Last month, our Founding Director, Patrick Richards, joined travel industry leaders on stage for the first ITT Sustainability Big Debate: “Do Travellers Care? Does It Matter?”. The debate delivered on its promise of honest debate, and plenty of food for thought, below is a summary of our top takeaways.

1. Travellers may not ask for it, but that does not mean it does not matter

One of the biggest traps for travel businesses is assuming that, because customers do not always ask about sustainability at the point of sale, it is not important to them.

The reality is more complex. When someone is booking a holiday, price, dates, destination and convenience may be front of mind. But once they arrive in a destination, poor practice becomes much harder to ignore. Waste, overcrowding, damage to nature, pressure on local communities or a lack of authenticity can all affect how people feel about their experience – and whether they would book again.

2. We need to be careful about calling products “sustainable”

The word sustainability still has a place in the industry. It makes sense in the context of strategy, reporting, governance and roles such as sustainability leads or sustainability officers. But using the word as a product claim is problematic. Calling a hotel, holiday or itinerary “sustainable” can be vague, difficult to evidence and open to challenge. This is being underpinned by regulatory enforcement, such as the “EMPCO” regulation in Europe and Green Claims in the UK, where the CMA (Competition and Market Authority) can impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover … without going to court. (For more info feel free to get in touch).

A stronger approach is to be specific. Instead of asking customers to trust a broad label, businesses should explain what has actually been done: for example, reducing waste, supporting local suppliers, managing visitor flows, protecting biodiversity, lowering emissions, or improving community benefit.

3. Specific language leads to better action & builds trust

The more specific we are, the easier it becomes to make progress. If the issue is food waste, name it. If the issue is overtourism, name it. If the issue is economic leakage, local sourcing, biodiversity loss or customer behaviour, name it.

When we move away from broad, feel-good language and focus on specific challenges, businesses can set clearer goals, measure progress and communicate more honestly.

If the sector wants to build trust, it needs to communicate in language people understand. That means fewer vague claims and more concrete examples, evidence and results.

4. The conversation has moved on from good intentions

The industry is no longer only talking about sustainability as a nice-to-have, a moral choice or a side project. The conversation is increasingly about business resilience, climate risk, regulation, destination pressure, customer experience and measurable impact.

That shift matters. It means responsible travel is becoming less about “fluffy” claims and more about practical decisions that affect the long-term health of destinations and businesses.

For travel companies, this means being able to show not just what they believe, but what they are doing – and what difference it is making.