World Tourism Day: Leading the Change from Your Hotel

Tourism has always been more than numbers on a balance sheet. Beyond driving economies, it protects ecosystems, empowers communities, and preserves cultures.

Rwanda’s gorilla tourism is a powerful example where visitor revenue helped double the mountain gorilla population, generating millions in income, funding over 700 community projects, and reinvestment in conservation to reduce poaching. This shows how tourism can simultaneously protect nature and uplift local communities.

But growth brings responsibility.

While global tourism revenue is projected to hit USD 1.39 trillion by 2030, as per Statista, overtourism continues to strain the environment and cultural heritage. That’s why every year, on 27th September, World Tourism Day reminds us of tourism’s broader role in shaping a sustainable future.

This year’s theme, ‘Tourism and Sustainable Transformation’, is especially relevant for hotels. According to the Sustainable Tourism report by Technavio, the sustainable tourism market is projected to grow by USD 508 billion between 2025–2029. So, it's clear: conscious travellers are coming to you, and you can’t ignore sustainable hotel practices anymore.

For hoteliers, becoming a ‘green hotel’ is more than compliance. It's about tapping into a growing market while making a meaningful difference. In this article, we’ll explore what this year’s theme means for hotels, why sustainability is non-negotiable, and how distribution partners like Hotelbeds, as part of HBX Group, can help you with sustainable hotel strategies.
 

World Tourism Day 2025: The Era of Hotel Transformation

Tourism has always been a focal point of connecting people, the environment, and economies. But without care, it can also put pressure on the very places and communities it aims to protect and promote. Now the travel industry is being called to transform.
 

The World Tourism Day 2025 theme, ‘Tourism and Sustainable Transformation’, shines a spotlight on how our hospitality sector, one with the broadest economic reach and deepest social impact, can be a force for both people and planet.
 

The World Economic Forum outlines these three key opportunities shaping the future of sustainable tourism in their ‘Embracing Sustainable and Inclusive’ paper:
 

• Empowering Local Communities: Supporting education, skills, and entrepreneurship so that tourism uplifts lives and preserves culture. Some great programmes increased destination income over $5,500 per capita per annum.
   
• Promoting Inclusion: Opening doors for women, youth, and underrepresented groups while offering diverse cultural experiences that build understanding.
   
• Protecting the Environment: Driving regenerative models that conserve ecosystems and channel revenue back into conservation.
   

For hotels, this is both a responsibility and an opportunity to move beyond business and embrace eco-friendly hotel practices that safeguard ecosystems, uplift communities, and appeal to a new generation of conscious travellers.

We would like to call this the era of hotel transformation.

Why Sustainability Matters for Hotels?

As tourism continues to grow, hotels sit at the centre of this transformation. Statista projects the hotel market will reach US $455.15 billion by 2025, with 1.86 billion users by 2030. And this impact goes beyond economics.
 

In Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, cultural restoration through the UNESCO World Heritage Site and Bujairi Terrace has already drawn over 2 million visitors since 2022—showing how hospitality can drive cultural preservation and sustainable tourism growth.
 

Not just that, travellers are also demanding change. According to Booking.com:
 

• 93% plan to make more sustainable travel choices by 2025.
• 53% are conscious of travel’s impact on communities and the environment.
   

Top areas where travellers want to support are better transportation (38%), waste management (37%), and environmental conservation (32%).
 

Hotels that embrace this shift can lead the industry as true agents of sustainable transformation.
 

How to Become a Sustainable Hotel?

Each hotel is uniquely positioned to lead sustainable change by integrating meaningful practices into everyday operations. Some of them can be:
 

• Leverage tech: Use AI and big data to personalise your guest journeys while nudging travellers to eco-friendly restaurants, public transport, or authentic cultural experiences. Implement green hotel marketing strategies to promote offerings.
   
• Get Authorised: Certification is a critical step to prove your position. We recommend WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria, which cover sustainable management, socioeconomic benefits, cultural preservation, and environmental protection. Beyond these, eco-certifications like LEED and BREEAM elevate credibility in global markets. Here’s our guide to obtaining your hotel sustainability certification. 
   
• Eco-friendly Dining and Transportation: Food provision offers another opportunity with sourcing local and seasonal produce, reducing food waste through donations or smart partnerships, and rethinking buffets. All these contribute to stronger community and environmental outcomes. Also, provide information on trains, buses, and metro routes so guests can choose low-carbon options while reducing the environmental footprint of travel. 
   
• Shape Guest Behaviour: Recommend lesser-known sites, encourage authentic cultural immersion through workshops and integrated experiences, and inspire deeper respect for local traditions. Promote ethical wildlife tours and avoid exploitative practices to build long-term trust with conscious travellers.
   

The path is clear: offer green packages, incentivise guests to use eco-friendly services, host cultural exchanges, and run eco-awareness campaigns that make sustainability part of the guest journey.
 

But still, there are many other adaptations. Some strategies are simple, others transformative, but all make a difference. Look at these hotels:
 

• Eco-Friendly Operations: Grand Hotel Portovenere (Italy) sources zero-kilometre products and offers reusable bottles, proving small actions shape guest behaviour. 
   
• Community empowerment: Marriott India is training thousands of youth in Jammu and Kashmir, shaping a resilient hospitality workforce.
   
• Impact-driven initiatives: Six Senses Yao Noi, Thailand, provides clean water access to over 104,000 people through its initiatives, while Hilton’s Travel with Purpose has delivered 1.6 million meals and 1.5 million pounds of food to disaster-hit communities. Then, Madifushi Private Island, Maldives, planted 5,000 coconut trees to safeguard ecosystems. 
   

These implementations show that hotels can extend hospitality far beyond their gates. Are you ready for this, too?

Turning Sustainability into Growth

But being part of the sustainable travel trend is not enough. You need to be seen.

That’s where we step in. Through our Sustainable Hotels Programme, we make sure your efforts are visible to the travellers and partners who care most. By joining, you benefit from:
 

• Stronger visibility in distribution: Sustainable properties appear under the dedicated ‘Sustainable Hotels’ filter on our booking platforms, making it easier for conscious travellers and partners to find you.
   
• Marketing that tells your story: From targeted email campaigns to dedicated banners and landing pages, your initiatives will be in the spotlight.
   
• Proven impact from campaigns: Our partnership with Accor Hotels scaled plastic-free hotels from just 500 to 5,000 in one year, showing how collective action drives measurable change.
   
• Access to high-demand travellers: Bookings for certified sustainable hotels in our portfolio grew 30% between 2022-2023. Today, we feature 40,000+ certified properties.
   
• Insights into traveller intent: Our sustainability landing pages are consistently the most visited, proof that demand for eco-conscious stays is outpacing the market.

Why B2B Distribution Matters for Sustainable Hotels

Through Hotelbeds’ B2B distribution network, you can:
 

• Reach global demand: Connect with 60,000 travel distributors and corporate buyers actively searching for sustainable stays.
   
• Win preferred partnerships: Many travel sellers now prioritise suppliers with credible ESG practices, and we help you reach them.
   
• Unlock revenue growth: Sustainable hotels are not just popular, they are profitable, capturing the fastest-growing segment of the market.
   
• Build long-term trust: Being part of a verified network gives travellers and partners confidence that your commitments are real.
   

If you are ready to transform your hotel into a sustainability growth machine, register with us today!

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