And yet the research shows that tourism-based aviation is growing rapidly and we are not acting to achieve the required technological change.  The prospects for the adoption of alternative fuels with zero or very low greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely before 2050, as insufficient investment is being made in the development of new technology. Planes being constructed and purchased now will still be operational in forty years’ time. 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 significantly higher proportions.

Primo Levi echoed Hillel the Elder in his 1986 novel asking, “If not now, when?” For sure, the longer we leave mitigation and adaptation, the harder it will be. Mitigation is difficult because if I act to cut my greenhouse gas emissions, I bear the cost while others will go on with business as usual and profit from my efforts. As Garrett Hardin pointed out in 1968 in “The Tragedy of the Commons”, “Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.”

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Adaptation is a different matter; it may be difficult and expensive, but the benefit accrues to those who adapt. Adapt or die. In the spirit of Darwin, “the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.” Primo Levi’s question is to the point: “If not now, when?”

I wrote last week about wildfires, the damage to infrastructure and the environment, and the lost revenue. There has been very limited research revealing the costs of climate change to the tourism industry in destinations and in the source markets.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been 1407 fires across Europe, with 434,796 hectares burnt, close to 100,000 more than in 2025,17.98 million tonnes (Mt) of CO₂ have been emitted since the start of the year, further accelerating climate change. The Europe Wildfire Map reveals wildfires across the continent, no longer dominating the headlines, the new normal. In Italy, all 27 major cities are on red alert; prolonged spells of extreme heat are expected to pose a health risk to the entire population, raising the likelihood of heat-related emergencies rather than solely affecting vulnerable groups.

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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reports that it “is likely that 2026 could see the highest number of heat-associated deaths on record”. An estimated 753 deaths were associated with the heatwave in May, with a further 2,124 deaths linked to the heatwave in June. The total of 2,877 deaths is almost double the 1,504 across the UK heatwaves in June to August last year.

I am grateful to travel writer Shivya Nath, whose “work focuses on the intersection of meaningful travel, climate action and social impact”, for this list of cities. Read her posts about travel and life on a changing planet; she takes her readers “to a different corner of the globe, on a journey rooted in conscious travel, community resilience and climate action.”

In this year’s Responsible Tourism Awards, we sought applications from those actively taking measures to reduce the risks posed by climate change and/or destinations working to create more climate change resilience in the travel and tourism sector. While there have been a few worthy winners, the response has been disappointing; for example, the judges were unable to make an award in Africa.

Places adapting to climate change

Source: Shivya Nath

If you know of initiatives to increase resilience to climate change and adapt to face the growing crisis in Europe or further afield, please let us know; we need good practices to adopt.

L’article Adapting to climate change: if not now, when? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The real measure of success, however, will be whether Google’s compliance measures create a search environment where small hospitality businesses, including hotels, restaurants and cafés, can compete fairly for consumers’ attention. Compliance should not only eliminate Google’s own self-preferencing practices; it must also ensure that the new Search experience provides fair visibility to businesses and does not unintentionally strengthen other powerful online intermediaries.

That distinction matters

Small hospitality operators have become increasingly dependent on digital intermediaries to reach customers. It is no coincidence that two of the most important digital platforms used by the hospitality sector have been designated as gatekeepers under the DMA.

The Commission rightly concluded that Google continued to favour its own specialised services in Search. However, for the hospitality sector, an equally important question remains: will Google’s new compliance solution genuinely improve the visibility of businesses themselves, or will it simply redirect even more traffic towards other large intermediaries?

This is not a theoretical concern

Google’s first attempt to comply with the DMA illustrated precisely this risk. By removing interactive features, including maps and free booking links, and reverting many hospitality searches to a traditional list of blue links, Google significantly reduced the visibility of independent hospitality businesses and their direct offers.

Ironically, the Commission rejected that first compliance attempt because Google had failed to eliminate its own self-preferencing, not because the changes risked weakening the position of direct hospitality offers and strengthening other powerful online intermediaries.

Yet the DMA was designed to make digital markets more contestable, empower businesses that depend on online platforms, and ultimately offer consumers greater choice. Compliance cannot therefore be considered successful if Google’s solution merely shifts market power from Google to other digital intermediaries while independent hospitality businesses lose further opportunities to compete for bookings and build direct relationships with their customers.

We have fined Google €890 million for breaching the Digital Markets Act, by promoting their own services and restricting customer access to alternatives on Google Search and Google Play.https://t.co/zFChIQxKua pic.twitter.com/QTqdpS6dyY

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 23, 2026

Google is now testing a revised compliance solution, which the Commission will continue to assess. While it remains too early to judge its full impact, there are legitimate reasons to scrutinise whether the new design could once again undermine the visibility of small hospitality operators and give online intermediaries an unintended competitive advantage.

The Commission’s assessment should therefore look beyond the formal treatment of Google’s own services and consider the competitive impact of the proposed solution. Our joint statements with the airline and rail sectors reflect this shared expectation: DMA compliance should strengthen competition across the travel ecosystem, not simply redistribute market power among large digital intermediaries.

If this broader competitive impact were overlooked, whether because of a gap in the DMA’s design or an overly narrow interpretation of its provisions, it would set a dangerous precedent. It would suggest that a compliance solution can satisfy the letter of the law while undermining its fundamental objective: creating fairer and more contestable markets for the businesses that rely on gatekeepers.

Today, the @EU_Commission provides guidance to Google under the Digital Markets Act to:

→ enable interoperability with Android for AI services
→ provide search engines & AI chatbots with search function with access to Google's anonymised search datahttps://t.co/W839tKLusx pic.twitter.com/k3MhoH8V2q

— Digital EU (@DigitalEU) July 16, 2026

This debate extends far beyond Google Search, at a time when European hospitality businesses face additional immediate challenges that risk further undermining competitiveness and the ability to operate independently.

First, the rise of conversational AI is reshaping travel discovery, making AI assistants a gateway to hospitality businesses. The Google case could set important rules for future AI-driven travel tools, as poor representation in Search today may lead to even lower visibility in AI-generated recommendations tomorrow.

Second, the EU is considering repealing the Platform-to-Business (P2B) Regulation, which introduced fairness and transparency obligations for online platforms and paved the way for the DMA. Removing these protections could leave independent hospitality businesses with fewer means to challenge unfair practices beyond the relatively narrow scope of the DMA.

Ensuring that Google’s new Search experience treats hotels, restaurants, and cafés fairly is therefore about far more than one compliance case. It will determine whether the DMA fulfils its broader promise of creating digital markets where businesses compete on the quality of their offer, rather than on the market power of the platforms standing between them and their customers.

The Commission has taken an important first step. The next one is even more important. The success of the DMA will not ultimately be judged by the size of the fine imposed on Google, but by whether Europe’s hospitality businesses emerge with greater visibility, greater choice and a genuine opportunity to compete on equal terms in the digital marketplace.

L’article Why Google’s DMA compliance must not come at the expense of Europe’s small hospitality operators est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

While politicians will speak of peace agreements and security guarantees, businesses will ask a different question: who will build the peace economy?

The first people crossing Ukraine’s borders after a settlement are unlikely to be holidaymakers. They will be engineers, contractors, diplomats, development agencies, insurers, investors and members of the Ukrainian diaspora returning to assess homes, businesses and opportunities.

This means the country’s initial recovery will not resemble a traditional tourism rebound. Instead, it will be driven by a reconstruction mobility economy, where infrastructure projects and human movement reinforce one another. Hotels, serviced apartments, conference venues and transport hubs could become profitable long before beach resorts or leisure destinations recover.

According to estimates by the World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations and the Ukrainian government, reconstruction needs have reached almost $600 billion. Transport alone accounts for more than $96 billion, while energy, housing and cultural infrastructure will require billions more.

This is about far more than replacing damaged buildings. It is an opportunity to redefine Ukraine’s transport network, economic geography and position as a European destination.

I met with @WorldBank Group President Ajay Banga to discuss continued assistance in assessing the damage inflicted on Ukraine and preparing the relevant reports.

I shared that Russia’s attacks are becoming increasingly brutal, which makes it vital to intensify efforts in pooling… pic.twitter.com/fmiJrK7w8S

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 18, 2025

Contractors before tourists

Tourism will return, but only after fundamental conditions are restored. Airspace must reopen, insurance providers must regain confidence, transport links need repairing, contaminated land must be cleared and reliable energy supplies re-established.

Until then, contractors will arrive before tourists.

Hotels in Kyiv, Lviv and other western cities are likely to be filled by infrastructure specialists, international lenders, diplomatic delegations and executives competing for reconstruction contracts. As a result, demand may shift towards extended-stay accommodation, corporate housing and conference facilities rather than conventional leisure hotels.

Western Ukraine is expected to recover first. Regions such as Lviv, Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk have remained comparatively secure, maintain close links with the European Union and already possess functioning tourism infrastructure. Lviv could emerge as a centre for investment conferences, diplomatic meetings and cultural events linked to reconstruction.

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The Carpathian region presents another opportunity. Existing wellness resorts could evolve into centres for rehabilitation, combining healthcare, wellness and leisure. However, policymakers will need to balance investment with sustainable planning to avoid uncontrolled development, environmental degradation and rising housing costs.

Kyiv is likely to become the administrative heart of reconstruction, while Odesa could eventually regain its role as Ukraine’s maritime gateway, although the revival of ports, cruise tourism and coastal hospitality will depend on long-term security and mine clearance.

Transport will shape the recovery

Transport will be central to Ukraine’s recovery. During the war, rail corridors through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova became essential lifelines for people and goods. After peace, these routes could evolve into permanent economic corridors linking Ukraine more closely with the European Union.

Expanding European-gauge rail connections would improve trade and make cross-border travel faster and more attractive. Night trains, integrated ticketing systems and simplified border procedures could become the backbone of Ukraine’s early tourism recovery while commercial aviation remains limited.

Aviation, however, will not resume overnight. Airports require far more than political approval to reopen. Safety certification, air traffic management, insurance, energy resilience and security infrastructure will all have to be restored before airlines return. Lviv Airport may be among the first to reopen because of its proximity to the EU, while Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport would represent the greatest long-term economic prize, reconnecting Ukraine with European and global aviation networks.

Europe is Ukraine's strongest partner, top donor & key investor.

With €2.3 billion in agreements signed, set to unlock up to €10 billion in investments.

And a new European Flagship Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, rebuilding businesses & homes. https://t.co/zkTbxPxdGj

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 10, 2025

Rebuilding responsibly

Healthcare could also become an important pillar of Ukraine’s recovery. The country will need extensive rehabilitation services for veterans, injured civilians and those living with long-term physical and psychological trauma. While these facilities will initially serve a humanitarian purpose, they could later position Ukraine as a regional centre for rehabilitation, prosthetics, reconstructive medicine and wellness.

Another challenge will be managing international interest in places that have become symbols of the war. Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and other devastated communities will inevitably attract visitors seeking to understand what happened.

Ukraine should resist the temptation to commercialise these locations as “war tourism”. Instead, they should be developed as places of remembrance, education and reflection, with local communities helping shape how their stories are told. Revenue generated from visitors should contribute to memorials, rehabilitation programmes and local recovery rather than purely commercial activities.

The economic race after peace

Investment opportunities will extend well beyond tourism. The first wave of tourism- and mobility-related investment alone could amount to tens of billions of euros, creating employment across construction, transport, hospitality, healthcare, technology and cultural restoration. Yet Ukraine’s greatest challenge may not be securing finance, but developing bankable projects, ensuring transparent procurement and creating investment structures that inspire confidence among international investors.

The shape of Ukraine’s recovery will ultimately depend on how peace unfolds. A fragile ceasefire may encourage investment in western Ukraine while keeping aviation and maritime transport restricted. A more durable settlement backed by credible security guarantees would allow airports to reopen, international hotel brands to enter the market and leisure tourism gradually to return.

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Even under the most optimistic scenario, recovery is unlikely to be evenly distributed. Western regions will naturally attract investment first because they present lower risks. Without careful public policy, this could widen the economic gap between western Ukraine and the communities in the east and south that have suffered the greatest destruction.

Ukraine’s reconstruction will reshape not only one country but the wider economic geography of Central and Eastern Europe. New railways, reopened airports, restored cultural landmarks and modern healthcare facilities will redefine mobility across the region.

Tourism will not simply benefit from this transformation; it will help drive it. Hotels will host engineers before holidaymakers. Trains will carry investors alongside returning families. Cultural restoration will strengthen both national identity and international appeal.

The companies and countries that succeed will be those that prepare before the peace agreement is signed, building partnerships, securing financing and developing projects that can move quickly once conditions allow.

When the war finally ends, the political negotiations may be be over. But the economic race to rebuild Ukraine will only just begin.

L’article How tourism and mobility could help rebuild Ukraine est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The existence of the greenhouse effect, although not yet known by that name, was first proposed as early as 1824 by Joseph Fourier. In 1856, Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated that the warming effect of the sun is greater in air containing water vapour than in dry air, and even greater in air with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide. We have therefore understood the basic science behind the greenhouse effect for around 170 years.

The oil and gas industries have worked hard to deny the human contribution to global warming. Published in 2010, Merchants of Doubt, by historians of science Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, documented how lobbyists deliberately generated doubt about the scientific evidence behind acid rain, the ozone hole, the dangers of tobacco, climate change denial, and the attacks on Rachel Carson. Those same tactics continue today, with lobbyists undermining science on behalf of those who benefit from business as usual.

As you read this, you may be thinking, “Tell me something new.”

That is precisely the point. Climate change, drought, wildfires, storm-driven flooding and sea-level rise have become the new normal. It is so much easier to “…put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well”, to blame others and deny responsibility.

The global tourism industry both contributes to and suffers from climate change through its greenhouse gas emissions.

According to research published in Nature Communications:

“Global tourism emissions grew by 3.5% per year between 2009 and 2019, double the growth rate of the worldwide economy, reaching 5.2 Gt CO₂-e, or 8.8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. The primary drivers of emissions growth are slow technology efficiency gains (0.3% per year), combined with sustained high growth in tourism demand (3.8% per year in constant 2009 prices).”

Fear of wildfires, destroyed or empty accommodation, damaged destination brands, severe economic losses, and scarred landscapes are all consequences of this growing crisis. Yet there has been surprisingly little research into the economic impact of wildfires on the tourism industry.

Luís Catela Nunes, Professor of Applied Econometrics at Nova School of Business and Economics, analysed data from 278 Portuguese municipalities covering the period from 2000 to 2016. He concluded:

“The estimated annual costs to the Portuguese economy due to the impact of burned areas in 2030 range between €17.03 million and €24.18 million for domestic tourist arrivals, and between €18.26 million and €38.08 million for inbound tourism. By 2050, those costs will increase at least fourfold.”

Back in 2023, the US Congress Joint Economic Committee reported that:

“…wildfires in the United States cause between $394 billion and $893 billion in damages annually, equivalent to between 2% and 4% of US GDP.”

Wildfires impose substantial costs on both the supply and demand sides of tourism. More research is needed, but above all, the tourism industry must play a far greater role in addressing the human-induced climate change to which it contributes.

L’article Never put off till tomorrow: tourism can no longer delay climate action  est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

During his July visit to Washington, al-Zaidi placed investment at the centre of diplomacy, pursuing partnerships with major American energy and infrastructure companies and presenting Iraq not as a permanent theatre of crisis, but as a market capable of absorbing capital on a significant scale. Agreements announced around the visit were valued by Iraq’s oil minister at approximately $200bn. Such numbers should be treated as prospective commitments rather than completed investment, but the direction is unmistakable: al-Zaidi wants international capital to see Iraq differently.

The economic case for this shift is urgent. Oil accounted for an estimated 53% of Iraq’s real GDP, 88% of government revenue and 91% of merchandise exports in 2025, leaving the country acutely exposed to production restrictions, lower prices and regional disruption. The IMF estimates that oil revenues could continue to represent more than 90% of government income through 2030 without substantial reform, while Iraq’s non-oil growth declined from 13.8% in 2023 to about 2.5% in 2024.

Al-Zaidi therefore inherits not merely an economic challenge, but a question of national resilience. His strength is that he appears to understand investment diplomacy as an instrument of sovereignty: the broader Iraq’s partnerships, private sector and productive economy become, the less vulnerable Baghdad will be to fluctuations in one commodity or pressure from any single foreign power.

Tourism should become one of the defining pillars of this diversification. Iraq possesses six UNESCO World Heritage properties and an almost unparalleled concentration of civilisational, archaeological and religious assets: Babylon, ancient Ur, the citadel of Erbil, the southern marshlands, the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, the historic memory of Baghdad and the mountain landscapes of the Kurdistan Region.

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Yet the country’s most widely available internationally comparable tourism data remain strikingly outdated. The World Bank records 892,000 international arrivals in 2013, while recorded international tourism receipts reached approximately $955mn in 2020. These imperfect figures reveal both a statistical weakness and an economic opportunity. Iraq is already receiving substantial religious and regional travel, but has not yet converted the full scale of that movement into an integrated visitor economy built around international hotels, destination management, cultural routes, retail, restaurants, entertainment, transportation and professional tourism services.

Aviation will determine whether this potential becomes an investable industry. Iraq’s National Development Plan states that its airports handled approximately 2.04mn passengers in 2022, compared with almost 3.97mn in 2018, illustrating both the damage caused by instability and the scope for recovery. Baghdad International Airport’s existing three terminals have a combined theoretical capacity of roughly 7.5mn passengers a year, while the redevelopment programme envisages a new terminal initially capable of handling 9mn passengers and later as many as 15mn.

For al-Zaidi, these should not be regarded simply as transport projects. Airports are economic platforms: they attract airlines, hotels, logistics providers, conference organisers, retailers and international investors. A coherent programme linking Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Karbala, Mosul, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah with simplified visa procedures, modern airport services and stronger global airline partnerships could transform Iraq into a regional junction between the Gulf, Türkiye, the Levant and Central Asia.

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The test of al-Zaidi’s leadership will be whether his evident ambition can be translated into institutions that outlast political cycles: predictable regulation, transparent public-private partnerships, investment protection, credible procurement and consistent security. There are serious obstacles, and no responsible investor will ignore them. But frontier markets are rarely transformed by leaders who wait for perfect conditions; they are transformed by leaders who create confidence before it fully exists.

Al-Zaidi’s youth, commercial background and early emphasis on international economic engagement give him an unusual opportunity to become the architect of Iraq’s post-oil transition. If he treats tourism, aviation and travel-related infrastructure as national development policy rather than peripheral entertainment, Iraq could generate employment across every level of society, give new commercial life to its extraordinary heritage and reposition itself as one of the Middle East’s most consequential investment stories.

His task is not simply to govern a country rich in oil, but to reveal the far greater value of the Iraq that exists beyond it.

L’article Iraq’s new prime minister has an opportunity to make tourism a national priority  est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

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Hannah’s Mallorca SUP is a small business with a big positive impact on nature. As we wrote in the citation for her award: “The Mallorca SUP Company embraces all aspects of paddle boarding, offering lessons, guided experiences, equipment rental and board repairs AND creates experiences designed to connect people with the sea in a deeper, more conscious ‘Blue Mind’ way.”

Hannah is planning an “Oceans Connected – Winter Summit” initiative: “a community-led and community-driven gathering that brings together people, ideas and creativity around the shared theme of connection to the ocean.” The Responsible Tourism Awards judges hope to hear more of it.

Guests are given the opportunity to experience the Bay of Pollença with zero environmental impact and engage and connect with the natural world around them. Guests learn about the delicate balance of the marine ecosystem, including the vital role of Mediterranean seagrass (Posidonia), and witness first-hand the richness of local wildlife, from stingrays and dolphins to diverse fish and coastal fauna.

Hannah draws on her own experience of ADHD, her “superpower”, and anxiety to explain why paddle boarding can be brilliant for neurodivergent minds: “It is the rhythm of the paddle. The sound of the water. The simple focus of balance, breath and movement. The freedom to release a little restless energy – or slow everything down when life feels too loud.”

Paddle boarding offers “a positive environment for neurodivergent minds”.

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“At the heart of it, paddle boarding offers something wonderfully simple: a board, a paddle, a patch of blue space and the freedom to move through the world in your own way.” Hannah has a different take on “all-inclusive”. Writing about her experience a few days ago: “This was my version of all-inclusive.”

“There were children, mums, dads, friends and couples. There were English voices, Spanish voices and plenty of laughter in between. There were people with different levels of experience, different reasons for being there and different ways of enjoying the water.

“Not everyone being offered exactly the same experience, but everyone being made to feel that the experience could belong to them.”

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From the very start, setting up the business was not only about teaching people to paddle. Paddle boarding is secondary to the nature and mental health reasons. Very few people can get out on the water unless they have deep pockets and can hire a boat. Paddle boarding enables people to be out on the water, seeing things they would never normally experience.

“It’s a thing of wonder when you’re paddling and a stingray passes under your paddle board. It’s a thing of wonder when people pass over the seagrass fields with fish entwined.”

I asked Hannah how she had come to apply for a Responsible Tourism Award. The answer was a surprise: “I asked my friend ChatGPT, as a business that does this, what can you recommend? Is there anything that I can apply for to further what I’m doing? And the first thing that came up was you guys. So I applied and then I got the application form back. I looked at the detail in the application form and I took it as a real challenge. What it did for me was really focus my attention on what we do, why we do it and what we could be doing.”

Hannah has developed a really interesting way of engaging people through a leisure activity. Clearly, most people paddle board for fun, and yet behind it lies this notion of building some kind of relationship with the sea for people who would otherwise not have that.

Hannah is doing something very special:

“I can, hand on heart, say I think we are about as zero impact as you can be. We are zero impact. We don’t create noise. We don’t create rubbish. We don’t use fuel. We use humans to power the craft. Our business is a tiny little garage that we’ve converted, and it’s been converted using reclaimed materials.

“But most importantly, we make people think about their choices. When people are stuck with me for an hour or two hours, they can’t get away from me. And it gives me an opportunity to tell people about the impact that boats have, the impact that sun cream has, the impact of plastic pollution.

“In those two hours, I make them think about their choices, not just on the water, but also about buying local. So, as well as offering a nature-positive experience, we also offer an opportunity for people to think about their choices a little bit more. And this is a good thing.”

L’article So much more than paddle boarding est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

As the graphic shows, these are leisure or “soft” skills. This provides strong evidence of Jost Krippendorf’s forecast in The Holiday Makers, published in 1987, almost 40 years ago. Drawing on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Krippendorf wrote: “…we shall increasingly see emancipated tourists, tourists who have, so to speak, come of age. Their need for physical recreation (sleeping, eating, drinking) will decline in favour of the need for ’emotional recreation’ through activities and experiences which are not possible in everyday life. Many tourists are becoming more demanding. They take the satisfaction of their elementary needs, for instance, good food and comfortable lodging, more or less for granted. What they want to find now, in addition to this, is the satisfaction of social needs: contact with other people and self-realisation through creative activities, knowledge and exploration.”

As Krippendorf anticipated nearly four decades ago, tourists are increasingly seeking meaningful travel experiences. Mastercard’s survey found that 51% of travellers said holidays feel more meaningful when they learn something new, while 48% believe new skills are now “a more valued memento than souvenirs.”

VisitEngland research published last year also investigated what encourages people to book sustainable holiday accommodation. The factor mentioned most frequently was the opportunity to enjoy “authentic experiences.”

Attractions can also provide opportunities for learning and skill development. The Scottish Crannog Centre, on the banks of Loch Tay, is a reconstructed Iron Age defensive dwelling built on stilts. Responsible tourism lies at the heart of the centre’s work, earning it Gold and Global Finalist recognition in the 2024 Responsible Tourism Awards.

“People come to learn about the past and find out what role it can play in our future. Aside from the crannog itself, we have a number of thatched buildings in which our team demonstrates traditional skills, such as weaving, blacksmithing and woodworking, to our visitors, keeping these crafts alive and introducing them to new generations,” explains Mike Benson, director of the Scottish Crannog Centre.

Emily Downes, a sustainable tourism consultant and former tour operator specialising in responsible tourism, argues that travellers are increasingly seeking “experience for money” rather than simply “value for money”. As she puts it, “Local knowledge, creativity and authentic experiences are often what create the greatest value for travellers – and these are precisely the areas where DMCs play a critical role.”

The focus is shifting from volume to value, from selling as many trips as possible to delivering the most meaningful experiences possible. In her ethical partnership guidelines, Downes argues that tour operators should recognise that destination management companies (DMCs) possess deep knowledge of logistics and the local landscape, acknowledge that itineraries are co-developed with local expertise, respect their intellectual property, and treat them as genuine partners.

For destinations, the challenge is no longer simply to attract more visitors, but to create the conditions for meaningful encounters that benefit both travellers and host communities. As Manisha Pande, Board Director of ICRT.global and Co-founder and Managing Director of Village Ways, argues, “a responsible tourism initiative is all about a community and the people with whom tourists will interact; the immersive experiences they will facilitate; and the memories they will help to create.” Ultimately, she concludes, “being able to instil trust, transparency, a sense of pride in local cultural practices, quiet confidence, and ensuring overall well-being are the building blocks that lay the foundation of any successful community-based responsible tourism ecosystem.”

L’article Holidays and the pursuit of self-actualisation est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Transport & Environment commissioned the New Economics Foundation (NEF) to report on aviation’s contribution to fuelling unaffordable housing across Europe. NEF’s research “reveals that the average annual rents in five of Europe’s largest tourism-dependent economies are projected to rise by up to €250 per year over the next five years (2026-2031) as a consequence of incoming air tourism. These rises will primarily affect lower-income households, as income fails to keep pace with rental costs.” In short, more air tourism results in housing cost inflation. “In Europe, emissions from international tourist arrivals by air are projected to rise over 60% between 2016 and 2030.” As Transport & Environment point out, despite the growing concern over the impacts of tourism on local communities and the growing climate risks to the region, European governments continue to double down on aviation and tourism-driven growth – Spain has committed €12.9bn to airport investment, Athens is spending €1.3bn to boost capacity by 25%, and terminal expansions are underway in Lisbon.

Data Journalist, Thomas Hinton, has been looking at the evidence on the impact of tourism on rising rents and housing shortages. As he points out “when housing shortages, rising rents, and tourism accommodation are treated as one and the same problem, the policy discussion can quickly become blurred.” As so often when addressing overtourism, the local details matter. As Hinton points out “STRs may affect housing availability in specific neighbourhoods, but they are only one piece of a broader puzzle that includes zoning laws, construction permits, demographic shifts, urban concentration, and wider cost pressures.”

The issue is not whether STRs have an impact on housing for local people; they do. The challenge is to determine the scale of the tourism impact and whether or not “policies aimed at short-term rentals are proportionate, non-discriminatory, and aligned with EU-level rules designed to protect fair access to services across the internal market.” Research conducted by  Eurocities Monitor in 2025 found  76% of mayors identify demand outpacing supply as the main driver of housing unaffordability in European cities; only 25% cited STRs as a cause. According to the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, STRs represent around 1.2% of total housing. In Barcelona, short-term rentals make up 7.1% of local housing stock, compared to 2.8% in Paris and 1.9% in New York.

And we should remember that a quarter of Europeans cannot afford a week-long holiday.

L’article Short-term rental challenge est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The Global Tourism Forum Angola Investment Summit did not merely promote Angola as another emerging destination. It attempted something more ambitious: to turn Angola’s tourism potential into an investment agenda, supported by policy dialogue, international partnerships, private-sector engagement and measurable commitments.

With more than 2,000 participants, the summit became one of Angola’s most significant tourism investment gatherings in recent years. It brought together government officials, international institutions, hospitality investors, sustainability partners, local tourism operators, business chambers and global decision-makers around one central question: how can Angola convert tourism potential into bankable investment?

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That distinction matters.

In global tourism, natural beauty is rarely enough. Many countries have coastlines, wildlife, cultural heritage and undeveloped land. What separates destinations that attract capital from those that remain permanently “promising” is the ability to convert those assets into bankable projects, credible partnerships and a clear policy framework.

Angola used the summit to make precisely that case.

Its achievement can be measured across three areas: visibility, credibility and execution.

First, visibility

Angola entered a crowded African tourism investment landscape where countries are competing for hotel groups, infrastructure capital, airline connectivity and destination branding. By hosting an international summit under the Global Tourism Forum platform and attracting more than 2,000 participants, Angola moved from being a country with latent tourism potential to one actively presenting itself to global investors at scale.

The setting mattered. Luanda was not used merely as a backdrop; it was positioned as the political and commercial gateway to Angola’s tourism future. From the welcome programme to the official sessions, the summit projected a message that Angola wants to be seen not only as a resource economy, but also as an Atlantic tourism and investment destination.

Second, credibility

One of the summit’s most important outcomes was the positioning of Angola’s tourism sector within a stronger institutional framework. The presentation of UN Tourism’s Tourism Doing Business – Investing in Angola investment guidelines gave the event a policy dimension that extended beyond speeches and panel discussions. The focus was not only on what Angola has to offer, but also on how investors can understand the country’s opportunities, legal framework, institutional partners and priority sectors.

Those priority areas were clear: ecotourism, nature-based tourism, hotel and resort development, coastal tourism, cultural heritage and historical destinations. In other words, Angola was not selling a vague dream. It was beginning to define investable opportunities.

The summit also gave international investors a clearer sense of political commitment. Angola’s Ministry of Tourism did not treat the event as a symbolic gathering. The presence and active engagement of the country’s tourism leadership sent a clear message that the sector is being taken seriously as part of Angola’s economic diversification strategy.

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Third, execution

This is where the summit proved most significant.

Too many tourism forums end with applause, photographs and little follow-through. In Luanda, the emphasis was placed on moving from promotion to transactions, from conversation to commitments, and from visibility to implementation.

Several memoranda and strategic cooperation initiatives were advanced under the umbrella of Angola’s tourism investment agenda. These included international investment groups, global business networks, sustainability partners and domestic tourism operators.

One of the most significant outcomes was the signing of 11 memoranda of understanding during the summit. That figure matters because Angola does not simply need visibility; it needs a pipeline of partnerships capable of moving the sector from promotion to implementation.

The summit also demonstrated that Angola’s tourism strategy is not centred on one type of investor or one narrow market. It brought together foreign capital, institutional partners and local operators, creating a broader platform for hotel development, destination infrastructure, sustainability and private-sector participation.

This balance between international engagement and domestic participation is essential. Tourism development cannot be imported wholesale. It must be built on local knowledge, local employment and local ownership of the country’s tourism story.

The summit also produced something less visible but equally valuable: a new narrative.

For decades, Angola’s international image has been dominated by oil, reconstruction and infrastructure. Tourism rarely occupied the centre of that story. The Global Tourism Forum Angola Investment Summit helped change that narrative. It presented Angola as a country with an Atlantic coastline, national parks, rich cultural heritage, growing cities and a genuine opportunity to diversify its economy through tourism.

That shift is not merely symbolic. Perception influences investment. Investors rarely enter markets simply because governments say opportunities exist. They engage when they see organisation, accessibility, policy direction and credible intermediaries. In Luanda, Angola began to offer that combination.

The role of the Global Tourism Forum was to act as a bridge between state ambition and global capital. It brought together the language of diplomacy and the language of investment. It helped translate Angola’s tourism potential into a format that international investors, hotel groups, sustainability partners and media stakeholders could understand.

This is platform diplomacy in practice.

Modern tourism development is no longer only about destination marketing. It is about building ecosystems that connect investors, policy-makers, operators, media, airlines, hotel groups, sustainability partners and local communities. The Angola summit worked because it recognised this complexity. It did not reduce tourism to beaches and brochures. It treated tourism as an economic development sector.

Of course, the real test begins after the summit.

Angola must now convert visibility into projects. Memoranda must become implementation plans. Investor interest must become capital allocation. Policy guidelines must become simpler procedures. Local operators must be supported. Infrastructure must improve. International hotel brands must see viable routes into the market. Sustainability commitments must move from conference rhetoric to effective destination management.

But the significance of the summit lies in the fact that Angola now has a stronger platform from which to do that work.

The Global Tourism Forum Angola Investment Summit achieved more than a successful three-day gathering. It placed Angola’s tourism sector firmly within the international investment conversation. It connected the country with institutional partners, commercial networks, hospitality investors and local tourism stakeholders. It gave Angola’s tourism story structure, credibility and direction.

In a sector where perception shapes investment, that is a significant achievement.

Angola is no longer simply a country with future tourism potential. After Luanda, it is a country beginning to build a present-day tourism investment agenda.

And for an economy seeking to diversify beyond oil, that may be the summit’s most important legacy.

L’article Angola transforms tourism vision into an investment agenda est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Within the Responsible Tourism Movement, we have not talked much about taxation. One of the most extractive forms of tourism is short-term rentals, where the owner rents a home out as a holiday let and does not reside and pay tax locally. If a Londoner owns a second home in Wales or Portugal and banks the rent in London, the local economic benefit will be limited to payments to the cleaner and a little maintenance. If renting out a property in Wales, there is a good chance that UK tax will be taken. If the rental property is in Portugal, there is a good chance that the UK taxman will not take a cut and Portugal certainly won’t.

When we applied the ICRT Global’s “economic benefit” methodology to Piggs Peak Hotel in Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, we were able to report that it paid 5,242,525 Emalangeni, 281,000 Euro, in taxes and levies to government, most of which would amount to a local economic benefit.

Ewan Cluckie of Tripseed and ICRT Thailand has gone further. Ewan analysed a sample of 17 well-known destination management companies and tour operators in Thailand, revealing significant variation in tax practices.

As Ewan points out:

“This data reveals a troubling paradox warranting further research: companies without sustainability certifications are, on average, contributing a higher amount to Thailand’s public finances (proportionally to their revenue share within our anonymised sample – 1.13% Tax-to-Revenue Ratio) than those with prestigious international sustainability certifications. In this sample, certification status shows a negative association with tax-to-revenue ratios. We do not infer causation and note potential confounders such as credits, loss carry-forwards, consolidation, or timing.”

Ewan rightly points out that Thailand’s ability to invest in managing tourism impacts and build resilience requires funding from taxation or levies.

A couple of weeks ago, Tripseed became the first company in the world to be accredited under the Fair Tax Foundation’s new National Business Standard for the Fair Tax Mark. An independent accreditation that recognises businesses paying the right amount of corporation tax, in the right place, at the right time, and being transparent about how they do it. It isn’t a logo you can buy or a pledge you can sign. It’s an assessment of how a business is structured, governed and taxed, checked against a published standard.

Will other businesses follow?

L’article Taxation matters est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.