How clean, green and sustainable is tourism in NZ?

Sunday, 4 February 2024

Canopy Tours is the first zipline business in the Southern Hemisphere to gain B Corp certification.

Rotorua’s Canopy Tours is no stranger to awards, but getting B Corp certification “carries extra weight” as it epitomises all the company is doing to make the world a better place.

While it is best known for its zipline adventures and guided walks through native bush, the company has also run a conservation project alongside its business since it started in 2012.

It is restoring the forest to a pre-human state, getting rid of pests and predators, and working with mana whenua to transfer flora and fauna back into the area.

Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button says they are trying to address the biodiversity crisis, and it is an example of a regenerative tourism model as a portion of every guest’s ticket price goes back into the conservation project.

The company also has a focus on giving back to the community, taking care of its staff, and working to make the world a better place, which are all important elements of the B Corp framework, he says.

B Corps are businesses verified by the United States founded B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

Becoming a B Corp makes Canopy Tours the first Rotorua business, and the first zipline business in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve the certification.

Canopy Tours is an example of a regenerative tourism model, the company’s general manager Paul Button says.

It is now one of just a handful of New Zealand tourism-related businesses that are B Corps. Others include Lake Hāwea Station, the Owen River Lodge, and Akaroa Dolphins.

Over the years the company has won multiple awards, regularly topped TripAdvisor’s “best experience” lists, and played host to international celebrities such as Sam Smith.

But Button says achieving B Corp status “carries extra weight” on previous accolades, and he is “over the moon” with the achievement, which raises the bar for the industry.

“Getting the certification, which was a long and arduous process, shows we are at the cutting edge of tourism in our commitment to sustainability”, he says.

“It is cool to be recognised as an innovator in this space, and to show other operators what can be done.”

Canopy Tours may be an industry leader, but it is not alone in its commitment to improving sustainability in tourism.

Restoring the native forest its zipline adventures fly through is all part of the business for Canopy Tours.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa does an annual stock take of the Tourism Sustainability Commitment programme, which over 1900 businesses have signed up to.

This year there were 565 respondents, and 92% said they are contributing to protecting and enhancing the natural environment through guest education, staff involvement, or financially supporting projects.

Forty one per cent actively measure carbon emissions, up from 29% last year; while 87.9% work to minimise their businesses waste; and 68.7% support pest reduction on their land, or by other organisations.

Nearly 55% pay a living wage, while others offer benefits such as flexible working, accommodation, tor transport, and 82% encourage visitors to be good travellers in New Zealand.

The stocktake also reveals that although 43% of respondents have a sustainability plan, only 16% have a dedicated sustainability budget.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram says the programme looks at sustainability broadly, not just through an environmental lens, but socially, economically and culturally.

All these things need to be advanced, but there has been a “very pleasing uptake” of the programme, and 97.5% of recent respondents say sustainability is very important to their business, she says.

Treble Cones’ Ewan Mackie with a kārearea, which are being monitored in one of the company’s conservation projects.

Treble Cone Ski Area and Cardrona ski resorts, which is in the Queenstown Lakes District, is another tourism business which takes sustainability very seriously.

Several years ago, it got rid of all single use materials, and all PET plastic, from the ski fields. Next the public bins for landfill rubbish were removed, so guests have to take away whatever they bring in.

There are bins for compostable, recyclables and food waste, and that waste is composted onsite as it generates less emissions. Free public shuttle buses run from the base of the mountains to discourage private cars and reduce emissions.

Ewan Mackie, who is the company’s manager and sustainability lead, says it all started a dialogue with their community, and got them thinking about what more they could do.

The company has always been passionate about sustainability initiatives, but it was decided to supercharge the commitment, he says.

“Sustainability is now front and centre of our business, rather than an element on the side. We have committed resource capacity and budget to reduce our impact on the environment we operate in.”

Investment in new technology, such as energy-efficient buses, is part of that, and options for New Zealand’s first electric snow groomers are being explored.

A Southern Lakes Sanctuary project member working at Treble Cone, overlooking Lake Wānaka.

The company also works with Wanaka WasteBusters to rebrand surplus uniforms, and resell them at a reduced rate to address the problem of clothing waste, and to offer more affordable ski gear options. Any profits go into their conservation projects.

It is conservation projects which not just restore, but improve the health of the environment around the mountains that have the biggest impact, Mackie says.

“For us, it is about kaitiakitanga, or guardianship, of the land. We have planted over 8000 native trees and shrubs at the base of the ski fields, and we offer guests different opportunities to get involved.

“We work to trap pests, and suppress invasive species, in the area with the Southern Lakes Sanctuary project. We are also involved in a five-year monitoring study of the kārearea, the New Zealand falcon.”

The ski industry is incredibly vulnerable to climate change, and the impact of it is already being seen, he says.

“It would be irresponsible to not recognise that we need to play our part in addressing that, and in encouraging others to do the same, if we want to have a future.”

For Ingram, sustainable practices are important to the industry because the adage that no business operates in isolation is especially true in tourism.

Every tourism business interacts with the community and environment they are part of, Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Rebecca Ingram says.

Every tourism business interacts with, and often relies on, the community and environment they are part of, she says.

“As an industry we are sharing our special places with the world, we are constantly celebrating what makes New Zealand unique. There is a responsibility that comes with this privilege, and we take it seriously.

“We’ve always said that as our international guests return, we need to manage the industry in a way that aligns with our culture and our communities’ values and that respects our environment.”

The results of the latest stocktake are confirmation of the industry’s positive efforts in this regard, and show it takes its relationship with the environment seriously, she says.

But the Tourism 2050 strategy sets out further sustainability goals for the industry.

They include becoming net carbon zero by 2050, with progress in non-aviation sectors by 2030; having 95% of the industry measuring and reducing carbon footprints by 2030; and having the entire industry in active support of predator free and other biodiversity initiatives.

“We’ll be working to achieve these goals,” Ingram says. “We have been working with Regional Tourism Organisations and various sectors to upskill tourism businesses, and are in the process of developing more programmes to support more operators.”

The whole life cycle of tourism needs to be considered when it comes to sustainability, University of Auckland professor Andreas Neef says.

University of Auckland development studies professor and tourism researcher Andreas Neef says it is important to look at the whole life cycle of tourism when it comes to sustainability.

The industry needs to consider where tourists come from, how far they come, and the environmental impact that has, for example, he says.

“That’s because the airline industry won’t be able to green itself anytime soon. Sustainable fuel amounts to less than 1% of the fuel used, so there is no way it will get much better in the near future.

“Cruise ships, such as the Icon of the Seas, might be moving to liquefied natural gas which is cleaner than the fuels used in the past. But LNG omits much more methane and is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. So it is green washing really.”

Other questions relevant to the industry are where tourists stay and what they do in New Zealand, how much they travel round the country, and even what sort of food they eat, he says.

“Much of the tourism industry is driven by foreign investment, and that can mean local voices are undermined, or not heard.

“We need greater involvement, and contributions, from Maori and local communities around the type of tourism they want developed in their area, and about what its impact might be.”

Genuine communication and local knowledge is critical to ensure tourism activity is not destructive, and to provide authentic cultural experiences, he says.

“Restoration activities can’t be just fun, feel-good experiences that leave tourists with a warm glow. They need to be informed, respectful of the local ecology, assist biodiversity, and have real impact for good.”

Neef says overtourism, particularly in popular hot spots, can also be a problem, but there are ways to mitigate it.

Local government could restrict access to a location, or iwi could impose a rāhui on it, or a tourism body could promote alternative “secret spots”, for example.

The environmental impact of transport is an area that New Zealand needs to be careful it does not fall behind on, he says.

“The current government does not look like it will be prioritising electrification, but we need more investment in renewable energy, such as solar and wind, so our transport sector becomes more sustainable. Because currently it is not.”

While New Zealand has a clean, green image, there is a long way to go before that image is a reality, he says.