One of the main priorities moving into 2023 in the adventure travel industry continues to be recovery from COVID-19, especially as it relates to sustainability.
As part of the continued pandemic recovery, community members are looking to reconnect with each other. Although some events in 2020 and 2021 were successfully held virtually, in 2022, interest was highly renewed for in-person gatherings.
Travel and convening to share knowledge are great ways to achieve the fourth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Quality Education. Travel, for many, is an expression of admiration for and interest in learning about our beautiful planet, which broadens our educational, experiential, and creative horizons.
Events are especially important in business-to-business relationships. 97% of B2B marketers believe that in-person events have a major impact on achieving business outcomes. Recent research also shows the importance of in-person interactions. Gathering in-person stimulates our brains differently than virtual meetings and produces stronger and faster interpersonal bonds. Holding events is an opportunity to facilitate bonding within our communities and support Health and Well-being, the third UN SDG.
While many meetings and much work can be accomplished virtually, the health and bonding benefits of deliberately gathering in-person are clear.
However, when considered through a sustainability lens, in-person events have some challenges. For example, the travel necessary to arrive, as well as travel that occurs during the event, can have a huge carbon footprint. The venue should have sustainability features like passive heating and cooling, natural light, and alternative energy. The proximity of event venues, accommodations, and excursions to one another, food and beverage and associated factors (plates, cups, food waste, etc.), accessibility and infrastructure, and education and communication all need to be carefully considered. Such sustainability considerations can be overwhelming for event planning on any scale, and especially when hundreds or thousands of people are involved.
Following the sustainability framework set forth by the United Nations can assist organizers in targeting ways to design events so they are as sustainable as possible.
While organizations have been increasing sustainability practices for years, interest is at an all time-high and the movement is only expected to augment in future years. Achieving the ever-increasing standards takes concerted intention and effort. International and national travel organizations will be looking for sustainability guidelines to follow, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a great starting point.
To better understand how adventure travel event components can be made more sustainable, Switzerland Tourism (ST) and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) partnered with the goal of making ATTA’s annual signatory event, the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), held in Lugano, Switzerland in 2022 the most sustainable ATWS yet.
This research report reviews the sustainability and survey results from the 2022 ATWS in Lugano, Switzerland, from the viewpoints of organizers and attendees. The purpose of this report is to develop general guidelines for hosting sustainable events in the adventure travel industry and function as a sustainable event manual on how to minimize emissions through different actions. While the focus is on providing starting points for emissions reductions, the aspect of emissions compensation is also discussed briefly.
One of the main priorities moving into 2023 in the adventure travel industry continues to be recovery from COVID-19, especially as it relates to sustainability.
As part of the continued pandemic recovery, community members are looking to reconnect with each other. Although some events in 2020 and 2021 were successfully held virtually, in 2022, interest was highly renewed for in-person gatherings.
Travel and convening to share knowledge are great ways to achieve the fourth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Quality Education. Travel, for many, is an expression of admiration for and interest in learning about our beautiful planet, which broadens our educational, experiential, and creative horizons.
Events are especially important in business-to-business relationships. 97% of B2B marketers believe that in-person events have a major impact on achieving business outcomes. Recent research also shows the importance of in-person interactions. Gathering in-person stimulates our brains differently than virtual meetings and produces stronger and faster interpersonal bonds. Holding events is an opportunity to facilitate bonding within our communities and support Health and Well-being, the third UN SDG.
While many meetings and much work can be accomplished virtually, the health and bonding benefits of deliberately gathering in-person are clear.
However, when considered through a sustainability lens, in-person events have some challenges. For example, the travel necessary to arrive, as well as travel that occurs during the event, can have a huge carbon footprint. The venue should have sustainability features like passive heating and cooling, natural light, and alternative energy. The proximity of event venues, accommodations, and excursions to one another, food and beverage and associated factors (plates, cups, food waste, etc.), accessibility and infrastructure, and education and communication all need to be carefully considered. Such sustainability considerations can be overwhelming for event planning on any scale, and especially when hundreds or thousands of people are involved.
Following the sustainability framework set forth by the United Nations can assist organizers in targeting ways to design events so they are as sustainable as possible.
While organizations have been increasing sustainability practices for years, interest is at an all time-high and the movement is only expected to augment in future years. Achieving the ever-increasing standards takes concerted intention and effort. International and national travel organizations will be looking for sustainability guidelines to follow, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a great starting point.
To better understand how adventure travel event components can be made more sustainable, Switzerland Tourism (ST) and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) partnered with the goal of making ATTA’s annual signatory event, the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), held in Lugano, Switzerland in 2022 the most sustainable ATWS yet.
This research report reviews the sustainability and survey results from the 2022 ATWS in Lugano, Switzerland, from the viewpoints of organizers and attendees. The purpose of this report is to develop general guidelines for hosting sustainable events in the adventure travel industry and function as a sustainable event manual on how to minimize emissions through different actions. While the focus is on providing starting points for emissions reductions, the aspect of emissions compensation is also discussed briefly.
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