While there continues to be debate in the U.S. on the impact of global climate change it is a closed subject in the U.S. Congress and in much of the world, especially in the top markets for U.S. inbound travel.
Tia is moving forward on climate change issues because it is apparent that if global trends hold true, the travel industry’s impact on the environment will be front and center in the upcoming debate in the U.S. Congress.
For example, at a recent TIA Policy Council meeting, Michal Goo the legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council said, “Global warming legislation is coming. It’s happening and you need to be on the bus, you need to be at the table.” Goo urged, “And if you’re not at the table, as my old boss John Dingell used to say, you may well find yourself on the menu.”
TIA’s vice president, Public Policy, Rick Webster told a group in North Carolina earlier this year that the debate on Capitol Hill regarding the science of climate change is over whether we agree or not.
“Congress is now convinced climate change is real and legislation to set mandatory caps on emissions will likely pass next year and be signed by the President, regardless of who is President since all three remaining candidates support emissions caps,” Webster explained. “The travel community needs to be prepared in 2009 o take real stands on these issues and be prepared to play a significant role to help shape this debate and legislative outcome.”
TIA Primer
With that in mind, TIA started the process of addressing the impacts of the global climate change debate through creation of a Primer on Climate Change published earlier this year and available in the Public Affairs section of www.TIA.org. It outlines the political landscape for climate change legislation in the U.S., the travel industry’s general understanding of climate change and legislation that would address it, and the industry’s strengths and vulnerabilities in this are including actions taken proactively by a number of U.S. travel industry segments. The next step is the Travel and Tourism Sustainability Initiative, a partnership with American Express, that will provide details on what the industry is doing now to help direct future action.
Webster added in his recent speech that consumer expectations are also changing and we need to understand where their minds and hears are on this important issue.
The views of American and European travelers, for example, have marked differences. A travel horizons TM survey conducted last year by YParnership and TIA showed that almost eight in 10 American leisure travelers consider themselves to be environmentally conscious. Yet only one in 10 American travelers was familiar with the term carbon footprint.
By contrast European consumers have moved far beyond the concept of a carbon footprint and tend to be activists seeking ways to reduce it. The impacts of this European activism, according to another speaker at the TIA Policy Council meeting, are potentially ominous for travel to the U.S.
“The core of international global tourism now is Western Europeans going to warmer climates,” explained Peter Foxpenner, from the think tank, The Brattle Group. “And that will stop. They will basically stay home.”
Many U.S. travel industry sectors, such as the hotel companies, have been reducing their environmental impacts for several years without prompting from Washington.
“It is important that the industry realize that in many cases we have a good story to tell in terms of the activity already underway within the travel community to create a ‘greener’ or more eco-friendly experience for leisure and business travelers,” Webster explained. “Even absent federal regulations, many travel organizations are already working to implement new policies.”