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Communicating Sustainability: Behaviour-Based Strategies for Tourism
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Tatjana PetersSustainability is becoming increasingly important in the tourism industry. At the same time, practical experience shows that employees in companies, hotels, and destinations frequently encounter critical questions, reservations, or typical "sustainability excuses." Statements such as "Customers don't want it," "Sustainable options are too expensive," or "My contribution doesn't make a difference anyway" illustrate that knowledge alone is often insufficient to foster sustainable practices.
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Target-group-oriented communication to foster sustainable action
Findings from environmental psychology and behavioral research show that habits, insecurities, values or perceived goal conflicts have a decisive influence on decisions and behavior. Target group-oriented communication and positive narratives therefore play a central role in winning people over to sustainable action. Against this background, Futouris is launching the project “Communicating Sustainability: Behaviour-Based Strategies for Tourism” together with the Global Communication Experts (GCE) and the partners über:morgen – Atelier for future design and response & ability. The aim of the project is to develop a practical communication toolkit that supports tourism employees in communicating sustainability in an understandable, motivating and target group-appropriate manner.
"Sustainability communication needs to reach people at the point where they make their decisions. That is why we combine insights from environmental psychology and behavioral research with practical experience from the tourism sector. The aim is to create communication tools suitable for everyday use that help employees address diverse perspectives and make sustainability tangible.“
Tatjana Peters, project manager Futouris
Countering excuses for sustainability
The project focuses on developing sustainability profiles—or personas—that reflect diverse motivations, barriers, and communication needs. For each profile, the team is identifying typical objections, relevant facts, communication levers, and constructive response strategies, all of which are being visually presented as a set of cards.
A key innovative feature of the project is the development of an AI-powered "quick-response generator." This tool is designed to enable GCE employees to rapidly categorize common objections regarding sustainability and access appropriate arguments and communication strategies.
"In practice, sustainability initiatives often fail not due to a lack of fundamental willingness, but rather because of uncertainties, habits, or a lack of relevant touchpoints in communication. As an agency working daily with a wide range of stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality sectors, we consistently see the importance of addressing target audiences in a way that resonates with them. The typologies and communication tools developed during the project offer an opportunity to convey sustainability in a manner that is more understandable, accessible, and appealing. We are therefore delighted not only to contribute these approaches to the project but also to apply them practically and develop them further in our own future work.“
Dr. Rainer Fornauf-Scholz; Global Communication Experts
Practical communication tools for the industry
The materials developed will be tested and evaluated in collaboration with staff members. Subsequently, the results will be made available to all Futouris members and the wider industry via the Futouris Knowledge Hub.
Through this project, Futouris and GCE are making a significant contribution to strengthening sustainability expertise within the tourism industry. By removing barriers, fostering open dialogue, and developing practical communication tools, the aim is to convey sustainability in tourism in a way that is even more understandable, tangible, and appealing in the future.
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