Silence is golden, green, and sustainable. Which is why we need to start shouting about it.

The silence of shutdown became much celebrated on social media platforms early on during the pandemic. Birdsong was restored to some of the great capital cities and experts are carrying out research to see if the newfound silence has enabled mating calls to be heard more clearly. We could have a cacophony of chicks around our cities soon if this is true. Silence has proved to be the golden lining of shutdown and yet it is striking that the quality of silence is rarely used as a way to promote sustainable tourism. As we begin our journey towards tourism recovery, we think it’s time to start shouting about it. 

Still waters run deep in sustainable tourism

Images of Venice’s canals, with a lack of its famous vaporettos, went viral when they became so clean under lockdown that the rare sight of fish hit headlines. This is because sediment in the canals, being constantly churned up by motorized vehicles, was able to settle and nature to reclaim its rightful place. In polar regions ocean scientists, and in particular marine acousticians, are monitoring the changes in whale sounds during a year when marine noise polluters have been silenced.

This new found love of silence for many people is one that will forever stay in the traveler’s psyche. This is in sharp contrast to the jargon being bandied around about ‘revenge travel,’ which is said to be a key travel trend post pandemic. It is predicted that people will travel with a vengeance as soon as they can, and literally take revenge on the virus. The language around revenge travel, which evokes stampedes and surges, frenzy and furore, is disturbing, not least because of the potential impact it might have on this gift of silence that many destinations are well positioned to offer.

Promoting places of peace

Before destinations jump in to join the revenge party, we urge them to start marketing their serene, silent spots. This is tricky, of course, because how do you market silence if you want to keep it that way? You use it as part of your sustainability strategy and vision, that’s how. Places aren’t just silent because of a lack of people. They are often maintained that way because of policies put in place and, if a destination has installed regulations to keep their precious places peaceful, now is the time to shout about it. Imagine a tab on your tourism website that guided visitors to places of peace, silent sanctuaries, noise-free nirvanas? That’s what we’re talking about. Or whispering about. 

European Quietness Suitability Index

In 2014, the European Environment Agency (EEA) devised a methodology to assess quiet regions, known as the Quietness Suitability Index (QSI). Who knew that there was such a thing as the EEA Expert Panel on Noise (EPoN), but there is. And part of their remit is to identify, designate and protect areas of calm. What’s not to love here in terms of destination content? Especially for highlighting quiet areas that are easily accessible from overcrowded, noisy urban ones. We may all want to flock back to the bustle of Barcelona or Berlin but when that reality of crowds kicks in, many of us will be keen to find a quieter spot nearby. 

The EEA’s report showcases various destinations, including Greece, where research identified 765 sites of potential quiet in the country, based on scientific criteria. In short, “almost half of Greece could be considered as having a high potential for being a haven away from anthropogenic noise.” It’s not surprising that the report identifies Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as having the highest proportion of potential quiet areas, based on their QSI criteria. More densely populated countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands don’t do so well, but this doesn’t mean that they can’t start promoting silent spots, within easy access of busier ones, as part of their tourism marketing. 

Selling silence in travel content marketing

There are many ways in which destinations can show off their silence in marketing content. They can start seeing birding as more mainstream, for example, and direct visitors to protected bird reserves or apps that they can download to identify birdsong. Imagine a tourism video that simply captured flocks gathering at dusk or dawn over the likes of the Bale Mountains National Park in Ethiopia, a country that is home to 39 percent of Africa’s bird species. Or the Caroni Bird Sanctuary in Trinidad and Tobago, a mangrove wetland where the skies are filled with scarlet ibis coming in to roost at dusk. 

Places with car-free zones can also be added to a destination’s ‘best spots for silence’ lists, with places such as Santa Catalina Island, California, Sark in the Channel Islands, Giethoorn in the Netherlands, and Zermatt in Switzerland already waking up to the benefits of tranquil tourism. 

Destinations with anti-noise regulations

Destinations that have enforced anti-noise pollution regulations should also be putting their silent strategies in the limelight. Weymouth, a popular seaside town in Dorset in the UK, has banned personal watercraft at Bowleaze Cove. Although this is due to concerns about health and safety, the reduction of noise pollution will be a definite unique selling proposition for the area. Such bans have also long been in place in some US national parks. In an article by Friends of the Earth, they said that, “the National Park Service will preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the natural soundscapes of parks.” It’s hard to find out which parks have actually banned them and which ones still allow them. So perhaps it’s time for destinations to break this conspiracy of silence with focused content marketing on this subject.  

The calm of cruise-free tourism

Noise pollution caused by giant cruise liners is not as well documented as their catastrophic environmental impacts and yet, as many destinations refuse entry to these vehicles of mass tourism, are they sharing their stories in content? Spain, for example, may be missing a content treat by not telling the world about their indefinite ban on cruise liners, and how the likes of Barcelona, Malaga and Cadiz are going to be boasting a whole new soundscape this year. Possibly forever, if they can see the benefits of a more hushed hospitality. British Columbia and the Seychelles have also closed their ports to cruise ships for the time being and, in the meantime, their much quieter port towns make for good content. 

If the Key West Committee for Safer Cleaner Ships wins an ongoing plea for a massive reduction in cruise ship tourism, having celebrated the joys of their silent seas during the pandemic, then the Florida Keys will also have a plethora of silent stories to tell. As will the barracuda and bottlenose dolphins, who must be having the best silent underwater discos ever right now.