Recap: A productive and engaging webinar on sustainable tourism
Ahead of the webinar, it was clear from the impressive registration numbers just how relevant the topic of sustainable tourism is for the industry all across Europe. In the end, 153 participants took part in the webinar on 25 June and gained comprehensive, real-life insights into the efforts made by tourism organizations.
Our best practices were particularly popular among the attendees, as we used these to show how our partners efficiently implement sustainable tourism campaigns on komoot. It was great fun quizzing our audience too, adding in an element of interaction and helping everyone easily digest the information.
Engaging with attendees during the webinar
From the outset, we always wanted this webinar to be an exchange of ideas – there’s a wealth of knowledge in the tourism and outdoor industries and we all benefit when we engage as a community. To help foster this collaboration and knowledge sharing, we ensured there were interactive parts to the webinar like a question and answer section where we could share our knowledge, hear from the attendees, and attendees could learn about each other’s methods too.
We also gained valuable insights into what those who participated wanted to get from the webinar – the top two requests were practical tips for implementing sustainable practices and ideas on how to use komoot to foster sustainable tourism.
This environment of collaboration and knowledge sharing was tremendously successful and we’ll be integrating it into future webinars, so you can always attend knowing that you’ll get the most value out of your time.
What is sustainable tourism?
One of the first items on the webinar agenda was to define the term, ‘sustainable tourism’: Sustainable tourism takes into account the economic, social, and ecological aspects of a region. The needs of guests, tourism organizations, the environment, and local communities all play an equally important role.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that tourism organizations worldwide are grappling with a major challenge: The constant growth of the industry means that the volume of overnight stays is unceasingly on the rise. In addition, 95 percent of tourists are concentrated on just five percent of the world’s land area. This has resulted in protests and very vocal objections against mass tourism – an escalating trend we are seeing at present.
One of the solutions to this challenge is by putting an emphasis on sustainable tourism.
Komoot and sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism hinges on a combination of ecology, social integrity, and economy. With a variety of initiatives, komoot assists tourism organizations in these areas:
We were happy to demonstrate many of the potential benefits of a partnership with komoot during the webinar. When asked what advantages they see in using komoot as a marketing platform for sustainable tourism offers, attendees answered:
- Improving visitor guidance (69%)
- Promoting environmentally-friendly activities (60%)
- Broadening audience reach (53%)
- Targeting specific demographics (43%)
- Integrating environmental considerations into storytelling (33%)
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Our commitment to sustainability
We, too, have been relentless in our efforts to protect nature. Since 2020, we have increasingly invested in nature conservation – both within the framework of our product and through partnerships with nature conservation organizations and associations.
We shared practical examples to give webinar attendees a glimpse into the potential for the promotion of sustainable tourism via komoot.
The Berchtesgaden tourism organization inspires outdoor enthusiasts with insider tips for hiking routes away from the tourist hustle and bustle. The result: Attention gets deflected from high-traffic areas towards lesser-trodden paths.
The Rhaetian Railway guides nature enthusiasts on komoot on how they can reach the starting points of bike rides along the UNESCO World Heritage route via train to promote eco-friendly travel.
An increasing number of tourism organizations have attractive offers throughout the year. This results in a levelling of peak travel periods and an optimized use of capacity in the hospitality industry. Sölden is a prime example of this: Outside of the winter season, visitors can look forward to an ample choice of trails, huts, and après-bike options. These activities get posted on komoot to attract exactly the right target group.
The Black Forest region is home to a large number of local wine taverns. The tourism organizsation aids the hospitality industry by creating routes that highlight these stopping points for meals and refreshments.
You can find more success stories from our partners in our news section. Take a look and get inspired!
Key measures to promote sustainable tourism
We were also curious to find out about the current sustainable tourism strategies that our attendees have in place in their organizations. These were the most common responses:
- 79% focus on regional produce and local supply chains
- 59% promote public transport for outdoor activities
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all attendees for their active participation and valuable insights! We look forward to collaborating with you to promote sustainable tourism.
Komoot: Your sustainable tourism platform
Are you in the process of structuring your sustainable offers and looking for the right platform for your outdoor content? Komoot facilitates holistic communication across your digital and print media, completely free of charge.
Reach out to us now and discover the benefits of becoming a partner.