Dear Mary,
This is a new era of tourism. It is now 2043 and I want to thank myself for having the courage to live a life of my own. I am 59 years old and have five adult children. My children are now 24, 25, 27, 32 and 34 years old. My goal is a good and happy life within the earth’s carrying capacity. Finns are progressive in understanding the importance of lifestyles, and most Finns make more sustainable choices in life. My carbon footprint is already significantly smaller than it was 20 years ago. I travel with my husband and the families of my children. We have a holiday apartment Spain in Barcelona. The holiday home is an apartment in a block of flats, and it is close to the Aquarium marine center.
I have changed my mindsets and ways of working regarding tourism because I want to take responsibility for sustainable tourism. For me, the important tourist values are experientiality and environmental impact. When it comes to air travel, I prefer direct air connections and find out how the airline affects the number of emissions. The development is underway in air transport, that is, smaller airports collect passengers who come on feeder flights to the main airports. I travel to our holiday home for a longer period and therefore fly less in the long run.
I will also make use of responsible offsetting service providers and use carbon footprint calculators to assess my personal emissions. I get to know the local culture, meet local people, and try different food experiences. I’m also going to break away from modern-day commodities like my smartphone and email while I’m on vacation. I focus more on my health and spend more time with my family. I prefer local entrepreneurs and the services they offer. I eat clean and healthy local food. I use organic products and cook at home from fresh ingredients that have been transported from nearby areas. Tourism, and in particular related transport, are partly to blame for the acceleration of climate change. I am afraid that greenhouse gas emissions in tourism are so high that travel will decrease over time. Emissions from mobility are projected to increase in the future.
Many people use more ecological forms of travel and prefer local tourism, i.e., domestic tourism. Long air journeys have been reduced and people travel from Finland mainly by direct air connections to Europe, long-distance travel has decreased considerably. Many people in Finland travel by train, bicycle, and electric car. Ship travel and air travel have declined, although more energy-efficient solutions have been found and introduced. People have realized what is most important in life and take care of their mental and physical well-being holistically. People are less selfish and hospitality and serving people is a matter of honour that is not compromised at all.
People are genuinely present in-service situations and treat people the way they would like to be treated. People’s respect and appreciation are at the top of the list of priorities. Pulling together has a better world and hopefully this will continue in the future. Hospitality and people’s willingness to serve, as well as skills in the service sector, have evolved considerably. People have realized that customers want and need personalized service and people have different needs and interests. Attention has also been paid to people’s ability to pay, considering different financial situations, and offering services at different prices according to people’s ability to pay. More emphasis is also placed on people’s mental and physical well-being in the hospitality sectors.
We live in a world full of almost free, limitless, and clean renewable energy, and this will change absolutely everything. Renewable technologies such as solar, wind and other technologies have become the cheapest and most efficient of the options. A basic prerequisite for all activities is a functioning ecosystem. You can make a difference through your own actions, even if you are still afraid of the future. We must ensure that there is a growing ecological reconstruction. Together we will be most successful, and all citizens around the world must participate. It is also important that various organizations, civic movements, companies and public organizations and individual visionaries are involved in the reconstruction.
Yours faithfully,
Liisa