3 minute read
While discussions around sustainability in business have been ongoing since the late 80s, the travel industry has often lagged behind, with the cruise sector being particularly slow to show up.
Despite the growing consumer interest in sustainable travel, the cruise industry often struggles to offer and promote green options. A Time Magazine article from 2023, titled “The Cruise Industry is on a Course For Climate Disaster,” questioned whether customers booking cruises to popular destinations care about the sustainability of their voyages.
At Traveltek, we’re ramping up our sustainability actions at an organisational level. Still, recently, we wondered how we could better help travel agents and cruise lines tackle passengers’ unawareness or disinterest to make a more considerable difference.
To start these discussions, Traveltek launched a cruise sustainability survey in May to hear from frontline travel agents who play a key role between the cruise lines and travellers. The results revealed a disparity between the general trends in sustainable travel and the cruise industry – with a notable amount of disinterest by travellers seeking more sustainable options. Key findings indicated that 93% of respondents stated price as the primary factor influencing their cruise choices, followed by the destination at 85%. Sustainability was seen as mostly a secondary consideration, with 35% of respondents indicating its importance.
When asked about the frequency of discussions around sustainability, 46% of respondents stated that the topic of sustainability rarely comes up while only 14% stated these discussions are a common occurrence.
Despite any negative press around cruises’ environmental impact, bookings through Traveltek’s platforms continue to grow year on year. However, an impending demographic shift will bring new challenges, such as attracting Millennial and Gen Z travellers, who have been nicknamed the “sustainability generation” for their conscious spending. Targeting these age groups will be crucial for the industry’s anticipated growth and the need to attract an additional 4 million new to cruise travellers between 2023 and 2025 (CLIA).
Many cruise companies are investing heavily in innovative new technologies and sustainability practices to reach net zero targets, as detailed in CLIA’s ‘Charting the Future of Sustainable Cruise Travel’ report. However, agents still report that they face several challenges promoting sustainable cruises, with survey respondents rating it an above-average difficulty rating of 5.7/10. It would make sense why only 15% of survey respondents reported extensively promoting sustainability credentials, while 50% did not actively promote them.
We all have a role to play in addressing these issues. Cruise lines must enhance communication on green technologies and sustainable itineraries, involve passengers, and collaborate with environmental organisations to improve transparency. Travel technology companies like Traveltek can support these efforts by developing green search filters, enhancing data transparency, supporting industry collaboration, providing educational and marketing support, and leveraging technology for efficiency.
According to Positive Planet, only 2% of sustainability plans managed in-house are successful. Therefore, partnering with accredited organisations is essential for effective action and achieving sustainability goals.
By taking these steps, the cruise industry can move closer to aligning with broader sustainability trends and consumer expectations in travel, allowing everyone to contribute to a greener future. Technology companies, cruise lines and travel agents all must work together to help support our mutual customers with the correct information, allowing them to make greener choices.
