Panellists agreed customers rarely ask for sustainable holidays outright and are unlikely to pay more simply because a trip carries green credentials.

Instead, travellers are motivated by memorable experiences and "authentic local connections", with travel professionals responsible for embedding sustainable practices into the holiday from the outset.

"The biggest mistake we make is calling them sustainable holidays," said Not Just Travel agent Lourdes Huelgas. "It's so vague that most of our clients don't really understand what we’re talking about."

The panel agreed the industry would sell more responsible holidays "when it is the norm, not the exception", arguing sustainability should become a "default" part of every holiday sold rather than a niche category.

'Labels mean nothing to customers'

Rather than leading with carbon emissions or environmental certifications, agents said operators should focus on the experiences customers will have, such as eating at locally owned restaurants, supporting community businesses or discovering destinations beyond the usual tourist trail.

Carla Murdoch, Branch Manager at Inverness-based Murray Travel, said customers ultimately wanted to know "what they’re going to experience" and how their holiday would benefit them, while Kiri Dulay, Marketing and Social Media Manager at Midcounties Co-operative Travel, warned that industry jargon continued to create barriers for consumers.

"Labels don't really mean anything to customers," Dulay said, urging agents to opt for storytelling over eco-credentials. She pointed to examples including hotel conservation projects, local community initiatives and family-focused programmes such as toy recycling, saying these resonated far more strongly than sustainability badges.

"People like people, but people love a story," she added. "It's the stories that clients bring back with them, not the sustainability stamp on the front desk."

'Operators have lots of work to do'

The panel also called on suppliers to make responsible travel easier for agents to sell by providing clearer training, more accessible content and simpler explanations of a given hotel's credentials.

Huelgas said a lack of consistency across certification schemes made conversations with customers unnecessarily difficult, noting that sustainability standards differ significantly between destinations.

"What it means to be green in Italy is not the same as being green in Mexico or Thailand," she said. "There's lots of work to be done on the operator side to make sure agents are clear on what different places and properties provide."

Huelgas suggested operators could better support sales by replacing generic sustainability claims with concise explanations of what individual hotels are doing and, crucially, what those initiatives mean for guests.

"Agents want to know if the hotel happens to source their souvenirs from local women, or if they partner with a local taverna so guests can experience some real Greek food," she said. 

"These are the kind of sustainable projects that leave clients thinking 'okay, I'm getting something from this and having a more authentic experience'."