The travel industry at large - spanning aviation, hospitality, cruises and tourism - is facing a reckoning. Climate change and biodiversity loss are no longer distant threats: they are already damaging the very destinations, ecosystems and communities on which tourism depends. Regulation is catching up fast, and the sector is not ready.
What’s coming is not just a regulatory shift, but a transformation in expectations. Tourists, investors, and governments are demanding sustainable practices and penalties for failing to deliver them. If the industry fails to respond, it risks not only financial consequences but also reputational damage and long-term decline.
So, how can the sector course-correct and chart a more sustainable path quickly? It starts with three strategic shifts: understanding its environmental impact, collaborating across sectors, and embracing innovative solutions.
1. Understand the Impact of Travel on the Planet
The environmental footprint of travel is significant. Tourism accounts for around 7% of global emissions. Within that, aviation contributes roughly 2.5%, hospitality around 1%, and cruise operations and other activities make up the rest. The impact extends beyond carbon: tourism drives unsustainable resource use and generates around 1.3 billion tonnes of waste per year, according to the UN Environment Programme.
Resorts and cruise ships in particular often overwhelm local infrastructure, leading to pollution, habitat degradation and growing resistance from host communities. Without robust, transparent measurement tools shared across the sector these problems will persist.
Too many operators rely on proprietary systems that create inconsistent and fragmented data. Without common, standardised metrics across airlines, cruise lines, hotels and tour providers, progress is impossible to measure - and accountability remains elusive.
2. Spotlight: The Cruise Industry
Few sectors within travel face the scale of regulatory scrutiny now confronting cruise operators. New draft regulations, set to take effect from 2027, could see parts of the shipping industry fined millions of dollars per day if they fail to meet aggressive carbon reduction targets.
While much of the attention has centred on cargo vessels, passenger and cruise ships are also in scope. Operators that fail to shift to sustainable fuels could face penalties of up to $1 million a day.
This is not just a bureaucratic risk, it’s a warning of the financial and reputational costs ahead. Cruise lines are under particular pressure due to their dual environmental burden: high emissions and waste output, often in sensitive coastal or island regions.
If the sector wants to remain viable in a low-carbon future, it must act fast - investing in clean fuel technologies, waste reduction infrastructure, and regional partnerships to address the burden placed on host destinations.
3. Focus: The Aviation Industry
While cruise ships dominate headlines, aviation remains one of the largest and most difficult-to-decarbonise parts of global travel. Accounting for around 2.5% of global emissions, its growth trajectory means its share could increase unless urgent action is taken.
Aviation’s challenge is not just about emissions, but also the lack of alternatives. Electrification is still in its infancy for long-haul flights, and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) remain costly and limited in availability.
What the industry can do now is accelerate collaboration - with governments, clean-tech innovators, and infrastructure providers - to scale new fuel technologies, support route efficiencies, and introduce clearer sustainability standards.
Innovation in aviation must go beyond aircraft: from airport energy systems to passenger behaviour, there are gains to be made across the entire ecosystem. But these will only happen with coordinated, collective effort.
No travel segment operates in isolation. Airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and local governments must work together to overcome common environmental challenges.
Industry associations have a crucial role to play in convening members, aligning around targets, and supporting public-private partnerships that can unlock infrastructure and funding.
Equally, partnerships with startups, climate innovators, and clean-tech pioneers are critical. These collaborations can accelerate development, share risk, and bring new solutions to market faster, from waste-to-energy systems to smart water and energy use.
The environmental challenges facing the travel industry require more than marginal change, they demand transformation.
Take human waste. In many destinations, overwhelmed sewage systems are polluting rivers and oceans, spreading disease and harming ecosystems. Climate change - through more frequent flooding - is worsening the problem.
But new technologies offer a way forward. Bio-conversion systems, for example, can now turn human waste into biofuels - creating closed-loop systems that generate clean energy and reduce pollution.
This is just one example of how sustainable investments can benefit both the travel industry and the communities it serves. Cleaner destinations are more attractive to visitors, while energy independence supports long-term local resilience.
The travel industry does not have decades to adapt. It has a few short years at best. The new IMO shipping regulations are only the first wave in a broader global shift in policy, investment, and public expectation.
By understanding its environmental impact, building meaningful cross-sector partnerships, and embracing bold innovation, the global travel industry can turn this moment of reckoning into one of reinvention.
The reward? A cleaner, more resilient sector - and a healthier planet for generations of travellers to come.
Nico Nicholas is the co-founder and CEO of ZEERO Group, a holistic sustainable technology and nature-based solutions provider serving diverse industries around the world. Through innovative joint ventures and partnerships, ZEERO accelerates and scales renewable energy, nature and community resilience projects.
