Introduction

What is “circular tourism”?

Circular tourism is an economic system that tries to make the tourism industry, in all its forms, able to support the economic growth of tourist destinations without putting the planet’s future at risk. It does this by reducing the use of energy and natural resources, reusing waste from activities as products or as parts of other products, and using waste as direct raw materials.

Why is circular tourism important?

Linear and wasteful tourism sectors: Unfortunately, many people opt for wasteful and luxury-based tourism options, which in turn lead to excess waste (especially in urban centres) and take a huge toll on the local infrastructure. In this respect, the circularity of mobility (transportation), consumer goods, food, construction and waste management has become more imperative than ever before.

Unprecedented congestion, population density, and pollution: the availability of affordable flights made it easier for people to travel. This is great for making the local economy stronger, but in the meantime, the environment and infrastructure are facing a growing threat. It goes without saying that this development also makes noise pollution, air pollution, waste production and other problems in cities worse. It would be possible to infer from here that urban areas can be a good point to start circular tourism.

Destruction of natural ecosystems: It goes without saying that overtourism also causes a lot of problems in rural areas and circular tourism is the only long-term solution for both urban and rural areas. Most of the time, overtourism is the biggest threat to the plants and animals in the most popular natural tourist destinations. In numerous natural destinations, environmental issues led to the destruction of entire ecosystems. Among these problems, it is possible to highlight deforestation, exploitation of the soil and pollution. An equally concerning point is the absence of a policy aimed at raising awareness and protecting natural environments. More often than not, this situation has no possibility of redemption, for example, what happens to coral reefs around the world. As global warming and tourists have irreparably ruined them, corals are part of a natural system that is becoming extinct. These are just some of the environmental problems caused by (over)tourism and if no measures are taken, they will only worsen.

Malaise for local residents and violations of the authenticity of cities: Too much tourism affects mainly the locals, causing them malaise and disturbance. Across Europe, especially in touristic cities such as Barcelona or Venice, the phenomenon of overtourism has unleashed strong tensions among the residents. Inhabitants complain about the rising housing prices and rentals. In effect, they inflated them due to the spread of online platforms such as Airbnb. In the same vein, they underlined the problems, such as the disappearance of small shops, replaced by tourist shops, and the inviolability of their cities. All these made these cities less liveable and, resulted in the escape of residents from their native cities, which, according to them, have become “tourist theatres” because of their loss of authenticity. Apparently, this is also a worrying problem that requires immediate action to tackle.

Linkage between circular tourism and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG 12)

Goal 12 is about making sure that consumption and production are sustainable, which is important for keeping people’s lives going now and in the future.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution are all problems that have their roots in unsustainable ways of consuming and making things. These crises and the damage they do to the environment put people in danger and make it harder to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Governments and all citizens should work together to make better use of resources, cut down on waste and pollution and create a new circular economy. Based on this discussion, it is possible to assert that the circularity of the tourism sector has a lot to do with SDG 12 and can even play a key role in its achievement.

What would a circular tourism sector look like?

A place enjoying circular tourism would stand out through the following features:

• Smart and sustainable strategies, policies and infrastructure of the city itself
• Collaboration and transparency amongst sectors
• Open communication between hospitality providers and guests
• Integration of sharing platforms into tourism activities

As we can see, the circularity of the tourism industry is so all-encompassing that it includes energy, transportation, lodging, food, and even more. So, it’s safe to say that there needs to be strong cooperation between all of these sectors for the transition to circular tourism to work.

How can the tourism sector be made more circular, and what are the possible digital solutions?

International organisations, states, local governments, water utilities and water-intensive sectors are all critical to maintaining a secure and sufficient water supply chain. Nevertheless, when it comes to fulfilling UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation, the European Union has made little to no progress over the last five years.

Moreover, when it comes to water availability, water stress affects around 30% of Europe’s population on an annual basis. Droughts are anticipated to become more frequent, larger and more damaging as a result of climate change. With the EU failing to prioritise water quality and water scarcity rising as a result of climate change, urgent action is required to guarantee that water resource management in Europe adopts a circular economy strategy.

A linear economy against a circular economy

Natural capital – the world’s stock of natural resources provided by nature prior to their extraction or processing by humans – is typically used for material and energy inputs into production and acts as a “sink” for waste from the economic process.

This economic model is best defined as “linear,” in which economic players (people or organisations) gather and extract natural resources, use them to make a product, then sell the output to other economic actors, who discard it when it no longer serves its function.

The water sector often adopts the “take-use-discharge” approach in the linear economy, following this “take-make-dispose” paradigm, where water is “withdrawn” from streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, seas and groundwater reservoirs, as well as captured directly as precipitation. Water is then “used” within the water cycle by towns, industry, agriculture, the environment and so on, for both consumptive and non-consumptive purposes. Water that has not been used is “returned” to the river basin, either directly or via a municipal treatment plant. This recovered water might subsequently be utilised downstream or lost to the basin, depending on its placement within the basin.

Although the present linear economic model has produced unprecedented levels of development, it has also resulted in restrictions on the availability of natural resources, as well as waste creation and environmental deterioration. As a result of climate change, rising resource scarcity, and environmental degradation, there is a worldwide shift towards a circular economy, which focuses on lowering material consumption, reusing materials and recovering resources from trash. In terms of water resource management, the circular economy seeks to:

• Minimize water usage by practising water conservation, water use efficiency and water management. Use untreated water for another use. Recycle water for a variety of potable and non-potable purposes.
• Recover resources from wastewater, including sustainable energy generation and material recovery Regenerate natural capital via lowering water use and non-consumption.
• Ultimately, the circular economy concept protects the environment while also providing social and economic advantages; a circular economy may boost world economic development by $4.5 trillion.

Putting the circular economy into action

Several forward-thinking businesses in Europe are using circular economy business models that minimise water usage, reuse and recycle water and wastewater and recover commodities such as heat and minerals. They are also looking for ways to reduce water shortages, prevent environmental damage, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Finnforel, a sustainable fish farm in Finland, for example, employs recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) technology. The residuals from typical fish farming are discharged back into the seas, but in this closed loop system, energy is utilised to clean the water before it is released back into the lakes. Although the method provides cleaner lakes and seas, it uses a lot of energy. Finnforell has developed a comprehensive strategy to reduce CO2 emissions by using more and more renewable energy.

No company or sector can function without a water plan. The first stage is to determine how much water your firm consumes directly or indirectly via the supply chain, how it may be decreased and how water efficiency can be improved. After that, businesses should include everyone, both internally (workers) and outside (the supply chain), in contributing to the water efficiency strategy, measuring progress and reporting the beneficial effect.

The strategy, policies and infrastructure of a tourist destination are very important for the future of circularity in the tourism industry. It goes without saying that it’s very important for hospitality providers, tourists and everyone else to be willing to work together to reach the main goal, which is a circular transition in the tourism sector. This shows that integration, communication, cooperation and engagement are important parts of the circular transition in this sector. There are some key principles that are believed to facilitate the transition:

• Circular design models: One of the most important things here is the sustainable design of tourist facilities and activities, which is thought to be an essential part of the move towards a circular tourism system. People who work in the hospitality industry should be encouraged to improve their services by using new green technologies and systems. For example, buildings can be built in a more circular and environmentally friendly way by using solar, wind or groundwater to heat or make electricity. Also, there would be a lot less need for single-use disposable items if there were more sustainable reusable options. A survey of hotel guests found that using cloth towels instead of paper wipes does not always make guests unhappy.
• Use and life extension models (a good case of digital solutions): it is possible to implement the extension of use intensity in the tourism sector by prioritising a collaborative consumption model. Such a model highlights and prioritises sharing or leasing products and space. A good case in point is Airbnb, a hugely popular and profitable sharing service that offers a sharing service for housing and accommodation. Through this platform, it is possible to use temporarily vacated apartments and houses to their maximum potential. Having said that, there is a non-negotiable downside to this platform: landlords and real estate investors are now subletting apartments and even entire building blocks for the mere purpose of accommodating the tourist sector. This development is skyrocketing housing prices and making it more difficult or almost impossible for local residents to own their own flat or sometimes even rent one at an affordable price. The good news is that they have developed alternative options to counter these negative outcomes. One of these promising examples is FairBnb, an initiative that aims to boost the tourism sector in an authentic, fair and conscious way. Peerby is another good example of a circular and sustainable sharing-based service. It is also an online platform that brings people in temporary need of a specific object together (matching those in need with those willing to lend it). The existence of such a service is inevitable to help provide additional amenities for tourists who want to travel light.
• Value recovery models: Another equally important point for the achievement of circular tourism is to drive the tourism sector towards zero waste. For the achievement of zero waste, it is crucial that the hospitality providers strive for increased recycling and recovery of products, materials and food. It is possible to diminish food waste by giving away left-overs for free or for a small price. The existence of online services such as Too Good to Go makes it easier to transform the food waste of restaurants or hotels into meals for those interested. Last but not least, proper value recovery in the tourism sector is closely linked with access to the cities’ infrastructure and collaboration with the waste management and material recycling sectors. Involvement of tourists is believed to significantly help in efficient recovery and recycling of materials, which makes it clear that open communication between the hospitality provider and the guests is important.
• Circular support models: The development of digital technologies, which is said to be one of the most important solutions, can make a huge difference in the move to a circular tourism economy. This is mainly important due to the overt fact that proper advanced technology is a requisite for the organisation and streamlining of the city’s infrastructure. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) can help in the optimization of a platform’s services. It is undeniable that being able to tailor the content specifically for the end-user will help inspire and increase the impact of sustainable actions.

Further benefits of digitalization for the tourism sector (transition to circular tourism)

In addition to the solutions suggested above, there are some other ways that digitalization will help the tourism sector revolutionise in a circular way.

Although COVID-19 brought about some undesirable consequences, there were also some novel practices that were actually the result of the pandemic as a response to mandated restrictions and the lockdown. These kinds of practices are not an exception in the tourism industry, and they can even be considered a groundbreaking response to growing environmental and infrastructure problems caused by high levels of tourism. Amongst many, the introduction of advanced technologies in terms of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to create AR, MR, and VR for a planned (desired) destination offers a tourist a unique opportunity to feel the ambience of the place before he/she actually purchases a package to visit the place. This is actually not confined to the tourism industry but also encompasses other industries as well, namely the education, fashion and entertainment industries. For example, the fashion industry in Paris has hosted the first-ever virtual couture fashion week.

These special virtual effects have the potential to help create an ambience that makes consumers feel and experience almost the same way as in real life, which will give consumers the option to really choose to travel to a destination without leaving their home country. These technologies will benefit both the suppliers and the consumers. This in turn will tremendously further reduce our carbon footprint and have a positive impact on climate change; less air, road or sea travel. Some countries have already started this practice. Virtual tours offered by museums (e.g., Musée d’Orsay, Paris; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) are a good case in point.

Finally, it is important to learn the 4 R’s and practice them in our lives for the circularity of the tourism sector:

Refuse: e.g., if you were bombarded with marketing companies and ads offering big discounts to buy packages for travel destinations, say “No thank you; we can experience similar in our local area”.

Reduce: e.g., only if it is very essential or an emergency situation, do travel.

Reuse: e.g., try to find similar activities in your area or within your country that will serve the same purpose.

Recycle: e.g., go for recyclable items wherever you travel.

These 4 Rs will help the circular economy in our tourism industry in the long run and help us be more sustainable. Recycling is a crucial step towards ensuring the sustainability of our planet. By recycling, we reduce waste and conserve natural resources. When you recycle, you are doing your part to reduce pollution and protect the environment. Recycling can also create jobs and reduce the strain on landfills. Recycling doesn’t have to be difficult; start small by separating your trash properly and using reusable bags. Every little bit helps make a big impact on our planet. Make sure to educate yourself and others around you about the benefits of recycling. Encourage your friends and family to join in on the effort to make our planet a cleaner and greener place to live.