Our achievements

Since the Travel Foundation’s inception in 2003, we have helped to ensure tourism brings greater benefits for communities and protection for the environment in tourism destinations around the world.

Scroll down to see just some of the successes that we have achieved over the years, or read our 2020 Annual Review.

Destination Stewardship

We support destinations to develop better, more sustainable tourism that ensures an equitable use of resources, gives residents a voice, and protects destination assets.  For example:

• We’ve supported many destinations to plan for a smarter, more community-focused recovery following the pandemic.  We’ve delivered tourism recovery training programmes for over twenty destinations to date and developed a toolkit for destinations in Europe.
• Our pioneering ‘Invisible Burden’ report (with Cornell University and EplerWood Int) uncovered the hidden costs of tourism and the negative impact they can have on destinations.
• We completed a ground–breaking study, with TUI and PwC, into the impact of tourism in Cyprus – the most comprehensive impact assessment ever undertaken for a tourism operation in destination.
• We created a new, tried and tested process for identifying the sustainability risks within destination.

Tourism Products

We influence how tourism products are developed and sold to spread the benefits of tourism and to protect the environment.  For example:

• In Jamaica, with the TUI Care Foundation, we increased the number of tourists spending money outside their hotel, providing better information to tourists and improving visitor numbers to the Harbour Street craft market.
• In Saint Lucia, we enabled an increase in the amount of lionfish being caught for sale to hotels by local fishermen, contributing to the reduction of this damaging, invasive species.
• Our Taste of Fethiye project linked local famers to hotels in Turkey, enabling local supply and improving livelihood opportunities. At the end of the project, 16 hotels were sourcing 70-85% of their fresh fruit and vegetables from Taste of Fethiye.

• We improved tour-guiding practices in Cape Verde to protect the environment, including training over 100 guides and creating a code of conduct for tour companies.
• We have improved water and energy efficiency and reduced waste in 14 destinations around the world, including in Cape Verde where we enabled hotels to reduce water and energy use by 12%.
• We enabled the creation of mandatory minimum standards for sustainability in hotels in Cyprus – a world first.
• We improved opportunities for beach-sellers to earn a living from tourism in Mombasa and Sri Lanka. Both projects led to further action in destination, with two hotels groups in Sri Lanka rolling-out the programme to further hotels, and two neighbouring counties in Kenya adopting the training.

Working together

In 2020, we joined forces with five other leading international tourism NGOs to launch the ground-breaking Future of Tourism Coalition and by the end of the year over over 400 tourism organisations had signed up to the 13 guiding principles. The Coalition aims to bring tourism organisations together to create change, providing a shared vision for the future and enabling organsations to work together to achieve it.

Coalition members: Center for Responsible Travel, Destination Stewardship Centre, Green Destinations, Sustainable Travel International, Tourism Cares, The Travel Foundation.