Progress Report 2022

Progress in this category is being driven primarily through reductions in plastic usage in hotel rooms, bathrooms, and food & drink services. This is a similar trend as seen in 2020, when progress updates were collected for six large accommodation providers and one supplier. Less action is reported on logistics and service areas.

Trends in this category are similar those for elimination commitments as accommodation providers work to replace single-use plastics with reuse models. 60% or more of implemented commitments in rooms or bathrooms resulted in a full move to reuse models or reusable alternatives. Compared to elimination, additional focus areas reported include cleaning services and kitchens, although only a partial transition to reuse models is achieved. Suppliers also continued to work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to develop innovative reuse model pilots for the tourism industry, including the aviation sector.

Efforts are being shown by all signatory types to engage the rest of the tourism value chain to move towards a circular plastics economy. Accommodation providers report engaging primarily with their suppliers. Signatories with large networks use a range of communication platforms, most commonly social media, to raise awareness of the GTPI, as well as developing technical resources and sharing guidance and information on plastic pollution and management.

This commitment area received less attention than others; signatories typically prioritise plastic reduction over increasing recycled content. However, a range of recycling related activities were reported, such as supporting local recycling initiative or providing guests with bottles made of recycled plastic. Again, suppliers are the most common stakeholder group engaged by accommodation providers.

The approach to this commitment area varies greatly across signatory types. Accommodation providers focussed overwhelmingly on providing their staff with training or means to better sort solid waste, or on investing to improve their recycling rates (e.g. by installing on-site recycling infrastructure). 48% of supporting organisations provided training or technical advice to their networks to improve plastic management. Similarly, tour operators, travel agents & platforms also developed guidance materials and worked with stakeholders such as local charities or accommodation providers.

While 2021 was intended to form a baseline for measuring annual plastic reductions, disruptions due to COVID-19 and data gaps (e.g. missing item weights) mean that in practice it will take multiple years for a representative baseline to be calculated. Effort is required both from signatories to collect data from their properties and from the GTPI to provide relevant supporting information.

Signatories report significant challenges related to plastic reduction in kitchens. Service areas and logistics are also areas in which there is limited progress being made. Future research and capacity building programmes should be tailored to address these challenges.

While many report using social media, newsletters, and other means to raise awareness of the GTPI, most signatories could more actively engage their networks to bring new signatories to the initiative. The GTPI team should aim to exchange more regularly with existing signatories to ensure that the resources and support offered are useful, and to understand what else is needed to illustrate the value of the GTPI to tourism businesses looking to join.

Small and medium-sized enterprises play a fundamental role in the tourism economy, making it essential to secure their participation in the GTPI. However, besides announcing that they have become signatories, many smaller organisations show little active involvement with the GTPI, suggesting that they are not being effectively engaged or that the initiative may not be catering to their needs.