The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how important travel and tourism is to many communities around the world. The pandemic has caused a major crisis for airlines and demonstrated how important aviation is both to tourism and trade. Many countries, particularly in the developing world, are highly dependent on aviation to bring visitors without whom many are left without livelihoods. Covid-19 has made holidaying difficult or impossible for many consumers. It has deprived many of their livelihoods and brought real hardship.

Decarbonising aviation will likely increase the cost of flying. In order to have a full understanding of the consequences of decarbonising aviation, we felt that it is important to talk with those responsible for tourism in destinations heavily reliant on aviation to sustain businesses and employment.

There will be a series of interviews hosted here.

Paul Peeters of Breda University explains the flight cost implications of decarbonisation to inform this series of interviews with destinations.

Out first interview was with Alain St Ange, a Seychellois politician who served as Minister of Tourism and Culture of Seychelles from 2012 to 2016, and current president, founding member and a patron of the African Tourism Board. The Seychelles is between a  rock and a hard place on climate change, it is threatened by sea-level rise and coral bleaching and dependent on aviation for its primary industry. Paul Peeters of Breda University and Chris Lyle of Air Transport Economics interviewed Alain St Ange.