Communicating consciousness. How to do that?
Communication sustainable travel
How do you encourage responsible holidays that help the traveler to have a nice holiday and at the same time make responsible choices?
Tips
The Purpose Lab experts share three tips for communicating about sustainable travel.
Tip 1.
Share knowledge
It's quite complicated to go on vacation without leaving a footprint. Although the paradox of tourism may become increasingly visible, research shows that people will not travel less. They do so more and more and expertise is appreciated when preparing the holiday. The quality of your expertise (and service) is the most important added value in a world full of technology. So share your knowledge and be a helpful, inspiring and understanding friend. Write about your own experience and share secret tips, organize a workshop, mini-festival or open day or record a video that you share on social media. So show that they need to be with you to go on vacation with confidence.
Tip 2.
Take the benefits as a starting point
Traveling in a way that gives meaning to the country where you are a guest also has enormous benefits for the traveler. By explicitly naming these benefits, the choice will be more likely to fall on your suggestion because it serves their own interest and will also have a positive impact. When you book a tour with a local guide you not only contribute to the income of his or her whole family, you also come to places that are only familiar to people who live there. This gives you a glimpse of the culture of a country where you are a guest and you do something good. And a fresh salad with vegetables from the homestay's own vegetable garden tastes better than one that has been waiting for days.
Tip 3.
Cognitive dissonance as a motive to do good
The moment you are confronted with a part of you that conflicts with how you see or want to profile yourself. Cognitive dissonance. Many travelers set out with the best intentions and only become aware on the spot that their holiday also has a negative impact. Think of the pollution of plastic on beaches, disappearing coral from clumsy snorkelers or the pollution due to sunscreen. It can depress the holiday fun. Cognitive dissonance provides a motivation to take an action that restores the image of yourself. Many initiatives respond to this. Think of the win-win of beach clean ups that make participants feel good and contribute to the solution of a problem. On the one hand because the beach is made free of plastic, on the other hand awareness of where water bottles are staying is increasing and this may lead to the use of refillable bottles. So communicate about the problem, propose a solution that increases their knowledge and awareness and thus stimulate positive action to ultimately prevent the problem.
Duurzaamheid en duurzaam. Zo weinig mogelijk.
Finally, avoid the words sustainable travel and sustainability as much as possible. Your audience is likely to be overwhelmed and the concept loses its meaning.
