Garry Wilson, chief executive of the UK’s third-largest tour operator, said such criticisms “have frustrated me for years”.
Speaking at WTM London on Tuesday (7 November) in a session entitled: Why Does Responsible Tourism Make Business Sense?, Wilson argued that “if done properly” larger resorts had the opportunity to lead on areas such as minimising food waste, using locally sourced products, renewable energies and ethical treatment of staff.
Wilson said, due to their scale, larger hotels were able to have a “hugely powerful influence” on their local community, although he admitted “when it [all-inclusive] is done badly, it can have a terrible impact”.
Hoteliers are now making investments into sustainability from an operational perspective that weren’t being considered a decade ago, he said – although Wilson warned travel firms to “keep focus on the long-term”.
Reflecting on easyJet’s roadmap to net-zero by 2050 published last year, he urged businesses to make sure their plans stood up scrutiny, would still be relevant in the years to come, and not to worry about short-term success.
“Don’t be guided by anyone but yourself. If you end up listening to the noise, you can go from one idea to another,” said Wilson. “You can’t manage a business quarter to quarter – you need to set clear KPIs and clear targets. When you’re focusing 20 or 30 years into the future [like the roadmap], it has to stand up.”
Asked how important he thought it was for travel businesses to use their sustainability work as part of the marketing to customers, Wilson said companies doing so should ensure they had evidence to back up their claims.
On the subject of so-called “green hushing”, a term used to describe firms unwilling to publicise their sustainability credentials, or who deliberately choose to under-report, Wilson argued that the aviation sector had little alternative than to continue on its current path towards net-zero.
“Does aviation cause emissions? Yes – but what’s the answer right now? Do you simply ground all aircraft for 20 years [until a solution is found]?”
Wilson also hit back at critics of the tourism industry, saying he thought the positive social impact travel can have in connecting communities and driving prosperity “often gets overlooked”.
