Since the days of COVID keeping us all in our homes, a time where we fantasized about the first place we were all going to venture to when the world seemed a little safer, millions have hopped around the globe as traveling has gone to the forefront of many people’s minds, despite things like inflation and global conflicts in the world. This surge of people wanting to see something new raises the question. Can we have sustainable travel that doesn’t hurt our planet when we want to take a trip? The answer to that may not just lie in us and how we manage, but in how technology can help us.
The truth is, technology has already been at work in terms of smoothing out our travel experience for over a decade now. You probably know that company named Google, right? Remember when they got into the travel business by creating Google Flights back in 2011? That was only the beginning, as since then, they have become a company that can help your trip unfold one piece at a time, from flights to hotels to where to go once you’ve arrived, all the way to tracking down the best ride share. All of this being done on your phone and dismissing printouts of paperwork needed upon a trip. It turns out all of this was just the beginning, as the pivot has been from helping customers enjoy their trip to minimizing their carbon footprint.
In the last few years, we have seen the evolution of all of this, from airports recommending you just screenshot your boarding pass from your email to save on paper, to placing rows of solar panels on the outskirts of their runways. Airports going green are the future of travel because the process from point A to point B starts with them. There are airports from all corners of the earth that are leading the charge on going green. Denver International Airport in Colorado has Canopy Airport Parking, a lot that prides itself on having the largest green parking lot of any airport as it is powered by solar, wind, and geothermal technologies. To go a step further, Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden was the first airport ever to achieve carbon neutrality, all the way back in 2009.
It’s not just airports being smart; it’s your destinations as well. Many resorts and hotels all over the world have adopted a green way of thinking by adding solar panels to their buildings and properties. With this tactic, they reduce gas emissions and lower their energy costs. Many hotels are utilizing technology to assist their guests by having technology aid them in a more personal manner. Many Hiltons and Best Westerns have implemented “smart showers” that limit a guest’s shower time and turn on and off if a guest needs to leave and reenter the shower. Irrigation systems at hotels have gotten smarter with timed watering windows and planting drought-resistant plants and ground cover, which reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
If you’re avoiding the world of hotels and looking for a more secluded destination point, there are numerous regions of the world that generate energy from wind turbines. Anywhere from Block Island to the Jersey Shore now has wind farms off the coast generating energy. Or, just as good, but on a smaller scale, hydroelectric systems at eco-lodges provide renewable energy that does not affect the rural environment around them.
Let’s now highlight a company that has prided itself on sustainability in terms of travel. CWT is a corporate travel management company that works with organizations that are always on the go in terms of traveling all over the globe. CWT prides itself on its eco-friendly consulting methods and has the awards and acolytes to prove it. They’ve received gold and platinum Ecovadis ratings over the last decades. They’ve committed themselves to providing their customers with sustainable travel products and have taken part in signing the U.N. Global Compact. Lastly, they have an app called MyCWT, an app that helps simplify business travel. The platform helps the company’s customers do anything, like book flights, and more recently, helps track their carbon footprint during their travel experience.
As travel evolves into a more fast-paced environment for society, technology is going to need to stay a step ahead of us to save us from ourselves. Some regions of the world will adapt faster than others based on the influx of tourism and travel to certain destinations. The job is not done in terms of what technology can do to reduce what we leave in our trail when we travel, but as of right now, it looks and feels as if progress is being made as it shifts in the direction of a cleaner way of traveling.
Tyler Geis | Contributing Writer
