their trips remains top of mind, with 71% of global travelers saying that they want to travel more sustainably over the coming 12 months, which is a 10% increase over the company's 2021 data.

  12. Booking.com 2021 Sustainable Travel Report: the pandemic effect

    The recently published 2021 Sustainable Travel Report by Booking.com indicates that "the events of 2020 could be a crucial tipping point for travellers to truly commit to their own sustainable journey, both at home and during their trips": ...

  13. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future; Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren't enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not providing recycling ...

  14. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61%) stating that the pandemic has influenced them to want to travel more sustainably in the future and almost half (49%) admitting that the pandemic has ...

  15. Booking.com 2023 Sustainable Travel Report

    Booking.com's Sustainable Travel Report 2023 contains insights gathered from more than 33,000 travelers across 35 countries and ... The initiative launched in 2021 and is available to any kind of property from apartments to hotels and even treehouses that have implemented a combination of sustainable practices that meet the requisite impact ...

  16. 4 Key findings from Booking.com's 2022 Sustainable Travel Report

    And where there is interest, there is opportunity for providers and destinations. That is the message of Booking.com's annual Sustainable Travel Report, now in its seventh year. in 2021 we introduced our Travel Sustainable badge — a first of its kind in the industry. It already recognises more than 95,000 properties globally for their ...

  17. Booking.com Ends 'Possibly Misleading' Sustainability Program

    In April 2022, Booking.com reported that more than 100,000 properties listed on its site had received a Travel Sustainable badge, and the company was recognizing them for their sustainability efforts.

  18. Vacation Rentals: How to Make Your Stay Sustainable

    Conserve energy. Conserve energy by turning air conditioning off or down when you're out, switching off lights when you leave and turning off the tap while you brush your teeth. "This could be ...

  19. Booking.com drops sustainable travel program

    Booking.com has removed its "Travel Sustainable" badge recognizing properties for sustainability efforts following discussions with the Netherlands Consumer and Markets Authority. ... Booking.com introduced the Travel Sustainable program in 2021 and said last year it was continuing to grow. At the time more than 500,000 accommodations on the ...

  20. Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report Affirms Potential

    As the world of travel starts to open up again, Booking.com's 2021 Sustainable Travel Report reveals that travelers are more committed than ever to do so in a mindful way, with two thirds (61% ...