Most Indians Feel Polluted Beaches, Overtourism Top Factors Affecting Sustainable Tourism: Survey

Most Indian travellers surveyed feel polluted beaches and overtourism, followed by single-use plastics and energy inefficiencies, are some of the top concerns that impact sustainable tourism, according to a report.

In India, the top practices most associated with environment-friendly or sustainable travel are accommodations using renewable energy and resources like solar, wind, hydroelectric and water, no single-use plastics and travelling to destinations that are not high-density tourist spots, said the survey report by international digital travel agency Agoda.

The Sustainable Travel Trends Survey, which was conducted among 18,327 travellers worldwide including 1,020 from India, has been rolled out to mark the World Environment Day on June 5.

When asked about what Indians associated the most with sustainability, those topped the list were renewable resources (36 per cent), natural cleaning products (32 per cent), and eco-friendly design or furniture (31 per cent).

Meanwhile, globally and in India, people consider governments most accountable for making positive environmental changes around travel, followed by tourism authorities and individuals themselves.

In India, 24 per cent of the total respondents believe the government is the most responsible when it comes to making changes to help travel more sustainability, followed by 22 per cent who cite tourism authorities and 20 per cent who said travellers themselves can bring in this change.

Read the full report published in Business World on 4th June 2021 here