The needs for industry standardisation and government support were themes to emerge from a session entitled The Collaborative Journey to Net Positive Tourism at World Travel Market London.

André Russ, vice president, business development and sales for EarthCheck said the industry needed to “take some decisive action on how we actually refine what is travel.”

Picking up the theme, global sustainability director Jessica Matthias from technology company Sabre pointed out visitor numbers had always been used as a benchmark for success.

“We need to shift that narrative to look at how we are managing visitor impact. We need consistency on goals,” she said, adding there was “huge potential for technology to facilitate good travel.”

Already Sabre has a Travel Impact Model displaying relative average emissions figures to help travellers choose between similar flights. It hopes this will become an industry standard.

Technology was also a theme picked up by Peter Krueger, chief strategy officer and CEO, Holiday Experiences for TUI Group who outlined the successful introduction of solar panels across its own hotels in Turkey. This had not only had the positive impact of reducing emissions but also lowered the cost of energy from 12-15 cents an hour to 7cs.

He pointed out the group had secured government buy in for permission to erect the solar panels and hook them up to the grid. Of the more global picture he commented: “What is holding us back right now is destination governments.”

As part of the Travalyst coalition, Sabre is working with other travel companies, including its competitors, to bring consistent sustainability initiatives to the mainstream. Matthias said working with destination governments was the number one priority.

Among existing destination initiatives, the session heard how the Japan National Tourism Organisation has shared community tourism successes to help other areas. It has also employed technology to enable tourists to see how busy popular sites are in real time, and to match those interested to voluntourism opportunities on farms.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority told how a cross-border collaboration enabled it to encourage visitors to enter its larger neighbours at busy times to prevent overtourism.

An Earthcheck partnership, through which it has earned silver certification, has meanwhile taught the destination how to make a double-digit reduction in hotels’ food waste.