White paper on sustainable travel unveiled in Shanghai

Hospitality group Accor, global travel service provider Trip.com Group and consulting firm McKinsey & Company published a white paper on sustainable travel in China at the Fairmont Peace Hotel on Wednesday.

Titled "The path toward eco-friendly travel in China", the paper proposes that China's tourism sector could move toward a more sustainable future by adopting a set of measures across the industry chain.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, China is expected to have the world's largest tourism market by 2032.

The white paper stated that tourism accounted for between 6 and 8 percent of China's total carbon emissions in 2019. It also highlighted that Chinese consumers are concerned about their environmental impact and are starting to seek out sustainable alternatives to travel. About 85 percent of Chinese travelers rate travel sustainability as "important" or "very important", while 60 percent are concerned about climate change.

The white paper also proposed actions that travelers can take to improve travel sustainably, including booking sustainable travel options with certified service providers, spending more time in one destination, and cultivating sustainable habits such as changing towels or bed linen less frequently and refusing to use single-use plastics.

With regard to the hospitality industry, the white paper proposed that operators leverage technology platforms to make sustainable travel options more visible online, utilize labeling to ensure travelers are informed on the environmental impact of their actions, provide incentives to encourage sustainable behavior, and train employees to adopt a sustainability mindset.

"The Chinese tourism industry is large enough to take the lead in advancing the sustainability agenda," said Jonathan Woetzel, Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company and Director of McKinsey Global Institute.

"But the burden is not on the traveler alone. Long term change calls for collaboration between actors across the entire travel industry, from hotels and travel agencies to green investors and technology suppliers."