Egypt ranked 4th for tourism sustainability performance

The market for sustainable tourism is set to boom, with two-thirds of travellers saying sustainability is an important factor when choosing leisure holidays, a new survey showed.

The focus on green travel comes as tourism is bouncing back strongly from the coronavirus pandemic, with the sector expected to reach $17 trillion by 2027, compared with $11 trillion before the pandemic that damaged the industry, a July report by Bain & Company said.

About 64 per cent of the survey respondents said that sustainability considerations influence their choices.

The report said 66 per cent are willing to pay extra for more sustainable offerings and 57 per cent would recommend a holiday destination based on sustainability considerations.

Looking ahead, 73 per cent of consumers surveyed expect sustainability to become more important over the next five years.

“The uptake in sustainable tourism is driven by an appetite to travel sustainably and make more responsible choices,” Karim Henain, partner at Bain & Company Middle East, said.

Bain has developed a framework defining the components of sustainable tourism: environmental impact (eco-friendly transport and accommodation), social responsibility (diversity, equity, and inclusion standards), and community engagement (contract with locals), he said.

The global travel and tourism industry is facing increasing pressure from environmental campaigners to reduce its carbon emissions given concerns about the impact of billions of passengers who are expected to take to the skies in the coming years.

The Bain study aimed to better understand the behaviour and preferences of travellers interested in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) as a destination. The research covered consumers from Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Saudi Arabia and China.