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Travel industry urged to move beyond 'crude' tourism metrics as calls grow for common ESG standards

Fairer Travel Event
Dea Jusufi
1 July 2026

Travel businesses must move beyond "crude" metrics like carbon emissions and visitors numbers, industry leaders have said, and should instead pursue a "shared standard" for assessing wider environmental and social impact.

Matt Callaghan, Rochelle Turner, Mark Tanzer and Pedro Medina Asensio at the Fairer Travel Event 2026
Dean Rossiter

Sustainability initiatives have largely survived the downturn triggered by the Middle East conflict, with industry leads calling for a more 'holistic' approach to measuring impact

Speaking at TTG's Fairer Travel Event in London on Tuesday (30 June), panellists argued the industry needs a common framework for measuring everything from community benefit and biodiversity to economic impact, as sustainability becomes increasingly embedded in commercial decision-making.

Tom Beagant, Partner at PwC UK, claimed climate "resilience" rather than awareness had become the cornerstone of a successful travel business. "The winner is not the person with the best greenhouse gas emissions report," he said. "The winners are the ones who are protecting their revenue, reputation and resilience."