How does sustainable travel work?  

Oil pollution, coral destruction and displaced fish: In May 2022, the Thai authorities closed Maya Bay after reopening the beautiful bay to tourists for 5 months after 2 years. Nevertheless, such news unfortunately keeps finding its way into the headlines and shows how mass tourism takes place at a considerable cost to nature. As a result, the risk is increasing that mass tourism will destroy ecosystems and the environment to such an extent that no more generations will be able to visit these travel destinations in the future. It is therefore in the interest of locals, travelers and travel providers alike to campaign for more environmental protection measures. Accordingly, hotels are increasingly relying on sustainability standards to make tourism environmentally friendly and sustainable. In this blog post, we will tell you how you can travel sustainably and what can help you with your search.  

Can tourism be sustainable? 

Basically, man always intervenes in the environment with his existence and leaves his traces, even in his home country. Tourism thrives on offering travelers a contrast to everyday life, for example by spending their vacation in nature. But the desire to travel to distant and natural places can become a paradox. Because it disrupts nature itself, as more and more masses of people travel there. In a sense, nature is exploited for the tourists' own purposes and thus "touristified". This is reflected, among other things, in the popular trend of wanting to travel to places that are as undiscovered as possible. 

However, the term sustainability must be understood as the effort to reconcile social, ecological and economic dimensions . Tourism helps regions to achieve prosperity and offers travelers a counterbalance to everyday stress. The aim now is to create long-term structures to enable tourism to be beneficial for all those involved and with as little damage to the environment as possible. To this end, more and more standards are being set and regulations are being put in place. 

The popular holiday island of Mallorca is struggling to curb mass tourism. A tourism law was only passed on February 11, 2022, which stipulates that no more applications for new guest beds will be accepted for the next four years. Hoteliers should focus on quality rather than quantity. In addition, the circular economy should be implemented at all levels. Attention is paid to water and energy consumption, waste generation and the origin of food. 

Sustainability is therefore not an end state, but a way of bridging different interests with a view to the future. In other words, sustainability means: 

“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.” 

How to make sustainable hotel choices easier 

During your vacation, the hotel room becomes your second home. Your sustainable journey begins with the active decision to stay in a hotel that fully implements sustainability. After all, hotels form the infrastructure for tourism. 

Travel portals like faircations make it easier for you to find sustainable hotels, which can save you a lot of time. You also support the development of the hotel industry into a responsible future. 

At faircations you can put together your own vacation from a hotel, flight or tour. Faircations pays attention to fair CO2 compensation and sustainably certified hotels. In addition, 1% of the travel price is donated to a social or ecological project in your vacation destination. 

You can find more information about faircations at: https://faircations.de/about/sustainableTravel

Tips for Sustainable Travel 

So that you know what to look out for when traveling sustainably, we have put together a few tips for you here together with the sustainable travel portal faircations . 

 

1. Transport / Mobility 

• Avoid flights if possible, otherwise prefer direct flights, fly economy class, compensate flights e.g. via Atmosfair, 
• travel with little luggage, 
• travel countercyclically to relieve travel flows, 
• use local public transport, 
• prefer to travel less and stay longer at your destination. 

 

2. Energy and resource consumption 

• Live resource-efficiently: pay attention to your own water and energy consumption, 
• Do not change towels in the hotel every day, 
• Choose hotels that use green electricity. 

 

3. Waste avoidance 

• Have your own water bottle / jute bag in your luggage, 
• Avoid garbage / collect it at your holiday destination, 
• Use sunscreen without microplastics, 
• Choose hotels that implement recycling and composting. 

 

4. Regionality 

• Choose hotels that source regional products and services that have been produced locally, 
• Prefer destinations with regional networks, 
• Avoid mass tourism. 

 

5. Social compatibility 

• pay tips, 
• Before taking photos of people, ask if it is okay, 
• Learn basic words in the local language,
• inform yourself about the culture and history of the holiday destination and respect it (e.g. adapt your clothing style if necessary), 
• inform whether the well-being of the population is being taken into account. 

 

6. Animal Welfare 

• No visits to animal shows / elephant rides / swimming with dolphins. 

 

7. Pay attention to the seal. The following seals identify sustainable hotels: 

• BioHotels, 
• TourCert, 
• GreenGlobe,
• Green Pearls,
• European Ecolabel,
• GreenSign. 

What rezemo has to do with sustainable hospitality 

With our rezemo coffee capsule made from renewable raw materials, we don't just want to pamper our customers from home. We also want to show guests in hotels and holiday apartments that they can enjoy coffee without plastic and aluminum capsules and that they don't have to forego quality or luxury. 

That's why we are an official partner of the sustainability label GreenSign, which has already certified over 270 hotels in 15 countries. Incidentally, there are 5 sustainability levels that differentiate how committed the hotels are to the three dimensions of ecology, economy and social issues. 

It is especially important to us that the hotel industry thinks holistically .

By paying attention to the environmental impact of a small coffee capsule, you can already set an example. 

Now we wish you lots of fun on your next sustainable trip! And until then, enjoy your coffee! 

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