Full flights, airports abuzz with activity and capacity restrictions lifted. It has been an agonizing wait, but the travel industry has come alive over the past few months with the world taking to the skies once more.
The return of travel has been met by widespread optimism, and the post-pandemic recovery is set to be turbocharged by China’s reopening in early January. Before the pandemic, China was the world’s largest market for outbound travelers with over 300 million people traveling abroad in 2019, according to the United Nations World Travel Organization.
This is welcome news for Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines – historically popular destinations among Chinese travellers due to the region’s proximity to China.
Even as we celebrate the freedom to fly anytime, anywhere, by clocking in more miles to make up for lost time, we must ensure that we do it in a sustainable manner. While COVID- 19 has caused industries to incur unprecedented losses, it also gave the environment a much- needed breather during a period when going green has become a global priority.
As such, it is imperative that we approach travel recovery with a holistic lens, by not only acknowledging the impact of excessive travel, but developing ways to boost sustainable tourism.
When nature thrived during lockdowns
A little over two years ago, both mainstream and social media were filled with news and videos of huge swathes of flora and fauna flourishing in the absence of people. Air quality drastically improved in cities worldwide. The skies were clearer and had a deeper blue, and even wildlife felt safe enough to wander into towns.
Beaches and rivers were also cleaner with less human activity. For example in Malaysia, river conditions in Sungai Gombak, Sungai Way and Sungai Kemunsing were reported to have improved during the initial Movement Control Order in April 2020. Global lockdowns were saving the environment, contributing to a record 7 percent drop in global carbon emissions in 2020 from their levels in 2019.
However, banning travel is not the solution. But we do need to be wiser about it as the long-term health of the environment should not be sacrificed just for the sake of short-term profit.
Addressing ‘Overtourism’
One huge concern, of course, is what many have termed “overtourism” and its impact to the environment. This phenomenon is commonly defined as tourism that affects both the local population and tourist experience in an extremely negative way. These could be uncontrolled visitor numbers exceeding capacity, land degradation or unsustainable use of natural resources.
For example, Thailand’s Maya Bay was made famous by The Beach, a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It attracted about 2.5 million visitors in 2018, but crowds and boats ruined parts of the coral reefs over the years which, in turn, destroyed much of the sea life.
Water is also overused in many popular destinations – several of which are home to important natural landscapes. Visitors at Utah’s famous Zion National Park are showing no signs of slowing down, even as the region faces a drought in extreme heat conditions.
It is also estimated that 8 percent of the world’s carbon emissions comes from tourism – flights, boat rides or lodging. If anything, the pandemic, in forcing us to stay home, has taught us lessons when it comes to sustainable travel.
Supporting sustainable recovery
Encouraging responsible travel is one way to promote sustainable tourism. This involves making conscious choices about where to go, what to do, and how to behave while traveling.
What many travelers may not know is that supporting local businesses and communities while respecting cultural traditions also contributes to the effort.
Another simple way to travel sustainably is to use eco-friendly modes of transport such as trains, buses, or electric cars instead of planes. For trips that require flights, consider investing in carbon offset programs offered by many major airlines and travel platforms.
But travellers are not the only ones who can enact change. Hotels, airlines, and other businesses in the travel industry can adopt environmentally friendly practices. For example, hotels in Singapore are aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 by recycling food waste and utilizing solar energy.
Traveloka has joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in our effort to help save the environment. One of our initiatives involved supporting the Indonesian government’s plans to develop domestic tourism sustainably by planting 40,000 seedlings along the shoreline of Buleleng Regency in North Bali.
As a member of the GSTC, we plan to continue empowering the council’s mission to promote sustainable tourism standards within the hospitality sector in Southeast Asia.
We are in this for the long haul. The travel industry faced a unique challenge with the pandemic and have begun to pick up the pieces to thrive again. By working together, we can find a balance towards a more sustainable travel and tourism industry to weather future crises.
By Traveloka President, Caesar Indra
