Most travel industry sustainability leaders think net zero carbon by 2050 is an achievable goal, but most also think the industry currently is not doing enough to reach that goal, according to research commissioned by Amadeus.
The study, which surveyed 896 senior travel industry sustainability decision-makers in September and October across nine markets and seven segments, showed 89 percent thought the industry will be able to meet the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s net zero by 2050 goal, according to Amadeus. While 36 percent said the industry will reach that goal without any adjustments to current strategies, 53 percent said efforts must be “accelerated urgently” to meet that goal, the study indicated.
Most sustainability leaders said they are a part of that acceleration. Ninety percent of respondents said they either have a step-by-step strategy in place to meet their environmental sustainability goals or will be implementing one in 2024. Just under half said they will be investing more on sustainability in 2024 compared with this year.
Costs also are the largest challenge for meeting environmental commitments for sustainability leaders, cited by 40 percent as their biggest barrier. Thirty percent said lack of technology was the biggest barrier, and a quarter said it was lack of C-suite buy-in.
