The non-governmental organisation challenged travel industry leaders to "collaborate and act" to cut emissions, build climate resilience and ensure a fair deal for destinations.

Travel and tourism, it said, must "move beyond planning, take action at scale and work together pre-emptively" if it is to achieve the "transformational" change required to safeguard its future and those of the destinations it visits.

The Travel Foundation is hosting anniversary celebrations in Brussels this week, bringing together senior-level delegates to collaborate on two main areas of focus – environmental, social and governance reporting, and climate action.

Chief executive Jeremy Sampson said collective action was now urgent. "Twenty years ago, we were born from collaboration by the UK travel industry. Since then, we have gone from strength to strength to become a truly global and independent organisation.

"We now need impact at scale – nothing less is good enough. So I call on the next generation of industry leaders to step forward and step up – you know that doing good work in silos won’t cut it. The system will only change, as it must, with collective action."

The Travel Foundation plans to support its efforts with a new office "at the heart of the EU" in Brussels, and is also exploring options for a US office.

It has also inked a formal agreement with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which represents 11 nations the foundation said were "on the front line of climate change".

Other developments include a renewed commitment from Expedia Group, which is gearing up to launch a free "climate champions" training resource for destination marketing and management organisations.

There are new data and technology partnerships with the Edinburgh Futures Institute, TravelTech Scotland, Mastercard’s Tourism Innovation Hub and BehaviourSMART, and an effort to align more closely with the Sustainability Hospitality Alliance.

Holiday Extras, meanwhile, hailed one of the foundation’s "longest standing and closest supporters", has committed to raising another £500,000 for the charity, on top of the more than £350,000 it has already committed.