The report, published by Travel Foundation with the Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality, Breda University of Applied Sciences, the European Tourism Futures Institute, and the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions, models the impact of different interventions. This includes technological advances, electrification, and alternative fuels. The report shows these could have the greatest impact on reducing CO2 in the decades ahead. The aim of the report is to provide signatories of the global initiative, the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, with a positive vision of tourism which achieves net zero by 2050.
The researchers describe a global scenario where the shape of tourism shifts, as future growth comes from the areas of tourism most ready to decarbonize. For instance, a traveler might take the same number or more trips a year, but they will typically be traveling shorter distances, opening up opportunities for businesses to target closer-proximity travelers. As well as flying, they will use more rail, electric car, coach and ferry options for their holidays.
Chief among the report’s recommendations is the need to include all emissions in tourism’s decarbonization efforts. The report also calls for a global plan to optimize tourism’s growth and distribution flows in a way that is equitable and compatible with climate targets, given that limits on the number of flights are needed. Without this, the report modelling shows that emissions from longest-haul flights will quadruple by 2050, accounting for 41% of tourism’s total emissions, yet only 4% of trips.
