London – Today at London Climate Action Week, the Travel Foundation announced an ambitious new initiative under the banner: Where Next? Big ideas for tourism’s climate transition. The global NGO introduced four such “big ideas” that will form the basis of a global engagement and consultation process leading up to the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Brazil this November.

Each idea is presented as a “systems change enabler”, designed to challenge the status quo and centre on the needs of destination communities most at risk from climate impacts. The four ideas are:

— Source: The Travel Foundation

1. A global climate risk register for destinations – an open-access platform providing localised climate risk profiles to help governments, businesses, and investors act on the most urgent threats. This tool would enable transparent decision-making and support stronger governance and targeted investment.
2. A global initiative to phase out harmful tourism models – such as high-emission short breaks or over-touristed hotspots — while supporting a just transition: reskilling workers, building regenerative alternatives, and redirecting investment toward low-carbon, community-owned enterprises.
3. A climate justice fund for tourism destinations – designed to channel resources directly to the places and people most affected by climate change. Crucially, it would be governed by the communities on the front lines, with funding priorities set by those experiencing the impacts. This isn’t just about finance – it’s about repair, resilience, and fairness.
4. Making community-led planning and destination equity-linked KPIs a requirement in tourism development. That includes redistributing tax revenues, mandating local procurement, requiring real evidence of benefit, and ensuring communities have meaningful influence over tourism growth and investment decisions.

The Travel Foundation also stressed the need for coordinated international reforms to reduce emissions across the tourism system, for instance by including international aviation emissions in destination carbon budgets (and prioritising allocations for long-haul-dependent regions), phasing out fossil fuel subsidies for aviation in favour of low-carbon transport, and managing demand through targeted policy measures.

These proposals are not abstract ambitions. They are designed to become actionable solutions to reshape how tourism is funded, governed, and managed, particularly in destinations and communities most exposed to climate risks.

The initiative was launched at a London Climate Action Week event hosted by the Travel Foundation, in partnership with Finn Partners and Extreme Hangout, and attended by a cross-section of tourism and climate stakeholders. The event marked the beginning of a global consultation and engagement phase and featured contributions from Turismo de Islas Canarias, Preferred Travel Group and The Travel Corporation. The consultation will prioritise input from Global South stakeholders and spotlight pioneering examples that show how tourism can evolve to better serve both people and planet.

We’ll be working closely with destinations, partners, and global stakeholders to turn this agenda into tangible action – through pilots, partnerships, policy shifts, and collaborative initiatives. So today isn’t just a launch – it’s an invitation: to contribute to the consultation and to help shape the agenda we’ll take to Brazil and beyond. Because transformation isn’t someone else’s job, it’s everyone’s. And it starts here. Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation

The Travel Foundation, which co-authored the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, will embark on the engagement and consultation process over the coming months, culminating in the Where Next?: Action Agenda to be launched at COP30. This will set out the steps for implementation and clarify the roles that the Travel Foundation and its partners will play in making these ideas a reality.

The Travel Foundation has also partnered with Chilean-based Cuidadores de Destinos to engage stakeholders and amplify inspiring stories of adaptation, leadership, and resilience from across Latin America and the Caribbean, and especially from destination communities already experiencing disruptive impacts of climate breakdown.

We tend to seek solutions in grand strategies. Yet some of the most creative and imaginative answers are already unfolding quietly at the margins. This campaign elevates those stories; the kind of stories that shift your perspective just enough to make you wonder if we’ve been asking the wrong questions all along. Marco Lucero, co-founder at Cuidadores de Destinos

Bold, collaborative climate leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The question is no longer must we act, but rather how far can the tourism industry go in demonstrating what is possible when we turn big ideas into collective action and impact at scale. We are proud to support this ambitious agenda to promote more equitable and resilient tourism models with the power to shift systems and drive needed change. Nina Boys, Vice President of Sustainability at Preferred Travel Group

Tourism is poised to play a leadership role in climate adaptation, helping to align tourism models with community priorities. This has the potential to deliver benefits across multiple layers of sustainable tourism development and delivery. Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation

Over the coming weeks, the Travel Foundation and its partners will share further details on how stakeholders can contribute to the consultation process and action agenda. More information on the Where Next? Big ideas for tourism’s climate transition campaign can be found at https://www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/where-next/.

About the Travel Foundation

The Travel Foundation is a leading global NGO and charity that works in partnership with governments, businesses, and communities to develop and manage tourism in a way that maximizes the benefits for communities and the environment. Founded in 2003, it has worked in over 30 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk.

Georgina Davies
Communications Manager
The Travel Foundation