How to Move Sustainability from Marketing to Operations
- emilybailey2003
- Jan 28
- 3 min read
Many adventure travel tour operator websites use words like sustainability, impact, responsible, do you use these words and do you move sustainability from marketing to operations?
The industry needs to build trust with travellers and reduce the say-do gap between what is promised on webpages and how you operate on the ground. Do this well and travellers will experience positive impact and demand, OK maybe not demand, but expect it on their next trip. Whether that is as a repeat client or with another tour operator.
If sustainability has to move out of marketing and into product design, supplier relationships and operations. If that’s where sustainability sits in your businesses - well done! If not, here’s some tips on how to operationalize sustainability.
From Greenhushing to Transparency
I often see examples of tour operators and DMCs doing great things as it’s just part of their business, but there is a slow shift towards supply chains and clients wanting and needing to know how you measure or record impact.
One of the biggest barriers I see is greenhushing. This can come from two places:
Unintentional: When impact is embedded in values and culture, but not yet translated into goals, data or processes - this can lead to struggling to communicate impact
Intentional: When great work is being done but businesses fear being called out on it and accused of greenwashing.
To navigate both of these, having structure to measure and report gives the transparency you need to be confident in your communication. No more vague statements but a company wide strategy with a roadmap to improve. Start doing this internally or use a framework such as BCorp, UNSDGs, Travellife or The Long Run to find your way.
Collaboration not Control
Traditionally, many tour operators have operated with a top-down mindset: product decisions are made in an office far away from where the tour operates, contracts are driven by price, and sustainability expectations are passed down the supply chain.
Embedding sustainability means adopting Sustainable Supply Chain Management, which can only work when it is collaborative and relationship building.
Co-designing products with DMCs and local partners so that tours are developed with communities, not just in them.
Two-way knowledge sharing, recognising that local guides and operators often know far more about environmental and social limits than head offices ever could.
Long-term partnerships, shifting away from annual price-driven contracts towards shared goals around the social, economic, cultural and environmental pillars of sustainability.
Impactful Itineraries
Marketing plays out the story around the itinerary. Product design is the script and set directions.
When sustainability is operationalised, it becomes scalable across your product range:
Sustainable Consumption: moving beyond “we recycle” towards reducing food waste, eliminating single-use plastics on tours and working with suppliers on refill systems.
Carbon: replacing generic offsetting claims with measured itinerary-level emissions, and choice editing itineraries to take away the most carbon heavy aspects.
Cultural cohesion: reviewing itineraries to ensure community tourism experiences are included (and genuine!) and visits to social enterprises or artisans are available.
These are simple swaps and can enhance an itinerary, make you stand out from your competitors and create some great marketing stories.
And all the above link to the UNSDGs (I almost got through and article without mentioning them!).
Strong Stance on Sustainability
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you communicate sustainability. But what you communicate should reflect where you genuinely are on the journey — not just where you aspire to be.
Sustainability stops feeling like a claim when it becomes standard across your business. Your business will be more resilient, build trust and create long-term value for you, your clients and your suppliers.
Don’t expect to do everything at once. It’s about putting the right processes in place so that sustainability decisions are made where they matter - shifting sustainability from marketing to operations.
If you don’t know where to start on your journey the a Web Review is a good place, check it out here: https://www.justtourism.co.uk/web-page-reviews
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