BUSINESS NEWS name and revised its model. Chief executive Jeremy Sampson explains why to Ian Taylor


‘Destinations have a hard time advocating for the investment needed to build resilience,’ says Jeremy Sampson


He accepts “there is never a great


time to do something like this” but adds: “We’re pleased so far.” Sampson highlights finance


as a key area of focus for Travel Forward now. He notes: “Everything comes back to finance. “We can’t change the way decisions


are made, or how success is measured, without changing the funding models. We can’t really say we’re having an impact unless more resources are mobilised to change things on the ground. The money needed at scale is not there. Destinations have a hard time advocating for the investment needed to build resilience. We need to mobilise resources.”


Access to finance In response, he says: “We’ve started to study why it’s so difficult for the industry to access finance. There are mechanisms for impact assessment and climate finance that other sectors have done a much better job of tapping into. The travel industry doesn’t really understand the finance sector, and vice versa.


travelweekly.co.uk


What we are


now is a vehicle to move forward – not just to talk but to be solution-oriented


“So, we’re exploring what bridges


can be built. We’ve partnered with the Edinburgh Futures Institute [at the University of Edinburgh] and Cornell University, both with a lot of credibility and a focus on tourism and climate change. “There are already things


emerging, primarily around the need for an intermediary which could attract finance from multiple sources and combine and distribute it.” But this should be done,


Samspon says, “through a lens of understanding risk and a need for equity and climate justice”, adding: “We’re studying what that might look like.” His hope is to produce a white paper for this year’s Cop31 Climate Conference in November.


There has been debate for


years about sustainability in travel, about the need to respond to climate vulnerabilities and to put communities more at the centre of destination development. Yet progress appears slow. Sampson argues: “Are we where


we need to be? No. But sustainability is becoming more integrated into the fabric of organisations.” He recognises: “For a long time,


we were maybe too siloed from the realities of business.” Now, he suggests, growing recognition of the risks to travel businesses and destinations provides “a bridge between sustainability, marketing and product”.


Critical mass Sampson adds: “The only way to move a system with deep structural challenges is by having some critical mass. There is still siloing. There is still imbalance. But it’s remarkable how destinations shifted mindset in just a few years. Everyone became destination management or stewardship organisations.”


Of course, he says: “It’s one thing


to have a mindset, it’s quite another to have the resources and governance to deliver. But the urgency and the risks have never been clearer. “For a long time, the ‘business


case’ was around people wanting sustainable things. But I don’t buy it. That wasn’t driving enough urgency and real resources. Now there is a bunch of compliance around risk and vulnerabilities people are increasingly aware of. That creates the business case.” Sampson notes of the past few


years: “Sometimes it has felt weird. On one hand we were declaring a climate emergency and on the other we’d be working with places, doing education on what is climate change. In an emergency, you would hear sirens, you wouldn’t be talking about what is a heart attack. But if we never build the foundations, we won’t ever make progress.” He argues: “There have been a


lot of ‘performative’ micro actions, but people recognise it’s not enough now, that this won’t deal with the risks we face as an industry.”


9 JULY 2026 47


PICTURE: Shutterstock/Alex Tihonovs


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48