Choice Editing for Positive Impact

Itineraries for Impact Impact: Why Choice Editing is the next brave step in sustainability. 

Sustainability or eco tourism has long been sold as a separate product or an optional add-on. Adventure operators are pretty good at embedding positive impact into itinerary design but can we go further and deeper? 

What is Choice Editing?

Choice Editing is a bold and effective way to move sustainability away from marketing and into operations. 

Choice editing is a  brave technique as it actively limits choices at the itinerary design stage.  Put simply you design the experience to give prominence to the responsible choice. This makes the sustainable option the most appealing and effortless one for the client.

I’m an advocate for this thought process to become the norm for group and FIT organisers. 

Activating Choice Editing

A new study from Current Issues in Tourism called “Tour operators and climate change: net-zero goals and carbon risks” studies choice editing at a destination level. The report shows how tour operators can reduce carbon emissions by limiting destination choice to closer the the origin market and switching transport used to arrive at the destination. 

This would be a very bold move for tour operators and can work for those with larger destination portfolios, bit what if you specialist in one destination such as Africa, Asia or Latin America. Its just not possible to choice edit out whole destinations. However, you can use the principles from this study at a micro level to make your itineraries as low impact as possible. 

By working closely with suppliers, tour operators can co-design products with local partners (DMCs) to ensure the sustainable choice is also the best choice for your target market or client. This collaborative approach ensures that tourism is developed with the host community, providing a better economic gain and protecting the natural assets that adventure travel relies on.

Why Choice Editing Works

The underlying outcome of choice editing is to increase product sales and revenue while ensuring customers have a quality experience that meets their needs, values, and emotions.

When you operationalise this through product design, you focus on:

• Accommodation Choices: Choosing hotels that invest in sustainable infrastructure or clean energy as the default option.

• Experiences Choices: Prioritising experiences that are low carbon, are community based and immersive can enhance any itinerary and have a positive impact on the destination. 

• Choice Actions: Build itineraries that include low-impact transport or "plastic-free" initiatives as the standard and make it a company KPI to include these. 

  
  

  

  
  

The Long-Term Nudge

By actively giving clients fewer options and implicitly presenting them with sustainable alternatives, you nudge them towards understanding what a truly responsible experience "looks" like.

This does more than just sell one holiday. It can empower travellers to seek out similar sustainable experiences on future trips and even back at home, directly contributing to UNSDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

Are you brave enough? Could you embrace choice editing and become a leader in a competitive market and ensuring the longevity of the destinations we love to explore.

If you want to make a start on choice editing but need help working through your itineraries, check out my Product Review service to help get you started: https://www.justtourism.co.uk/product-review

#SustainableTourism #AdventureTravel #Operations #ChoiceEditing #UNSDGs