GREEN GLOBETROTTING

Amid growing awareness about sustainable tourism, more people are hoping to reduce their carbon footprint. Besides benefitting the planet, sustainable tourism also presents the industry with the opportunity to grow responsibly

- Naina Gautam

Nations apart, travel bloggers Shivya Nath from India and Serena Hejazi from Germany have common preferences when it comes to travelling. They choose land transport over air. When they do fly, they try to offset their carbon footprint. To help local economies, they prefer local guest houses and eat local food.

The United Nations defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”.

According to a 2021 study by World Travel & Tourism Council, the tourism industry accounts for around 8% of the overall greenhouse gas emissions. Being the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after China and the US makes India a major stakeholder in any conversation around sustainability. In 2023, global air travel reached 88% of the pre-Covid level. In India, on the other hand, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that the volume of domestic air passengers surpassed the pre-Covid level in November 2023.

Market for Sustainability

Sustainable tourism industry is gaining ground in India. According to Future Market Insights, the Indian sustainable tourism market was predicted to be worth $26.01 million in 2022 and is projected to reach $151.88 million by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate of 19.3%. It adds that the sales in the Indian sustainable tourism market represent 2%–5% of the global sustainable tourism market.

Agoda, a popular digital travel platform, in its