In December 2022, at COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance) launched a unique and unprecedented partnership for Nature Positive Travel & Tourism. This partnership built upon their respective initiatives – the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. (UNWTO, 2021), Nature Positive Travel & Tourism (WTTC 2022), and Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality (SHA2023) – and the shared understanding that the conventional scope of tourism must not only evolve but needs to take a pathbreaking approach. United by the Vision for Nature Positive Travel & Tourism, and informed particularly by the WTTC Nature Positive Travel & Tourism report and Toolbox of Nature Positive Tourism Resources, the partnership aims to unite the private and public sectors behind a single mission: to make Travel & Tourism Net Positive for Nature by 2030.
From July to September 2023, in preparation for its first joint publication (Nature Positive Travel & Tourism in Action, 2023) the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership and ANIMONDIAL hosted a cross-sector consultation of leading businesses, academia, civil society and policymakers. This consisted of a written survey and a workshop in which the results of the survey were presented to and discussed with the participants. The objective was to consider a range of viewpoints to help prioritise Nature Positive Tourism actions that not only foster sustainable tourism practices but strive to provide leadership in the transition to a nature-positive society. The findings from the consultation are outlined in this mini-report.
The Consultation
Of the 50 individuals who completed the survey, 38% were from civil society, including representatives from large and small NGOs and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and 34% from the private sector, including representatives of SMEs, multinational businesses, travel trade associations and supply chain companies. Other participants represented expertise in topics such as responsible tourism, biodiversity measurement, Protected Area zoning, destination management and Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
The consultation invited the participants to consider the priority actions and outputs required to realise Nature Positive Tourism. This included consideration of: Travel & Tourism’s risks/dependencies and impacts on biodiversity (in the context of the Global Biodiversity Framework); identified challenges for the industry in achieving Nature Positive goals and opportunities for tourism businesses to protect nature and restore biodiversity; and 17 suggested actions that the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership might be able to take forward to help the sector progressively reduce biodiversity-related risk, build back nature, and realise its potential as a ‘Force for Good’.
Quantitative results are presented below as a mean average of all participants’ feedback to the consultation survey. For further analysis, the respondents have been divided into ‘industry’ (private sector representatives, 34% of the total) and ‘others’, or non-industry (all other groups, the remaining 66%). These results were presented to the consultees in an online workshop, in which they were invited to provide additional feedback. Feedback from comments within the questionnaire and from the discussion at the workshop are incorporated into the narrative under the relevant topics.
In December 2022, at COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance) launched a unique and unprecedented partnership for Nature Positive Travel & Tourism. This partnership built upon their respective initiatives – the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. (UNWTO, 2021), Nature Positive Travel & Tourism (WTTC 2022), and Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality (SHA2023) – and the shared understanding that the conventional scope of tourism must not only evolve but needs to take a pathbreaking approach. United by the Vision for Nature Positive Travel & Tourism, and informed particularly by the WTTC Nature Positive Travel & Tourism report and Toolbox of Nature Positive Tourism Resources, the partnership aims to unite the private and public sectors behind a single mission: to make Travel & Tourism Net Positive for Nature by 2030.
From July to September 2023, in preparation for its first joint publication (Nature Positive Travel & Tourism in Action, 2023) the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership and ANIMONDIAL hosted a cross-sector consultation of leading businesses, academia, civil society and policymakers. This consisted of a written survey and a workshop in which the results of the survey were presented to and discussed with the participants. The objective was to consider a range of viewpoints to help prioritise Nature Positive Tourism actions that not only foster sustainable tourism practices but strive to provide leadership in the transition to a nature-positive society. The findings from the consultation are outlined in this mini-report.
The Consultation
Of the 50 individuals who completed the survey, 38% were from civil society, including representatives from large and small NGOs and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and 34% from the private sector, including representatives of SMEs, multinational businesses, travel trade associations and supply chain companies. Other participants represented expertise in topics such as responsible tourism, biodiversity measurement, Protected Area zoning, destination management and Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
The consultation invited the participants to consider the priority actions and outputs required to realise Nature Positive Tourism. This included consideration of: Travel & Tourism’s risks/dependencies and impacts on biodiversity (in the context of the Global Biodiversity Framework); identified challenges for the industry in achieving Nature Positive goals and opportunities for tourism businesses to protect nature and restore biodiversity; and 17 suggested actions that the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership might be able to take forward to help the sector progressively reduce biodiversity-related risk, build back nature, and realise its potential as a ‘Force for Good’.
Quantitative results are presented below as a mean average of all participants’ feedback to the consultation survey. For further analysis, the respondents have been divided into ‘industry’ (private sector representatives, 34% of the total) and ‘others’, or non-industry (all other groups, the remaining 66%). These results were presented to the consultees in an online workshop, in which they were invited to provide additional feedback. Feedback from comments within the questionnaire and from the discussion at the workshop are incorporated into the narrative under the relevant topics.
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