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Pins, notebooks, postcards... promotional items to support sustainable tourism come in many different forms. Beyond creativity, it is important to consider the environmental impact of these items and their usefulness, especially given that travelers tend to respond more positively to those who invest in eco-friendly ideas.
There is a growing number of environmentally conscious people, including within the tourism sector. The Deloitte study “Goal sustainability: new development paths for Italian tourism” highlighted that “64% of Italian tourists are influenced in their travel decisions by environmental and sustainability considerations, rising to 71% among those under 35.”
Therefore, those working in tourism must take these data into account in their business and marketing strategies. It is well known that promotional items are appreciated by travelers because they allow them to take home a memorable keepsake of their trip and the place they visited. But which products should they invest in? Which will be liked by eco-conscious travelers?
Fabric bags are an excellent tourism promotional item because they are environmentally friendly, easy to customize, versatile, and reusable. Here are some ideas for using them.
The role of sustainable packaging in tourism
As we've seen, Italian travelers tend to choose environmentally friendly tourist accommodations, but they also want more sustainable packaging. So what can tourism operators and companies do to meet these demands?
In addition to promotional items, they can invest in increasingly ecological packaging to reduce plastic use in favor of natural and recyclable raw materials.
Consider a restaurant in a tourist destination. The manager can choose eco-friendly packaging for food deliveries and cotton bread bags, washable and reusable, for in-house service.
A hospitality facility, whether a B&B or a hotel, can consider various eco-friendly promotional items for guests. For example, it might offer guests a customized printed fabric shopper filled with local gastronomic products or a cotton mesh bag with Oeko-Tex certification containing organic soaps and cosmetics.
The owner or marketing manager should research and understand what identifies and makes their territory memorable. For example, a hotel in Tuscany among the vineyards might gift a bottle of Chianti wrapped in a jute wine bag that the tourist can reuse at home, perhaps as storage or a plant holder.
A spa hotel might offer a welcome kit with cosmetics in a melange cotton bag that guests can pack and reuse as a toiletry bag. Each time they use the bag, they will remember the experience fondly and want to return as soon as possible.
Customized fabric shoppers lend themselves to many uses. They can be filled with tourist brochures to invite travelers to discover the area, or handed out at check-in so guests can use them during their holiday as they prefer, replacing single-use bags.
The fabric bag is also an excellent promotional item for territorial tourist promotion offices. Practical, lightweight, durable, and versatile, shoppers are appreciated and frequently used in everyday life.
When customized — with a recognizable slogan or logo of a city, organization, accommodation, or event — the shopper bag becomes a genuine communication and marketing tool. Tourists can take it home and, by carrying it, advertise the location, sparking curiosity and interest among others.
Why is it important to customize fabric bags?
A customized bag can capture people's attention and become an excellent advertising tool.
By choosing an eco-friendly material — such as cotton or linen — you also send a clear message showing your clients that you care about the environment and make sustainable choices.
To be an effective tool, it is important to carefully evaluate the right color for the shopper, as well as the size of the logo and the graphics. Visual elements are very important, and you need to know how to combine colors and fabric, also considering your brand identity. The shopper becomes a blank canvas to fill with distinctive graphic elements while keeping in mind the values it represents.
Finally, when promoting a place, it is advisable to create a design that represents the territory. In this case, it is best to involve specialists (such as graphic designers, marketers, and other professionals) who will conduct thorough studies to enhance it, highlighting the strengths visually as well.
The advantages of customizing a promotional item in tourism
Whether it is a pouch or a shopper bag, customizing a fabric bag is beneficial for all types of tourism businesses.
By customizing a tourism promotional item you can:
- advertise your business
- convey a message (using text, graphics, or a QR code)
- promote a place or event (useful if you are a tourist board of a city or region, or an organizer of a concert, exhibition, or festival)
Important national institutions have been testing the benefits of customizing fabric bags. For example, for several years the Uffizi Galleries in Florence have included fabric shoppers in their merchandise (some with Oeko-Tex certification) featuring prints of some artworks displayed in the museum.
This is an interesting example of tourism promotion because choosing these subjects captures the attention of curious visitors who will be inclined to seek more information about the artworks and the place where they can be admired.
A similar example concerns the tourism promotion entity Bologna Welcome, which distributes fabric bags that immediately evoke the Emilia-Romagna capital. The design is simple and stylized, referencing some famous architectural landmarks of Bologna and its beautiful piazza. The wording “è Bologna” instantly makes clear which city it is even to those unfamiliar with it, stirring curiosity and interest in visiting.
There are many ideas for using customized fabric bags to promote sustainable tourism: discover all the options in our catalog!
