Flights disappear from departure boards. Conference delegates cancel. Hotel operators revise forecasts. Small businesses, with little cash to absorb the shock, begin counting the cost.

Governments depend on tourism for jobs, investment and revenue. They should give the sector a voice in preparing for the disruptions that threaten all three.

The officials responsible for tourism revenues will eventually be asked to explain the damage. They should have a role in preparing for it.

Governments should give tourism ministers a standing place in national crisis and resilience planning, with formal access to security discussions that affect the visitor economy. In countries where tourism sustains a substantial share of employment and foreign earnings, that representation should be routine.

The economic exposure warrants it

According to UN Tourism’s September World Tourism Barometer, international arrivals increased by just 0.4% in the first half of 2026. In the Middle East, they fell by 22%. The organisation cut its forecast for global arrivals growth this year to between 1% and 2%, citing geopolitical volatility and economic pressures.

Behind those figures lies an uncomfortable question for governments: who is responsible for protecting the economic system they have spent years encouraging investors to build?

Responsibility is dispersed. Transport ministries oversee connectivity. Interior ministries manage borders. Foreign ministries issue travel advice. Other agencies supervise energy, telecommunications and emergency response.

Tourism depends on all of them. A tourism minister needs a formal way to bring those dependencies into government planning before a disruption exposes them.

That does not require access to every classified briefing. It requires a clear institutional mandate: tourism officials should help assess economic exposure, prepare contingency arrangements and coordinate industry participation when a threat could interrupt travel or essential services.

Security authorities must remain free to close an airport or restrict movement when necessary. Better preparation would help governments manage the consequences of those decisions, including for the people least equipped to absorb them.

Start with contingency exercises

If a major airport closes for several days, which alternative gateways can handle arriving passengers? How will visitors reach them? Who coordinates emergency accommodation, medical assistance and reliable information? What happens when booking platforms or payment systems become unavailable?

Governments should have answers that have been tested with airlines, airports, accommodation providers and local authorities. Smaller operators need representation too. A family-run hotel cannot be expected to maintain the crisis response capacity of an international airline.

The investment agenda needs the same discipline

Ministers are quick to celebrate new resorts, terminals and convention centres. Those announcements should come with a credible account of the infrastructure and services on which the investment depends.

Water supply, backup electricity, emergency access, communications and alternative transport routes belong in the assessment from the beginning. Public authorities should identify shared weaknesses; developers and lenders should explain how their projects will operate when normal conditions break down.

This would give investors a better basis for judging risk. It would also force governments to confront gaps that can be obscured by ambitious construction targets.

Europe has a particular interest in getting this right

Its tourism economy crosses national borders every day. Visitors arrive through one country, connect through another and spend their holidays in a third. A disruption at a major hub can therefore become several governments’ problem at once.

National plans need to be coordinated. Aviation partners and neighbouring countries should agree on procedures for rerouting passengers, sharing operational information and assisting stranded visitors. Those arrangements should exist before ministers are called into an emergency meeting.

There is also a political boundary worth defending. Giving tourism a voice in security planning must support safe and predictable travel. It must not become a convenient argument for indiscriminate surveillance, unnecessary restrictions or border procedures that travellers cannot understand.

Digital systems require privacy safeguards, clear accountability and practical alternatives when technology fails. Emergency powers need scrutiny. The economic value of tourism strengthens the case for competent government; it does not remove the obligation to protect individual rights.

Credible communication matters just as much

During a crisis, tourism authorities will face pressure to reassure markets. Their first obligation should be to provide accurate information: what is operating, what is disrupted, what remains uncertain and where assistance is available. Promotional language cannot substitute for operational facts.

The OECD’s Tourism Trends and Policies 2026 calls for more anticipatory and coordinated policymaking. Governments should turn that recommendation into an institutional arrangement with clearly assigned responsibilities, regular exercises and accountability for preparedness.

A permanent seat will not prevent a conflict, a cyberattack or an infrastructure failure. It can ensure that the officials responsible for a major source of national income help prepare the response.

Governments already ask tourism ministers to deliver jobs, attract capital and generate revenue. They should give them a voice when those interests are at risk.

L’article Tourism ministers belong at the national security table est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Yet public understanding of climate change remains uneven. According to the spring 2025 Climate Change in the American Mind survey, 65% of Americans were at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 29% who were “very worried”. Only 60% recognised that global warming is mostly human-caused, while 28% attributed it primarily to natural changes in the environment.

“Majorities of Americans think global warming is affecting many extreme weather events or related impacts in the United States, including extreme heat (75%), wildfires (72%), droughts (72%), flooding (71%), air pollution (69%), rising sea levels (69%), hurricanes (68%), water shortages (67%), tornados (67%), reduced snowpack (64%), water pollution (62%), agricultural pests and diseases (60%), electricity power outages (59%), and diseases carried by mosquitoes and ticks, such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus (58%),” stated in the research.

A similar gap between concern and understanding emerges in Europe. Findings from Eurofound’s Living and Working in Europe e-survey, published in December 2025, showed that 57.7% of respondents attributed climate change mostly or entirely to human activity. Another 22.3% considered natural processes and human activity equally responsible, while 16% attributed it entirely to natural causes and 4% denied that it was happening. These figures describe the survey’s participants, rather than necessarily representing all Europeans.

The underlying science, however, is far from new. In 1856, American scientist Eunice Foote demonstrated that carbon dioxide warmed more than ordinary air in her sunlit experimental apparatus, suggesting that changes in atmospheric CO₂ could alter the climate. John Tyndall subsequently established that gases including carbon dioxide and water vapour absorb infrared radiation. In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius calculated how burning fossil fuels and increasing atmospheric CO₂ could raise global temperatures.

The science is both clear and inconvenient. 

Increasing evidence shows that greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere are accelerating. About half of the total CO₂ emitted each year remains in the atmosphere, and the rest is absorbed by Earth’s land ecosystems and oceans. Meanwhile, the warming influence of long-lived greenhouse gases increased by 56% between 1990 and 2025, with CO₂ accounting for approximately 81% of that increase, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Air transport currently generates “only” some 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions, but this is of the same order as the total emissions of Japan, the world’s fifth-largest State emitter. Aviation generates at least 3.5% of the climate’s “effective radiative forcing”, with efficiency improvements still well exceeded by growth in traffic. Without markedly more effective climate policies, damaging emissions from air transport are projected to at least double current levels by 2050, the global “net-zero” target. Given developments in other sectors and without further intense remedial action, aviation’s share of global emissions is projected to rise to about 20% of the global total by 2050, with some sources indicating even higher proportions.

If we had invested resources in hydrogen as an aviation fuel, we might have seen much faster progress in developing clean aviation. Progress is being made but not quickly enough; hydrogen is being discovered trapped in underground reservoirs, continuously generated by Earth’s crust and mantle. The United States Geological Survey estimates global subsurface reserves could be between 1 and 10 trillion tons (with a median estimate around 5.6 to 6.2 trillion tons); recovering just 2% could satisfy global hydrogen demand for roughly 200 years.

In the last month, researchers at Oregon State University have announced that they developed BVR-19, a light-activated metal-organic framework (MOF) that produces green hydrogen from water using sunlight. This method removes the need for expensive additional metal catalysts and forms spontaneously in aqueous solutions at room temperature without requiring external electrical energy or methane-steam reforming. 

The case for investing in hydrogen is also made by John Coplin, former chief designer of the RB211 aero-engine and a former director of technology and design at Rolls-Royce. In an October 2021 discussion, Coplin spoke enthusiastically about tourism’s value and the need to fund engineers to accelerate the transition to hydrogen over the following decade.

L’article New hope for hydrogen-powered aviation est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

For travellers who need a visa, that journey begins at a consulate. How well that first encounter works deserves a place in Europe’s competitiveness debate.

A more predictable entry process could help Europe attract repeat visitors, strengthen business travel and spread tourism’s economic benefits.

The continent starts from a position of strength. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s October report, Europe welcomed 757.3 million international overnight arrivals in 2025, accounting for 49.1% of the global total. International visitors spent $835 billion across the region. These figures cover Europe as a whole, including countries outside the European Union.

The policy opportunity is to make legitimate travel more predictable, while maintaining the checks on which public confidence in Schengen depends.

European Commission figures show that EU and Schengen-associated consulates received more than 12 million short-stay visa applications in 2025, up 4.3% from 2024. Almost 10.3 million visas were issued. Demand is recovering, although applications remain below the 17 million recorded in 2019.

That gap needs careful interpretation. Changes in geopolitics, air connectivity, household finances and travel preferences all affect applications. Visa statistics alone cannot establish how many travellers chose another destination because of administrative difficulties.

They do, however, justify a closer look at whether Europe’s entry procedures support its economic ambitions.

The Commission’s 2026 visa strategy already recognises the connection. It identifies more predictable travel, digital applications and multiple-entry visas with longer validity as tools that can support tourism and business without compromising security. The economic stakes are substantial: the strategy puts international tourist spending in the EU at €515 billion in 2024.

Brussels therefore has a policy foundation. The next task is to translate it into an experience travellers and businesses can plan around.

Consider repeat visitors.

In 2025, 5.3 million Schengen visas permitted multiple entries, representing 51.7% of visas issued, according to the Commission. For an eligible traveller with a record of complying with visa conditions, a visa with longer validity can make a second or third visit easier to organise.

That matters to a conference organiser inviting returning delegates, a company arranging meetings across several European markets, or a family considering another holiday.

Member states should make consistent use of the flexibility available for reliable applicants, subject to individual assessment and applicable rules. A lawful travel history should help authorities process a returning visitor efficiently.

Predictability also requires better measurement.

The Commission describes the normal processing period for a Schengen visa as 15 days, with extensions to up to 45 days where further examination is required. Applicants may also need an appointment before lodging their application.

For the traveller, the relevant period begins when they first try to secure that appointment. Governments should therefore measure the full application journey: appointment availability, submission, processing and passport return.

Publishing comparable service data would help identify where additional staff, better scheduling or technical support could make a difference. It would also allow improvements to be judged against evidence.

Digitalisation offers another opportunity, provided it simplifies the underlying process.

An online application should reduce unnecessary duplication, give applicants clear information and make progress easier to track. Consulates need sufficient capacity to assess the applications that arrive through it. A digital interface cannot compensate for an administrative bottleneck behind the screen.

The broader commercial case is market diversification.

WTTC reports that 74.3% of international arrivals to Europe in 2025 originated within Europe. That demonstrates the strength of regional travel, while leaving scope to develop demand from further afield.

Tourism authorities should coordinate campaigns in markets where travellers require visas with consular planning. Before investing in a major promotion, governments should understand whether application capacity can accommodate the interest they hope to generate.

Airlines, destinations and conference organisers can contribute demand forecasts. Decisions on individual applications must remain with the competent authorities.

There is an equally important question about where additional spending goes.

Easier travel does not, by itself, resolve overcrowding, housing pressures or seasonal congestion. Entry policy should sit alongside destination management, transport investment and efforts to develop year-round demand. The objective should be greater economic benefit across more communities, with local capacity guiding growth.

Europe already possesses the appeal. Its opportunity now is to make the administrative journey match the quality of the destination.

A secure, consistent and predictable visa process would strengthen the proposition Europe offers visitors and give its businesses a firmer basis on which to invest.

L’article Europe’s next tourism advantage starts with a smarter visa policy est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

According to Booking.com 2025 research, which surveyed 32,000 travellers from 34 countries, 69% aspire to leave destinations better than they found them, while 73% want their spending to benefit the local community.

In similar research conducted by Booking.com, one in four (25%) said they would be willing to pay more for travel activities that give back to local communities. However, despite the willingness to contribute and connect, 34% admitted they didn’t know how or where to find activities or tours that genuinely have a positive impact on local communities.

This growing desire to support local economies is closely linked to the increasing demand for authentic travel experiences, with two-thirds of travellers (66%) wanting experiences that reflect local culture.

In conversation with Professor Xavier Font about the new ICRT.global methodology and what the certification processes have to offer.

As outlined in the 2022 Responsible Tourism Charter, businesses and destinations face a wide range of issues they can and should address. These include impacts arising directly from their operations, such as greenhouse gas emissions, as well as negative effects on surrounding communities, including overcrowding and litter. However, businesses and destinations must decide which issues to prioritise. 

ICRT.global’s new economic benefit methodology offers accommodation businesses a practical way to measure and report their contribution to the local economy.

By calculating the economic benefits generated through wages, local sourcing and local taxation, businesses can produce a local economic benefit figure and publish it alongside their annual accounts, with oversight from their professional accountant.

This approach provides a robust and transparent way to generate reliable data that businesses can use to substantiate marketing claims and demonstrate their economic benefit to neighbouring communities.

Certification alone cannot provide the sufficient evidence for businesses and destinations to claim credits for local sourcing, employment and local taxation. Once the necessary adjustments have been made to their bookkeeping systems, these figures can be calculated and reported annually at a relatively low cost.

L’article Consumers care about local economic benefit – can you report it? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

As is the case for many communities with travel times of under an hour into central London, commuting has increased, and property prices have risen. Traditional terraced houses near the station, which were starter homes for local people wanting to start a family, are now being purchased by DFLs (Down From Londoners), and the houses are now beyond the reach of many of the children of those extended families. They are moving away to start their families, often expensive travel distances from parents/grandparents, aunts and uncles. My town is being gentrified as many of the traditional industries offering manual employment cease.

This gentrification is changing the nature of the place. At the heart of Responsible Tourism is the idea that great places to live are great places to visit, and inherent in that idea is the principle of putting local people and their interests first.

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In my town, gentrification has had two impacts on housing and retail. There is a serious shortage of affordable housing, for purchase or rent, for the children of local people, many from families who have lived here for generations. Tourism contributes to this as people discover the town as tourists who then look to live here. Some buy a second home for their retirement, renting it out through Airbnb in the meantime.

The impact on retail in the town centre is also serious. The town centre in a small town is an important focal point where the communities can come together for the switching on of the Christmas lights and other events through the year. When I leaflet in the town centre on a Saturday morning, more than half of those I accost are not from the town; they are irregular day visitors attracted by our street market, which prospers. Great news for those of us who can afford to pay premium prices, but for many local people they cannot afford to purchase, and they feel excluded from the heart of their town, alienated.

Gentrification is one of the major causes of the community’s feeling that their place has been spoilt by tourism, that tourism and tourists exclude them. In the debates about overtourism, there has been a major focus on second homes and short-term rentals. Less attention has been paid to the impact on the High Street and the retail offer, as those that serve local needs are squeezed out by rising rental costs.

Cheung & Yiu’s research in Hong Kong suggests that touristification is not merely a subset of gentrification. Their research evidence suggests that shops oriented to serve tourists can pay higher rents and that areas with more tourists will make the retail rent gaps of small shops higher, resulting in the closing of traditional retailers.

In Barcelona, the city’s sustainable-tourism commissioner José Antonio Donaire is working to restore resident-oriented retail and neighbourhood life. Donaire frames the goal as ensuring that “any resident can buy a loaf of bread, a book or a screw in their neighbourhood.” The city is considering using part of its tourist tax to support local commerce rather than gift shops, building on restrictions on new tourist shops in sensitive zones such as Park Güell and Sagrada Família, plus rent support for commercial premises serving mainly local residents.

In Barcelona, La Rambla and its Mercat de la Boqueria are among the clearest examples of overtourism: a historic everyday public market and street have been reshaped by visitor volumes, tourist-oriented retail, crowding, and pressure on local life. La Boqueria attracts ±23 million visits a year, and many residents avoid it because of crowds and the shift from fresh-food shopping toward takeaway, fruit cups, juices, and other visitor purchases. Over the last 15 years, the balance of local to tourist has shifted from 50/50 to 20/80. On La Rambla itself, residents and local associations speak of it as a “tourist trap”, crowded, with fast-food outlets and souvenir shops displacing other uses.

La Boqueria and La Rambla are among the 16 areas which have been identified as oversaturated. Measures are being taken to redress the balance, including crowd monitoring, cleaning, civic-agent patrols, tourist-bus rerouting, and support for businesses serving residents.  Tour groups in La Boqueria are limited to fewer than 15 people, and the city is also using sensors on La Rambla to measure pedestrian flows and identify saturation points. La  Boqueria never ceased to prosper. Its function and its clientele changed.

The city is working to boost trade aimed at residents and to offer more community, neighbourhood, cultural, and family activities in spaces traditionally occupied by tourism. For La Boqueria, a major new regulation is planned but not yet fully in force: it would require the market overall to limit prepared foods to 50% and reserve at least 50% for traditional products. For individual stalls, reports indicate a proposed limit of up to 60% elaborated/prepared products and a minimum of 40% traditional products, with approval expected in late 2026 or early 2027. The aim is to restore La Boqueria’s function as a fresh-food market rather than a primarily tourist food court.

Barcelona’s deputy mayor for economic promotion, Jordi Valls,  admitted that the city is “reaching the limit” in terms of the number of tourists, but he has admitted it is very difficult to prohibit the arrival of visitors. For this reason, authorities want to regulate the city’s offering and, instead of “enhancing” the Barcelona brand, he wants to “defend” it. “Tourism adds value, but after a certain limit, it no longer does,” he added, explaining that he wants above all to manage public space because this is what can help build a city for all.

L’article Tourism and gentrification est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

I was delighted to see easyJet holidays launch its holiday campaign “One Street Over”, designed to inspire travellers to discover the lesser-known areas of Europe’s most beloved destinations. Matt Callaghan, chief operating officer, explains:

“We believe travel can be a force for good, and One Street Over is based on a really simple idea: sometimes the best part of a holiday is just around the corner from the places everyone already knows.

“We want to encourage our customers to explore a little further, discover more of the neighbourhoods, people and businesses that make a destination special, and hopefully find something they weren’t expecting.”

As described in Travel Bulletin: “The video series is designed to show both first-time visitors and returning holidaymakers a different side to Paris, helping them to discover new experiences and reasons to explore the world-famous destination.”

The first episode features Jade and Ryan from @LiveTheDash, whose channel carries the message: “Be a positive impact & Live The Dash, Small Budgets Can Stretch Many Miles”.

In the episode, which is now live, Ryan and Jade discover museums, galleries, parks and markets beyond the city’s busiest areas. 

I discussed One Street Over with Scott Lawson, senior ESG manager at easyJet holidays. 

The first episode was released on 17 September and has been viewed more than 10,000 times.

In my August article, I wrote about the distinction social anthropologists make between backstage and frontstage places, and the trend towards repeat visits. As I noted then: “We may become repeat visitors or even temporary residents, but we remain guests, and good guests respect the places where people live.”

L’article Getting off the tourist track – One Street Over est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

It is easy and convenient to assume that future generations will be able to clean up our oceans and reclaim raw materials from landfill while continuing with business as usual.

Sustainable perfectly fits the definition of a weasel word: “a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated”.

Weasels are small, active predators. There “has long been a widespread belief that weasels suck the yolks from birds’ eggs, leaving only the empty shell. This belief is the basis of the term ‘weasel words’, used to describe statements that have had the life sucked out of them.”

Unfortunately, weasel words are no less effective for all that.

The phrase “to weasel out”, meaning “to squeeze one’s way out of something” or “to evade responsibility”, explains why regulators must take action to avoid mis-selling.

Mis-selling has to be regulated because it is effective and undermines those retailers that are taking responsibility, investing and working to produce goods and services that cause less pollution, benefit local communities, are nature-positive and, in a host of ways, are making tourism better.

With clever use of weasel words, the bad guys can, and do, undermine the good guys.

Five years ago, the European Parliament and the Council recognised that: “In order for consumers to be empowered to take better-informed decisions and thus stimulate the demand for, and the supply of, more sustainable goods, they should not be misled about a product’s environmental or social characteristics or circularity aspects, such as durability, reparability or recyclability, through the overall presentation of a product.”

The new EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EU) 2024/825, commonly referred to as EmpCo, takes effect across the EU this week and significantly increases the legal scrutiny of marketing and branding.

For those who are mis-selling, the risk of being called out and fined has increased. But for those who are taking responsibility and making tourism better, the opportunity to be recognised for their efforts has improved.

Take the opportunity. Make specific claims where you have the evidence to back them.

As I have previously argued in Travel Tomorrow, we need to go beyond the badge and rethink certification in responsible tourism.

Greenhushing is an understandable response to the risk of being accused of mis-selling, but it is a mistake. Those who are actively making tourism better deserve to profit from it and to have their efforts recognised and rewarded.

Certification is expensive, and it does not substantiate the specific claims that carry weight with consumers.

In next year’s Responsible Tourism Awards, which have just opened, we are seeking to recognise businesses and destinations that are “Communicating Responsible Tourism”. We want to share good practice and encourage those taking responsibility to get the credit for it.

The Global Destination Sustainability Movement, the European Travel Commission and NECSTouR have produced an excellent guide to EmpCo, “Proof, Not Promises”, with valuable advice about how to make credible sustainability claims.

The advice on how to safely claim credit for your efforts in the marketplace is clearly presented.

As they point out, EmpCo redefines how sustainability ambition is “expressed, evidenced, and trusted”.

Take the opportunity. Claim the credit you deserve.

L’article Weasels, mis-selling and ‘Proof, Not Promises’ est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Georgia has emerged as one of the most compelling tourism growth stories in the wider European region. Between 2021 and 2025, annual international tourist visits surged from approximately 1.6 million to 5.5 million, while tourism revenues climbed to $4.7 billion. The country surpassed its pre-pandemic tourism record in 2024 and continued expanding in 2025, demonstrating the resilience of an industry that is increasingly central to Georgia’s economic development.

Yet this is more than a story of recovery. For successive Georgian governments, tourism has become a strategic instrument for attracting foreign investment, expanding international connectivity and strengthening the country’s position between Europe and Asia. The ambition is increasingly clear: to transform Georgia from an emerging regional destination into a globally competitive, year-round tourism economy.

That ambition is unfolding against an increasingly complicated political backdrop. Georgia’s tourism industry has continued to grow despite domestic protests, deteriorating relations with the European Union and uncertainty surrounding the country’s European integration process. While political tensions intensified throughout 2024 and 2025, international arrivals and tourism revenues continued to reach new highs.

The apparent contradiction reveals an important feature of Georgia’s tourism economy: its ability to attract visitors from multiple geopolitical and economic markets simultaneously. Russia, Türkiye and neighbouring countries remain important sources of demand, while Israel, the Gulf states, China and India are contributing to market diversification.

However, strong visitor numbers should not be mistaken for immunity from political risk. Long-term tourism investment depends on regulatory predictability, international confidence, reliable air connectivity and a stable operating environment. Georgia’s next challenge will be to preserve these foundations while navigating an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape.

The government’s infrastructure ambitions demonstrate the scale of its commitment. Plans for a new international airport at Vaziani, near Tbilisi, with a proposed annual capacity of approximately 19 million passengers, represent a potential transformation of the country’s international accessibility. Combined with airport expansion, private hotel investment, improved regional connectivity and the development of destinations beyond Tbilisi and Batumi, these projects could reshape Georgia’s tourism geography.

Yet infrastructure alone will not determine the country’s competitiveness. Georgia must also move beyond a tourism model heavily dependent on visitor volume and relatively price-sensitive regional markets. Wine tourism, gastronomy, mountain resorts, wellness, cultural heritage and international business events offer opportunities to increase spending per visitor while distributing economic benefits more widely across the country.

The fundamental strategic question is no longer simply how many tourists Georgia can attract, but how much sustainable economic value each visitor can generate.

Looking towards 2035, Georgia faces several possible development paths rather than a predetermined trajectory. Under a scenario of sustained investment, continued market diversification and moderate annual tourism growth, the country could welcome approximately 8 million international tourist visits and generate close to $8 billion in annual tourism revenues.

A more ambitious scenario, supported by stronger international connectivity, higher-value tourism products and improved investor confidence, could bring visitor numbers towards 10 million and revenues close to $10 billion.

These figures are scenario estimates rather than official forecasts. Their realisation would depend on infrastructure delivery, regional security, international market conditions and Georgia’s ability to manage the environmental pressures associated with rapid tourism expansion. The country’s mountains, coastal destinations and protected landscapes are central to its competitive identity, but their long-term value depends on responsible development, effective destination management and meaningful participation by local communities.

Georgia’s tourism future will ultimately be determined by the relationship between political stability, investment confidence and economic diversification. The achievements of the past five years demonstrate that the country possesses the natural assets, entrepreneurial capacity and international appeal required to compete well beyond its immediate region.

The next decade presents a different challenge: translating this momentum into a tourism economy that is less dependent on individual source markets, more resilient to geopolitical disruption and capable of generating greater value for its citizens.

For policymakers and investors, the distinction matters. Building larger airports and attracting more visitors may expand the industry, but strengthening institutions, protecting natural resources and creating a predictable investment environment will shape the durability of that expansion.

Georgia has already demonstrated that tourism can grow through political uncertainty. The question for 2035 is whether the country can turn that growth into a sustainable foundation for long-term economic development

L’article Georgia bets on $10 billion tourism future despite geopolitical uncertainty est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Tourism is no longer simply an industry defined by arrivals, hotel nights and visitor spending. It has become a strategic instrument for economic development, investment, diplomacy, urban transformation and international cooperation.

This is the space in which the Global Tourism Forum (GTF) is positioning itself: as a high-level meeting point where governments, investors and global business leaders come together to shape the future of tourism.

With its international operations centred in Dubai and Brussels, the Global Tourism Forum has evolved into a business-led organisation focused on public-private collaboration, tourism investment, destination development and policy dialogue.

Its purpose is not to replicate the traditional conference model. Instead, GTF aims to create an environment in which decisions can be accelerated, partnerships can be formed and destinations can connect directly with the capital, expertise and international networks required for growth.

A broader definition of tourism

The Forum’s agenda reflects the changing nature of the global tourism economy.

Aviation, hospitality and destination promotion remain fundamental, but today’s discussions increasingly extend to infrastructure, urban mobility, digital transformation, cybersecurity, real estate, sustainability, investment finance and international cooperation.

Tourism is connected to almost every major economic sector, and the Global Tourism Forum is designed around that reality.

This approach can be seen in the Forum’s growing international calendar.

In Brussels, the Global Tourism Forum Annual Meeting brings together ministers, government representatives, investors, chief executives, international institutions and influential figures from across the global tourism economy.

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The 2026 Annual Meeting, taking place on 9–10 November in Brussels, will once again place the European capital at the centre of a global conversation on tourism competitiveness, investment and international cooperation.

Brussels provides a particularly relevant setting. As the political capital of Europe and home to major international institutions, it allows tourism to be discussed not only as an industry but also as an increasingly important economic and policy priority.

For destinations, the value lies in access to decision-makers and capital. For private-sector participants, the Forum provides direct engagement with governments and new markets. For policymakers, it offers an opportunity to understand how global investors and industry leaders are responding to a rapidly changing international environment.

From dialogue to investment

The Global Tourism Forum model also extends far beyond Europe.

In June 2026, the organisation convened the GTF Angola Investment Summit in Luanda, bringing together political leaders, international institutions, global hotel groups, investors and development partners.

The summit attracted approximately 1,500 participants and resulted in around 15 memoranda of understanding covering investment, development, international cooperation and training.

Angola demonstrated one of GTF’s central principles: destinations need more than international promotion.

They need investment pipelines, bankable projects, international visibility, access to developers and operators, and structured engagement with the global investment community.

For emerging destinations in particular, tourism can act as a catalyst for employment, infrastructure development, foreign direct investment and economic diversification, but only when political ambition is connected with capital and execution.

The Forum therefore places a strong emphasis on outcomes.

Its meetings are designed to connect ministers and destination leaders directly with investors, operators, developers and strategic partners, with the objective of converting dialogue into projects, partnerships and long-term relationships.

Relationships matter

Alongside its major summits, GTF also uses smaller leadership formats to deepen relationships and move discussions forward.

Its invitation-only Leaders Dinners, organised in international centres including Berlin, Cape Town and Dubai, bring together a select group of ministers, ambassadors, investors, developers and senior executives in an environment designed for direct and candid conversation.

These gatherings complement the larger Forum meetings by creating space for potential partnerships, investment opportunities and policy priorities to be discussed away from the formal conference stage.

The combination of international visibility and smaller, relationship-driven engagement has become an important part of the Global Tourism Forum model.

Measuring the future

The same philosophy is shaping GTF’s broader work in research and investment intelligence.

Through initiatives such as the World Tourism Investment Index, the organisation is developing frameworks that can help governments, investors and businesses better understand tourism competitiveness and investment potential.

The Index assesses 217 countries through 18 indicators across five categories, offering a global perspective on investment conditions and market readiness.

Looking ahead, the Global Tourism Forum’s ambition is clear: to strengthen its position as a bridge between destinations and global capital, between governments and business, and between tourism policy and real-world investment.

The tourism sector is entering a new era in which competitiveness will depend on far more than visitor numbers.

Infrastructure, technology, mobility, security, sustainability, financing and international partnerships will increasingly determine which destinations succeed.

The Global Tourism Forum intends to be where those conversations become decisions, and where those decisions become investment, growth and long-term value for destinations around the world.

L’article Global Tourism Forum: Where tourism meets diplomacy, investment and global leadership est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Tourism places additional pressure on local services, from transport and public facilities to sewage treatment and waste management. This raises a broader question about who should bear these costs and whether visitors, alongside residents, should contribute through taxes or levies to help fund the services and facilities needed to accommodate them.

There is an obvious link between tourism numbers and volumes of sewage produced, and where combined sewer systems carry both rainwater and sewage, there is an inevitable risk of stormwater discharge, including sewage, when there is heavy rainfall. Without stormwater discharge, sewage would likely back up and flood people’s homes, better that the sewage is dumped into lakes, rivers, and the sea than that it bubbles and spills out of the water closets.

Lake Windermere is England’s largest lake, just over 18 km long. It is a long and narrow ribbon lake, carved by glaciers, and it is up to 64 metres deep. It is a World Heritage Site within the Lake District National Park, an area of 2,362 square kilometres, attracting around 18 million tourists every year, 80% of the day-trippers, but roughly 29.15 million tourist days are spent in the park annually, counting anyone who spends more than three hours in the park. The resident population, according to the 2021 census, is a mere 38,993, in 17,800 households.

There has been mounting concern about the pollution of Lake Windermere. Algal blooms turn Lake Windermere green and starve the wildlife in the lake of oxygen.

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A study funded by the UK Space Agency found a direct correlation between visitor numbers and algal blooms in Windermere. In the UK, water companies are legally permitted to discharge untreated sewage during periods of heavy pressure on the sewer network to prevent it from backing up into homes.

Research company Map Impact analysed mobile phone data to estimate the number of people in the Windermere area and compared it with levels of chlorophyll-a, an indicator of algal growth detected through satellite data. Researchers identified individual days when more than 300,000 people were present in the area, compared with a resident population of around 35,000, according to Map Impact’s research, highlighting the intense pressure tourism can place on the lake and its surrounding infrastructure.

However, visitor numbers are only part of the problem. Rising average temperatures linked to climate change create conditions that can encourage algal blooms, while fertiliser runoff from agriculture provides additional nutrients that support algae growth.

Sewage pollution has added to concerns over the lake’s water quality. Map Impact reported that raw sewage was discharged into Windermere for around 5,904 hours in 2022 — equivalent to 246 days, or roughly 67% of the year if the hours were counted continuously.

The Big Windermere Survey, published in August 2025, involved 350 citizen scientists taking more than 1,000 samples over two and a half years and revealed High levels of bacteria found in human faeces – Escherichia coli (E coli) and intestinal enterococci (IE) – indicating sewage pollution. They were highest in the summer months, but the analysis showed high levels throughout the year.

In October 2024, the BBC reported that United Utilities “repeatedly dumped millions of litres of raw sewage illegally into one of England’s most famous lakes over a three-year period. “Permit breaches should be reported to the Environment Agency, but United Utilities failed to do this for most of the discharges identified by the BBC between the start of 2021 and the end of 2023. … United Utilities failed to report at least 102 million litres of that pollution.”

Surfers Against Sewage has developed a Sewage Alert App which pulls together the UK’s live sewage discharge data from over 18,000 overflows. Their sewage alert app issues warnings specifically for designated bathing waters to inform water users when water quality is compromised and it may be unsafe to enter the water. We had heavy rain in Faversham, where I live, on Tuesday 8^th September; untreated sewage was discharged for 5 hours and 16 minutes.

Stok Kangri, located just 15 km from Leh in the Ladakh region of northern India, is closed to tourist and military expeditions. The closure is an extreme example of the consequences of overtourism, after years of trekking placed growing pressure on the mountain’s fragile ecosystem and local water resources.

Abdul Qayoom, writing about the reasons behind the closure, describes how temporary bathrooms and toilet facilities near the base camp affected streams used by surrounding communities. “Urine and human waste often ended up mixing directly with the nearby streams,” he wrote, including waterways relied upon by villagers for drinking and irrigation.

Climate change added to the pressure. As water flows declined, the impact of waste became more severe, with Qayoom noting that “the same amount of toilet waste and pollution became far more concentrated in a smaller volume of water.” At the same time, climate-driven changes were placing additional stress on the glacier and its watershed.

Ultimately, it was the local community that pushed for action. The Stok village committee, working with the All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA), supported stopping expeditions to give the mountain, its water resources and wildlife time to recover.

The decision was therefore not simply imposed by authorities, but driven by those living with the effects of growing tourism. As Qayoom writes, “It came from local people actively protecting their own home, their environment, and their future water supply” — making Stok Kangri a striking example of a community responding directly to the pressures of overtourism.

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