According to the Envisioning Tourism in 2030 report, current strategies which rely on carbon offsetting, technological efficiencies and biofuels are "woefully" inadequate.

It found these measures alone will fail to meet the Paris Agreement-aligned goals to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. 

Instead, global policymakers and climate planners attending Cop27 have been urged to combine all those measures with significant investments, which, the report claims, is the only scenario that can provide comparable levels of revenue and opportunities to travel in a decarbonising world.

The report concludes destinations and tourism businesses "must take action now" to identify new opportunities and "build resilience" to changes in visitor patterns, potential new restrictions and regulation, and the worsening impacts of climate change.

The decarbonisation scenario which could match current growth levels will be achieved through trillion-dollar investments across all available measures, and by prioritising trips which can reduce emissions most readily.

"It’s clear that business as usual for tourism is neither desirable nor viable," said Menno Stokman, director at the Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality (CELTH).

"Climate impacts are already here, increasing in frequency and severity, with monumental costs for humanity and the environment that affect tourism more than most other sectors."

A global coordinated response also needs to address the existing inequity within the tourism system, the report found.

Many countries, particularly those in the Global South, have yet to fully develop their tourism economies and will have fewer resources to invest in green infrastructure.