Travel with an impact

Pre-COVID, travellers were already grappling with the environmental and societal impact of tourism and the enforced pause created by the pandemic gave them even more time and space to think about how travel impacts the planet and local communities. It saw destinations like the Faroe Islands announce they were “closed for maintenance” but open for “voluntourists” last year, while the European Commission declared that 2021 would be the European Year of Rail to promote sustainable travel across the continent and support the delivery of its European Green Deal objectives. Airlines also responded, with Norway committing to flying electric planes on all short-haul routes by 2040.