The World Journey & Tourism Council (WTTC) unveiled its newest report, exploring the crucial hole between travellers’ want for sustainable choices and their precise behaviour. Launched at FITUR 2025, Madrid, the report Bridging the Say-Do Hole: Learn how to Create an Efficient Sustainability Technique by Realizing Your Clients was developed in collaboration with WTTC information companion YouGov.
The report explores the disconnect between what travellers say about sustainability and the alternatives they finally make.
It supplies actionable steerage to Journey & Tourism companies on how they will tackle this hole by providing options that make sustainable journey each extra accessible and extra engaging, finally balancing financial development and environmental duty.
The research, drawing on a survey of greater than 10,000 respondents, categorised travellers into six client segments, starting from the eco-conscious “Hopeful Worriers” to the disengaged “Local weather Change Agnostics”. Every group comes with distinctive behaviours, priorities, and obstacles to deciding on sustainable selections.
Understanding these various views is important for companies to craft efficient sustainability methods that resonate with their viewers and drive actual influence.
In accordance with the information, value and high quality stay the dominant priorities for travellers, outweighing sustainability issues. Throughout all client segments, greater than 50% say value is crucial issue influencing buying choices, whereas round 30% prioritise high quality.
In stark distinction, sustainability is a major issue for under a small minority, starting from 11% to 7%, even among the many most environmentally aware teams.
A scarcity of visibility additionally stays a major barrier to progress. Over 10% of respondents reported no publicity to sustainability messaging or info by any channel, together with mainstream media, social platforms, or community-driven initiatives.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, mentioned: “Travellers care about sustainability however when shopping for journey, value and high quality are king. Clients anticipate companies to create inexpensive sustainable choices. However many WTTC firms encourage change – whether or not that’s regrowing coral reefs or decreasing meals waste. Clients interact with manufacturers which have robust values.
“I’m delighted to collaborate with YouGov for such an important piece of labor. By closing the say-do hole, we not solely defend the planet however guarantee extra rewarding experiences for purchasers and a brighter and extra resilient future for our planet.”
Analysis was additionally carried out by WTTC Member, Journey.com, culminating in The Sustainable Journey Shopper Report 2024. Journey.com’s report helps WTTC findings, noting the significance of value and making sustainability hassle-free, encouraging shoppers in the direction of extra sustainable motion.
Enterprise Suggestions
WTTC’s report presents seven key suggestions to assist the trade bridge this divide, calling on companies to guide by instance, partnering the place doable with different companies and governments on sustainability initiatives.
To drive actual change, the report recommends highlighting the financial and private advantages of sustainable journey, making certain eco-friendly choices are easy and handy for shoppers, and introducing tiered reward programmes to encourage motion in any respect ranges.
Tailor-made advertising and marketing that speaks on to the values and desires of particular person shoppers has been proven to considerably improve engagement throughout completely different segments. Designing out unsustainable choices to make sustainability the default selection can facilitate the decision-making course of and enhance the general expertise.
Many Journey & Tourism firms are actively adopting sustainable practices and speaking them to shoppers.
Intrepid Journey prominently labels journey itineraries with their carbon influence and offsets
emissions robotically. Iberostar leverages AI expertise to scale back meals waste in its resorts and prioritises underutilised fish shares. Hilton has geared up over 1,800 resorts with EV charging factors, with practically a 3rd of its EMEA properties powered solely by renewable vitality.
As local weather motion turns into an crucial fairly than an choice, this report equips companies with the instruments and insights they should thrive in a quickly altering world.
WTTC urges all Journey & Tourism enterprise leaders to leverage this report back to encourage innovation and chart a sustainable path ahead.
