14 Jul 2020
New sensibilities when it comes to tourism.
Reflections of the tourism sector when generating products and services. The tourism of the future, more sustainable and respectful of the environment.
Awareness has changed when it comes to consuming or purchasing tourism products and services. Since last March some aspects and trends have changed. In marketing, the different brands have adapted to the new demands and requirements. Companies have applied preventive protocols to avoid contagion from Covid-19. Some trends seem to be beginning to consolidate definitively.
In the tourism sector, especially, the consumer’s radiography has changed. The constant changes in the scenario in recent months have led to changes in our emotions. The desire to travel, see different places and enjoy new experiences is still present. All communication channels are closely followed to find out about the tourist proposals and activities presented for this summer season. The fact is that promoters and clients are trying to go out together to return to a certain normality after a rather difficult season. During the weeks of confinement, there have been many virtual offers and proposals, which have generated more desire to travel, but the uncertainty means that there is still not enough confidence to make long-distance trips or stays and have opted for proposals and offers of proximity. In this constantly changing scenario, it will be relevant to know the needs of the traveller to prepare proposals according to their requirements. Building the offer based on an emotional empathy with the customer and generating the confidence of the service and the destination will be essential to recover. As users consume more information media and more communication channels than before, making the offer or the tourist proposal arrive is a little easier. Tour operators, in general, have opted for a more emotional content of the proposal and with messages that guarantee that the establishments are clean and therefore safe, and that the measures applied in transport also generate confidence in mobility. Consumers are now more aware and have an ethical perspective and much more oriented towards mutual trust, sustainability and respect for the environment. Tourist brands and destinations, which had already begun to guide in this direction and create sustainable tourist programs and services, have now been overwhelmed by this acceleration in sensitivity and values aligned with #SustainableTourism and their tourist products and experiences already offer an awareness and sensitivity to the natural ecosystems of each destination. The tourism of the future is that which is designed by and for consumers. Making visitors aware of the importance of preserving the natural environment is the content of the messages to communicate the benefits of the sustainable product or service and its quality in the consumption experience. The World Tourism Organization-UNWTO provides guidelines for sustainable development
The thinking of travel is the thinking of mobility.
In a sustainable environment, the transport of each destination should be with means that have less impact on the environment. On the one hand, a slight increase has been noted in the demand for services and proposals related to trekking or cycling activities in a natural environment. On the other hand, in collective transport for tourist programmes and services, whether for leisure or business, coach companies have had to make heavy investments to adapt to the low emission requirements imposed by the European Union. The United Nations has urged governments, communities and municipalities to join in all initiatives aimed at finding solutions to reduce air pollution. In this sense, Avant Grup has made great efforts to advance in sustainable mobility. It has 99% of its entire fleet with EuroV and EuroVI motor vehicles, with a minimum level of emissions and in accordance with the maximum EU label.
Transport is one of the main sources of environmental pollution. An increase in collective land transport, to the detriment of the private vehicle, could drastically reduce both urban and inter-urban congestion problems as each collective transport vehicle replaces an average of 20 passenger cars. A bus/coach with the current EuroV/EuroVI engines required by the European Union emits 28.4 grams of CO2 per passenger, compared to 157.7 grams emitted by each private vehicle. The coach is one of the least polluting means in terms of CO2 per passenger with an abysmal difference when compared to the airplane which has an emission indicator 2.4 times higher.
Following the revival of some industrial and service sectors, the recovery trend of public transport is much slower than that of private vehicles (cars and motorcycles). The demand for public transport has been reduced by 70% compared to the 30% reduction in private vehicle mobility. Additional measures are needed to reduce traffic in the city, compensated by the improvement of metropolitan public transport and private collective transport services that allow faster, more agile, and environmentally friendly mobility. On an individual basis, active transport (bicycle or scooter) and other measures such as flexible timetables and teleworking should also be encouraged in order to reduce the impact of traffic in private vehicles.
The different tourist destinations, following the guidelines of the European Union on the one hand and the governments of each country on the other, have taken measures to reduce the environmental impact generated by GHGs. Each country applies restrictions on movement and some of them have been in place for a long time. In the case of Catalonia and, specifically, the area of the metropolitan area of Barcelona that is the most densely populated, the AMB, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the five city councils that make up the ZBE Rondes BCN (Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Hospitalet de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besòs) are reactivating the deployment of the ZBE Rondas BCN to avoid a return to the high levels of pollution that existed before the health crisis. The common objective is to prevent diseases associated with poor air quality. The new calendar and roadmap to continue deploying the Low Emission zone in the Barcelona Rounds will come back into force from September 15, as it was suspended on April 1 due to the state of alarm. From mid-September, restrictive measures will begin to be applied to vehicles that do not comply with the emissions regulations and the penalty regime will also be resumed.
The new Climate Change Law proposed by the central government indicates that all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants must have low emission zones by 2023, following the model of the metropolis of Barcelona. These measures are in addition to the demands for proposals from visitors arriving in the territory, which they already demand from the first search sustainable tourism for information on the tourist destination. All this has forced the different actors who intervene directly or indirectly in the tourism sector to adapt quickly to these demands and to anticipate the new requirements that users may request. The tourism companies and destinations that are best prepared and have innovated the most will be the most successful in the tourism of the future.
