From strategy to implementation: why data and trust will define the next era of European tourism

During our latest visit to Brussels, our new CEO, Julie Cheetham, attended a high-level strategic dialogue with EU Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas on how the incoming EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy can support the European tourism sector in becoming more sustainable and competitive.

Commissioner Tzitzikostas’ vision shows ongoing momentum and ambition to make Europe’s tourism industry more sustainable, guided by data and leveraging partnerships.

As the Travalyst Coalition, we are ready and excited to support its imminent implementation phase. Europe’s challenge is not a lack of ambition. It is how to translate this ambition and leadership into action i.e. helping operators become more sustainable, presenting consumers with credible emission impact data, and developing balanced destination strategies – all by breaking down silos, supporting SMEs in this process and enhancing consumer trust to make better informed decisions. The industry’s competitiveness relies on the very assets it puts under pressure if we don’t take action.

Traveller demand for more sustainable travel continues to grow. Yet a persistent gap remains between awareness and action. While the vast majority of travellers recognise sustainable options, far fewer ultimately book them.

Incoming EU legislative initiatives, including Refuel EU/Flight Emissions Label, Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT) and CountEmissionsEU, all aim to address misleading sustainability information by setting standards for consistent and trusted sustainability claims, accurate carbon calculations, and labels and certifications that are easy for travellers to compare, interpret, and trust.

As several policy frameworks to support displaying trusted sustainability information are ongoing, such as developing a scalable solution for accommodations to display a carbon footprint, the Travalyst Coalition and industry partners are collaborating to develop solutions compliant with these frameworks.

The initiatives include collecting and reporting data at minimum cost with the Data Hub, the latest iteration of the Certifications Initiative, the Travel Impact Model developed in collaboration with Google, in addition to making rail a viable business opportunity by comparing different modes of transport.

Crucially, sustainability information must be displayed in ways that actually help consumers decide. Over-prescriptive, one-size-fits-all display rules risk reducing impact rather than increasing it.

Whether data is used for reporting requirements, assessing hotspots, or displaying sustainability information to travellers, legal frameworks are needed for this data to be trusted by consumers, business and investors. Ideally, these frameworks are globally aligned so data can be fully leveraged, scaled, compared, and used. Travalyst has long advocated for global frameworks that underpin credible, consistent, and easy to understand sustainability information:

• Consistency – the same journey should not produce wildly different carbon results
• Comparability – travellers must be able to weigh options across accommodation and transport modes
• Credibility – data must be robust, science-based, and verifiable

We therefore applaud Europe’s leadership to embed sustainability targets, consumer protection, and transparency into law. Europe’s initiative to introduce emissions calculation standards, enhance consumer protection rules, and forthcoming accommodation methodologies signals a clear direction for the travel industry, not only in Europe but at a global level.

Where trust breaks down – such as when different flight CO₂ calculators that do not follow EU legislation and/or international standards produce materially different results for identical routes – consumer confidence erodes. Once trust is lost, labels and displaying CO₂ emissions stop influencing behaviour, no matter how well-intentioned.

As the Commissioner stated in Brussels, Europe has a unique opportunity to position itself as the world’s first seamlessly connected low-carbon tourism destination. High-speed rail, short-haul alternatives, and integrated ticketing could redefine how visitors move across the continent.

Yet modal shift will not happen without fair and transparent comparison. Rail, aviation, and multimodal platforms must operate on aligned data obligations, ancillary costs must be transparent to enable fair comparisons, and emissions data must be standardised and comparable.

Travalyst began this work with the Travel Impact Model for flight emissions, developed in collaboration with Google, and we continue to build as a coalition, this year beginning our rail initiatives through working groups, and tool development with our coalition partners.

Europe’s accommodation sector is dominated by small, independent properties. Yet, fewer than 1% are sustainability certified and displayed on platforms today. This is not due to lack of intent, but to barriers around cost, complexity, and uncertainty. Incoming EU legislative initiatives provide a clear opportunity to increase sustainable accommodation supply, but only if implementation is clear and workable:

• Certification criteria must be interpreted and implemented consistently across EU member states
• Third-party verification requirements must strike the right balance between being unambiguous and recognising global standards
• Methodologies such as product environmental footprints must be affordable and scalable for all types of accommodation, including small and medium enterprises

We have just announced, following extensive industry consultation, that the Travalyst Certification initiative is now aligned and ahead of incoming legislation. We feel this provides even more clarity for the industry on the minimum and global standards required for certification. Booking platforms can then choose to display these certifications to consumers with confidence that they are meeting requirements.

Pressure on communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems is an ongoing challenge for our industry. Yet consumer research shows an opportunity: travellers are open – often eager – to discover lesser-known destinations, if they can find and reach them easily.

Data can help destinations with forecasting demand, highlighting alternative locations and seasonality, and linking sustainability performance with destination promotion.

Travalyst looks forward to strengthening collaboration between destinations, platforms, and policymakers to provide access to shared, transparent and trusted data.

Europe does not need to fundamentally reinvent its tourism offering. The task ahead is to preserve Europe’s destinations for generations to come by making them resilient against the upcoming challenges, while getting them to be sustainable by design.

A data-driven tourism model where impact is measured, sustainability information is trusted, and transport and accommodation choices are transparent, empowers travellers to make better informed choices without sacrificing convenience, affordability, or experience. In doing so, it can demonstrate that competitiveness and sustainability are not opposing goals, but mutually reinforcing ones.