Sustainable Tourism Law

164 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW percent act on this interest in the booking process, since adequate information is not available. 10 III.2. Tourists A large and growing number of tourists would like their holiday to be ecologically and socially responsible. Sustainability has become more important for tourists, but there is a lack of information for those interested in sustainable holidays and regarding which environmentally and socially acceptable offers have the biggest potential 11 . The Agenda 2013 shows how in tourism there’s a big gap between intentions and reality. Although a large number of travel offers present good alternatives to the “faster, more often, further” options, with climate-friendly trips to sustainably designed holiday resorts and accommodations, the travellers keep making mostly unsustainable decisions. In recent surveys, the proportion of those who care about environmentally friendly or socially responsible tourism is regularly over 60 percent. Nevertheless, sustainabilitywas the key decision criterion for only two percent of respondents 12 . So in the past not many tourists have looked at relevant labels. For travellers, these criteria are only of secondary or tertiary importance after the destination and the price. On the other hand, you can find surveys about the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), noting how sustainability certification is more important for Europeans, with 40 percent considering them to be “very important”. Younger consumers – those aged below 24 – can also be swayed by a resort having official certification, as 65 percent say it is “important” or “very important” 13 . Nevertheless, it is difficult for the traveller to find and book sustainable tourist services in the tourism market. An important reason for this was the lack of available information both in private research, for example on the Internet, and for travel agents in travel agencies. 10 FUR Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen e.V. (2014): Abschlussbericht zu dem Forschungsvorhaben: Nachfrage für Nach- haltigen Tourismus im Rahmen der Reiseanalyse. Verö entlicht unter: www.fur.de/fileadmin/user_ upload/externe_Inhalte/Publikationen/ 20140912_RA14_BMU_Nachhaltige-Nachfrage_Bericht.pdf, 21.1.2016. 11 Module topic of Reiseanalyse 2014, http://www.fur.de/ra/en-ra2018/previous-modules/. 12 https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/fileadmin/mediapool/2_Downloads/Fachinformationen/Profil/Profil20- -de-v07-Web.pdf. 13 https://www.gstcouncil.org/stop-think-discuss-survey-finds-65-24-swayed-resort-official-certification/.