Luxury for all

We are happy to take advantage of air travel, cruises and whatever else is on offer - provided we can afford it. The providers, in turn, strive to ensure that this luxury is accessible to as broad a target group as possible. An entire industry is based on this. What this means for the environment naturally takes a back seat.

The travel sector takes up a large part of our lives. What adjustments can be made if we don't want to do without luxury?

Air traffic is the biggest chunk

Air travel is growing faster than the global economy (with a brief interruption due to the pandemic). There is also a trend towards more emission-intensive and longer trips, whereby the emissions caused by tourism are of course primarily the responsibility of high-income countries.

Thanks to cruises and air travel, it is currently impossible for the tourism industry to achieve the 2030 climate targets.

Energy-saving trends in hotels

In some regional markets in particular, there is a clear, very positive trend towards saving energy - albeit due to high energy costs. The focus is often on alternative energy generation. The counterbalance to this, however, is the additional energy demand caused by the generally high standard. Wellness areas, indoor pools and saunas are real energy guzzlers.

Overall, the question arises as to how a general rethink in the travel industry could take place. The intensity with which some tourism hubs are currently operating is not sustainable in the long term and is pushing the climate targets that are urgently needed into the distance.