World Tourism Day: How Travel Distributors can Drive Sustainable Transformation in Tourism

Each year, World Tourism Day is characterised by a specific topical theme, which reflects on important tourism trends in the sector, from the impact of COVID-19 in recent years, 2023’s focus on innovative solutions for ‘people, planet and prosperity’, opportunities to reflect on and rethink how we do tourism to last year’s focus on ‘tourism and peace’.

World Tourism Day 2025’s theme, “Tourism and Sustainable Transformation,” highlights the urgent need for tourism to be a catalyst for positive change. Did you know that in February 2024, the General Assembly officially declared 2027 as the ‘International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism’? Consider this a goal to work towards...

Why Sustainable Travel Transformation Matters Now

World Tourism Day 2025 marks a pivotal moment for the travel industry, with the UNWTO’s theme, ‘Travel and Sustainable Transformation’, urging all sector stakeholders to rethink and rebuild tourism for a more sustainable future. 

For tour operators and online travel agents (OTAs), all working within the global travel distribution system, this is not just a moral imperative but a business-critical priority, as both travellers and regulators demand more responsible, regenerative tourism.

The Rising Demand for Sustainable Travel

Recent research also highlights a dramatic surge in the global demand for sustainable travel:

• According to the GSTC, 83% of global travellers believe sustainable travel is vital, and 56% say climate change has influenced their travel choices in the last year.
• The World Economic Forum shared that 90% of consumers look for sustainable options when booking, with some willing to pay more for eco-friendly choices.
• The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reports that Gen Z and Millennials are especially likely to book with brands that have strong sustainability credentials.

Not to mention that according to the Sustainable Tourism report by Technavio, the sustainable tourism market is projected to grow by USD 508 billion between 2025–2029; travellers are increasingly conscious, leading the way for a market for whom sustainable travel is not a 'nice to have', it's a must. This underscores the mounting expectation for travel distributors to offer not just greener choices, but transparency and genuine impact.

Discover more how Hotelbeds empowers travel distributors to provide and promote sustainable travel experiences here.

Transforming Outdated Systems: The Role of Tour Operators and OTAs

Sustainability in tourism requires more than incremental change—it demands a transformation of the systems, products, and supply chains that shape the industry. Key areas where tour operators and OTAs can lead this transformation include:

• Product Curation: Prioritising certified sustainable hotels, tours, and experiences, and making these the default choices.
• Supply Chain Management: Partnering only with suppliers who meet rigorous environmental and social standards.
• Consumer Empowerment: Providing travellers with clear sustainability information, carbon footprint data, and the tools to make responsible choices.
• Advocacy and Industry Influence: Using market power to accelerate the adoption of green practices across destinations and suppliers.

But when it comes to real-world implementation, occasionally, the sheer scope of sustainability within travel and tourism as a topic and issue is broad enough to feel insurmountable. Here are a few ways that positive impact can be generated through travel experiences, from opportunities to influence traveller choice to ensuring that beneficial experiences are offered to travellers in the first instance: 

Cultural Tourism and Sustainability: Preserving Authentic Voices and Local Heritage

Whether by discovering new cuisines, living with remote rural communities, supporting local business owners and artisans or travelling pilgrimage routes, interest in cultural tourism is skyrocketing. Ensuring that travel experiences are grounded in the heart of a place is also in the interest of travel providers from a success point of view, too:

• Cultural and historical travel accounts for 40% of all tourism globally.
• 73% of millennials report being interested in cultural and historic places.
• Cultural tourists spend 38% more per day and stay 22% longer than other traveller types.

Many countries and organisations around the world are already showing how it’s possible to balance economic development with retaining vital cultural heritage and sustainable transformations. Here’s how:

• Urban regeneration – a ‘Special Area Plan’ in George Town, Malaysia, balances conservation with economic development, allowing local owners to restore their homes and set up businesses, while protecting historic buildings from tourism-induced redevelopment.
• Prioritising native industries – to avoid over-reliance on sole economic drivers, like tourism. For example, in AlUla, investments are being made into native industries such as agriculture. Diversifying the local economy creates increased revenue for residents and lessens the strain on economies that rely on tourism as a main driver of revenue.
• ‘Living heritage’ – the ‘Beirut Housing Rehabilitation and Cultural Creative Industries’ project offers small grants to local artisans, while the regeneration of the historical Mar Mikhael train station aims to reactivate cultural markets and businesses.

A key way for travel distribution to incorporate sustainable cultural tourism into the day-to-day, beyond just the integration of a readily available sustainable portfolio, such as you’d get when partnering with Hotelbeds, or offering sustainable travel products via web-based bookings, is to bring local communities to the forefront of experience recommendations.

Doing so satisfies the current trend for authentic, experiential tourism in a way that creates a longer-lasting, positive impact for the host community and economy, while also keeping you, as a business, engaged with customer needs. By actively engaging with the local communities, the tourism industry can ensure that the generated revenue stays within the community, where it can have the most significant impact.

Promote Travel that Champions Sustainability

Tourism offers a great many opportunities to impact and contribute to these goals: through quality tourism training, which invests in education and skills; by investing in sustainable infrastructure; working to further eco-conscious transformation in communities, economies and mindsets including initiatives to decarbonise the sector; investing in innovative travel technology and upskilling tourism’s workforces all around the world.

Sustainable tourism is a major focus for the travel industry, with the appetite for sustainability showing no sign of easing: 83% of global travellers believe that sustainable travel is important!

For the environment:

One of the key concerns not just for the travel and tourism industry but for the wider world within the context of sustainability is single-use plastics. The hotel industry alone generates 150 million tonnes of plastic per year – much of which ends up polluting the oceans.

Given this, marine and coastal conservation programs are also a great example of how to promote experiences that satisfy customer needs while abiding by sustainable practices.

Real-life example: Based in Cap Ternay research station on Mahé Island - which can be accessed via the Seychelles International Airport for overseas visitors, located near the capital of Victoria – GVI offers several volunteer and study projects where participants can spend their time scuba-diving to help underwater research, snorkelling to collect data on marine life, or even hiking through palm forests.

Experiences like these are the perfect example of how distributors can provide sustainable travel experiences, which not only align with the needs and desires of the customer but also benefit the host destination.

For local communities:

Overtourism is also a unique tourism-induced issue which many popular destinations around the world face. Initiatives like sustainable tourism tax, introduced in the Balearic Island of Mallorca, helps support conservation of this popular destination. While in Kyoto, Japan, has implemented several measures to alleviate the strain of overtourism, including traffic congestion and even using social media to broadcast alternative routes and information for visitors.

It’s important that you’re doing your part as travel distributor to promote destinations in a sustainable way. After all, as the gateway for many customers, you’re the one putting travel opportunities into the hands of travellers in the first instance.

Discover a wealth of eco-conscious in-destination experiences in our portfolio, including conservation opportunities, regenerative experiences, tours and experiences run by local guides, and much more.

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Which leads us to our next point...

Hotelbeds: Empowering Sustainable Travel for the Industry

As Hotelbeds, a B2B travel partner for wholesale travel companies across the distribution industry, we’re also part of HBX Group; a leading independent B2B travel technology marketplace, working to remove friction from all key players in the travel and tourism industry – but also dedicated to driving sustainability at scale.

Discover more about our sustainability efforts in our recent Sustainability Report here.

As part of HBX Group, our Hotelbeds partners benefit from key initiatives and offerings, tailored to contributing to making travel a force for good (and accommodating valuable traveller demands):

• Sustainable Hotels: Over 40,000 hotels in the Hotelbeds portfolio are independently certified for sustainability – including 5,500 single-use-plastic-free options. This means they have achieved sustainable certification by industry-leading organisations such as the World Tourism and Trade Council (WTTC) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). What’s more, these sustainable properties are easily found in our web-based travel booking platform using the ‘Sustainable Hotels’ filter, making it easy for our partners to promote sustainable stays.
• In-Destination Experiences: We curate thousands of eco-friendly tours and activities, from PADI-certified diving centres to conservation-focused excursions, supporting both the environment and local communities.
• Green Transportation: Our vast range of ancillary services, such as airport transfers and car hire, offers hybrid vehicles and green transfers, broadening sustainable mobility options for travellers.
• Community Empowerment: Initiatives such as the ‘Think Big Project’ support micro-destinations, such as in Quintana Roo, Mexico, promoting regenerative tourism and the protection of natural and cultural heritage, and empower local communities. While over 2,500 cultural tours and 1,480 nature and wildlife activities promote authentic, responsible travel.
• Industry Collaboration: Through the Sustainability Hub, launched in June 2024, the company has created a knowledge exchange centre to foster industry collaboration and improve the social and environmental impact of our network of customers, suppliers and partners.

Here are just a few further company-wide initiatives HBX Group is driving to champion sustainable product offerings, improve our environmental processes and optimise our contribution to travel as a force for good:

• Carbon Offsetting and Reduction: This year marks a significant shift in our approach, as we launch a Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan that will include Scope 3 emissions, which represent the majority of our environmental impact; while we've enabled more than 16,000 trees planted and 2,976 tons of CO₂ offset through the HBX Group Forest project.
• Facility and Sustainablity Campaigns: in addition to our single-use plastic reduction efforts, we have also launched or expanded our marketing campaigns to make it even easier for our partners to book and promote sustainable and inclusive travel, including:
  • Certified sustainable hotels, and dedicated single-use plastic-free campaigns.
  • Hotels which accommodate eco-friendly electric charging points.
  • Accessible hotels for guests with mobility assistance requirements.
• A new Environmental Management System: a structured framework including new policies, training, evaluation and analysis to improve our environmental operations and procedures as a business.

The Path Forward: Practical Steps for Tour Operators and OTAs

To align with traveller demand and industry best practices, tour operators and OTAs should:

• Integrate Sustainability Filters: Ensure that certified sustainable hotels and experiences are easily searchable and bookable.
• Educate Travellers: Offer transparent information about the environmental and social impact of different travel options.
• Upskill Staff: Train teams to understand and communicate the importance of sustainability.
• Innovate with Technology: Use AI, blockchain, and other technologies to track and reduce the carbon footprint of travel offerings.
• Champion Regenerative Models: Move beyond “do no harm” to actively improving destinations and supporting local communities.

As World Tourism Day 2025 calls the industry to ‘Travel and Sustainable Transformation’, the responsibility - and opportunity - rests with yourselves, as travel distributors. By transforming your offerings and operations, embracing innovation, and partnering with sustainability-focused platforms like Hotelbeds, tour operators and OTAs can lead the way to a thriving, regenerative travel sector that meets the needs of both people and planet.

Grow your impact with Hotelbeds, thanks to:

• Presence in 170+ countries worldwide – with 250,000+ hotels and 23,000+ in-destination experiences, global transfer route coverage and car hire - including certified sustainable hotels, eco-friendly transfers, and thousands of single-use plastic-free stays.
• Access to dedicated Account Managers, whose goal is your growth.
• 1000 sourcing and destination experts, negotiating vital rates and availabilities.
• Seamless API integrations tailored to your business needs.
• Intelligent travel marketing campaigns – to assist in the capture of seasonal demand, including dedicated Sustainablity campaigns which showcase conscious options.

Become a Hotelbeds partner today