This text is part of the special Business Tourism section
Business tourists and the cities that host them are increasingly interested in sustainable tourism. In 2021, more than a hundred companies in the events industry, including the Canadian Convention Centers Association, for example, signed the Net Zero Carbon Events commitment during COP26 in Glasgow. They promise to hold carbon-neutral events by 2050 and to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. In Quebec, the Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance and Sustainable Tourism Quebec (TDQ ) announced the creation of a partnership with the objective of developing sustainable tourism in Quebec. A collaboration that should also benefit business tourism in the province.
“We will seek expertise from the Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance and Sustainable Tourism Quebec to be able to present a coherent sustainable development plan,” explains the general director of Tourisme d’affaires Quebec, Gilber Paquette. According to him, the partnership established by the two entities will allow stakeholders in the Quebec business tourism sector to better coordinate their actions in terms of sustainable development. “The goal is not to reinvent the wheel, but to apply the recommendations that they will give us,” adds Mr. Paquette.
“The objective of this partnership is to offer a common toolbox, but adapted to the different tourism sectors,” explains the general director of the Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance, Martin Soucy. As for business tourism, this involves, for example, offering solutions to hotel centers or even convention centers. Many levers are being addressed, and the Alliance wants the companies concerned to commit more than ever: “70% of tourism companies consider sustainable development a priority, but only 25% are organized to ensure the transition”, he says. -he.
A collective kit
Several tools are already available to businesses, such as a sustainable lexicon to enable all development stakeholders to agree on the terms to use. “We have also made an interactive map available so that travel organizers can plan stays focused on sustainable tourism,” announces TDQ president Sandra Gauthier. This card is also applicable for companies wishing to organize business trips to Quebec.
The next tool that will be made available to Quebec tourism businesses, whether business tourism or not, is a carbon footprint calculator. As this tool is more complex to use, users will be able to count on the support of TDQ and its scientific committee to tame it.
Moving towards a sustainable transition involves many challenges and the needs are not the same for all stakeholders in the sector. “Some small hotels will need more support than large hotel groups,” notes Gilber Paquette. According to him, transport and food will be the first aspects to address in the sustainable transition of business tourism. They indeed represent the largest sources of emissions in the sector.
The good news is that this partnership between the Alliance and TDQ will allow business tourism to achieve its objectives thanks to financial support from the government. Thus, the Business Tourism Development Fund has a budget of $2.5 million, Mr. Soucy said. According to him, by putting in place a tourism intervention framework from 2021 to 2025, the Ministry of Tourism has done a lot of work to raise funds.
Think about the regions
To develop sustainable business tourism in Quebec, Martin Soucy also believes that it is essential to focus work on the regions. “In Quebec we have our nature that sets us apart,” he assures. According to him, the reputation of the destination is an essential element. The other dimension it addresses is that of the customer profile. Sustainable business tourism should “increasingly target a client who shares values similar to ours”, he defends.
In order to be able to monitor the efforts undertaken by each actor in this sustainable transition process, labels and charters have been drawn up. However, the Alliance brings together more than 10,000 companies and around fifty regional and sectoral tourism associations. Monitoring them all is impossible and the biggest challenge this partnership will face will be to detect attempts at greenwashing, while taking into account the fact that not all actors will have the same firepower to begin their transition. sustainable.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.