Consumers in favour of sustainable travel but cost is king: WTTC

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) unveiled its newest report, exploring the vital hole between travellers’ want for sustainable choices and their precise behaviour. Launched at FITUR 2025, Madrid, the report Bridging the Say-Do Gap: How to Create an Effective Sustainability Strategy by Knowing Your Customers was developed in collaboration with WTTC data associate YouGov.
The report explores the disconnect between what travellers say about sustainability and the alternatives they finally make.
It gives actionable steering to Travel & Tourism companies on how they’ll deal with this hole by providing options that make sustainable travel each extra accessible and extra enticing, finally balancing financial progress and environmental duty.
The research, drawing on a survey of greater than 10,000 respondents, categorised travellers into six shopper segments, starting from the eco-conscious “Hopeful Worriers” to the disengaged “Climate Change Agnostics”. Each group comes with distinctive behaviours, priorities, and obstacles to choosing sustainable decisions.
Understanding these various views is important for companies to craft efficient sustainability methods that resonate with their viewers and drive actual influence.
According to the information, cost and high quality stay the dominant priorities for travellers, outweighing sustainability concerns. Across all shopper segments, greater than 50% say cost is crucial issue influencing buying choices, whereas round 30% prioritise high quality.

In stark distinction, sustainability is a main issue for under a small minority, starting from 11% to 7%, even among the many most environmentally acutely aware teams.
A scarcity of visibility additionally stays a major barrier to progress. Over 10% of respondents reported no publicity to sustainability messaging or info by means of any channel, together with mainstream media, social platforms, or community-driven initiatives.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, stated: “Travellers care about sustainability but when buying travel, cost and quality are king. Customers expect businesses to create affordable sustainable options. But many WTTC companies inspire change – whether that is regrowing coral reefs or reducing food waste. Customers engage with brands that have strong values.
“I am delighted to collaborate with YouGov for such a crucial piece of work. By closing the say-do gap, we not only protect the planet but ensure more rewarding experiences for customers and a brighter and more resilient future for our planet.”
Research was additionally carried out by WTTC Member, Trip.com, culminating in The Sustainable Travel Consumer Report 2024. Trip.com’s report helps WTTC findings, noting the significance of cost and making sustainability hassle-free, encouraging customers in the direction of extra sustainable motion.
Business Recommendations
WTTC’s report affords seven key suggestions to assist the trade bridge this divide, calling on companies to guide by instance, partnering the place attainable with different companies and governments on sustainability initiatives.
To drive actual change, the report recommends highlighting the financial and private advantages of sustainable travel, making certain eco-friendly choices are easy and handy for customers, and introducing tiered reward programmes to encourage motion in any respect ranges.
Tailored advertising and marketing that speaks on to the values and desires of particular person customers has been proven to considerably improve engagement throughout totally different segments. Designing out unsustainable choices to make sustainability the default alternative can facilitate the decision-making course of and enhance the general expertise.
Many Travel & Tourism firms are actively adopting sustainable practices and speaking them to customers.
Intrepid Travel prominently labels journey itineraries with their carbon influence and offsets
emissions robotically. Iberostar leverages AI know-how to cut back meals waste in its accommodations and prioritises underutilised fish shares. Hilton has geared up over 1,800 accommodations with EV charging factors, with almost a 3rd of its EMEA properties powered fully by renewable power.
As local weather motion turns into an crucial moderately than an choice, this report equips companies with the instruments and insights they should thrive in a quickly altering world.
WTTC urges all Travel & Tourism enterprise leaders to leverage this report back to encourage innovation and chart a sustainable path ahead.