According to the World Tourism Organisation, sustainable travel refers to “travel that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.” In this article we look at the main trends in sustainable practices, consumers expectations and ways to mitigate the environmental impacts of travel in the coming years.
1. Increased interest in sustainable practices
The demand for more sustainable practices in the travel industry has been accentuated in our post-pandemic world as people have seen the positive impact travelling less can have on our environment. Although people still want to travel, they are also increasingly calling for sustainable travel options and alternative destinations to reduce their impact on the local environment and communities they visit. A recent survey conducted by Booking.com with 33,000 travellers across 35 countries and territories revealed that global travellers are now looking beyond ‘sustainable travel’ and calling for ‘regenerative travel’ options and “regenerative experiences that positively impact destinations with benefits to wildlife, conservation and the local community”.
Recent research also shows that support for sustainable business and general environment concern is not only occurring among consumers in high-income countries, but is also strong in developing and emerging economies. A 2021 report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the WWF, shows that an ‘eco-wakening’ is happening across the world with the most dramatic growth in engagement and awareness observed in Asia.
2. Travellers demand transparency
Travellers who are more mindful of their impact on the environment and are seeking sustainable options are also looking for more transparency from travel companies. They demand assurance that the choices they make are aligned with their convictions. Consumers are increasingly wary of greenwashing and false claims, as highlighted by the backlash some airlines have experienced in recent years when communicating on their carbon offset programmes. The negative reaction was mainly due to a lack of clarity and consistency with the calculation methodologies used by offsetting schemes which led people to lose trust in a method that could otherwise be beneficial and help achieve lower emissions goals. Methodologies used to calculate the reduction in emissions and environmental impact of travel need to be rigorous, accurate and certified by recognised organisations such as ICAO’s CORSIA.
More transparency means need for accurate data, honest communication and alignment across industry. If data varies from one provider to another this will create confusion for the end user who will end up disregarding the information altogether.
3. Balancing cost of living and climate crisis
The rising cost of living and the climate crisis are two important factors for consumers’ decision-making in today’s economic landscape. People do not want to have to make a choice between sustainability and spending. They are seeking more sustainable travel options rich in rewards, with a new demand for ‘green incentivisation’. Qantas Frequent Flyer Green Tier which sits alongside the airline’s existing Frequent Flyer programme is a great example of such green incentivisation. It enables members to access exclusive rewards and benefits through the Qantas Frequent Flyer programme for their sustainable actions. According to the airline, since the programme’s launch in 2022, over 650,000 Qantas frequent flyers have engaged in the Green Tier.
Recent trials and studies have also shown that with transparent and impactful schemes, passengers are happy to get involved in a company’s sustainable efforts and will even agree to spend more for more eco-friendly options. With Air France-KLM’s dedicated Sustainable Aviatation Fuel (SAF) programmes for example, SAF contributions have been integrated in tickets sold since January 2022 (between €1 and €8 in economy and between €1.50 and €24 in business, depending on the distance) and both individual and corporate consumers have engaged positively with the programmes. Similarly, Lufthansa Group recently announced having passed the milestone of one million passengers purchasing its Green Fares since the group launched the fare option in August 2022.
4. Focus on key travellers profiles
Some travellers profiles will likely have a strong influence in shaping the future of sustainable travel:
- Corporate travel: large companies who have to report on ESG and emissions will increasingly start to look at setting carbon budgets for business travel and make decisions based on carbon emission efficiency and environmental impact. Data science makes reporting on past trends easy and companies' decision-makers will increasingly look at their staff travel data to select low-impact modes of transport, travel partners, routes etc. in order to align with new rigorous sustainability standards and lower their emissions.
- New Demographics: for individual travellers, it is important to note the transition from Millennials to gen Z (those born between the mid-1990s and early-2010s) as a force for change on the market. People from gen Z typically share a very strong interest in sustainability and are very mindful of their environmental impact. In a March 2023 survey of US GenZ, EMarketer found that 47% of gen Z consumers want companies they interact with and shop from to support environmental causes, including climate change and sustainability. When it comes to travel, the influence of gen Z is reflected in a shift towards authentic, immersive experiences. They are more inclined to choose less-explored destinations and to adopt sustainable travel practices. This trend is paving the way for the growth of ecotourism, voluntourism and the demand for regenerative travel.
5. Collaboration is key
Recent years have seen a rise in the number of summits and events organised to foster cooperation across the aviation industry. For example the IATA 2nd WSS coming up in September, Sustainable Skies World Summit (15-16th May in Farnborough), Sustainable Aviation Futures Congress (EU edition 21st-23rd May) etc. This trend highlights the desire of industry stakeholders to engage in crucial discussions about aviation's common sustainability objectives. It is also a recognition that the challenge of de-carbonising the industry can only be achieved through real cooperation.
Some players from other industries such as technology providers are also looking to take a part in this transition to sustainable practices and will likely help shape the future of sustainable travel. For instance, Google has recently started working with the travel industry, academics and travel providers to develop its Travel Impact Model (TIM) which is now publicly available and free to all users. The tech giant believes that this model has the potential to “estimate air travel impact globally and lead to a climate-positive change in the travel industry”.
Collaboration is also key beyond the traditional borders of the industry. According to SITA’s 2024 "Megatrends" report, the next decade will see the emergence of seamless intermodal travel. The SITA report predicts that “there will be a push for more connected journeys with sustainable operations and new collaboration models using trusted data exchange for the broader end-to-end travel ecosystem.”
Conclusion
“Caring for People and Planet” is one of Branchspace’s 6 core values and we strive to incorporate this in everything we do. Conscious that our activities will impact others and the world we live in, we want to be part of the industry’s shift towards better, more sustainable travel practices. Looking at the market trends for sustainable travel is key to shape an impactful sustainability improvement plan that meets the concerns of our partners and their customers. We take these new needs into account when thinking about our product development roadmap as well as our continuous improvement plans around people and business practices and will keep brining you the latest news and figures about sustainability and social responsibility through our blog and social media in the months to come.
The average airline web portals is not broken. It loads, it sells tickets. It technically does what it's supposed to do.
And yet, the experience feels tiring.
You notice it when you try to do something simple. Change a seat. Find your gate. Understand what happens if a flight is delayed. Suddenly you are scanning long pages, decoding airline terminology, clicking back and forth just to stay oriented.
The problem is not with the features, It is effort effort required in getting from A to B.
Airline portals still expect travellers to think like systems. To understand menus, categories, fare families, ancillaries, rules. But travellers arrive with something much simpler. Intent.
They want to get something done and get on with their journey.
This article posits that airline web portals should stop behaving like navigation systems and start acting as intent-aware decision environments. When UX is designed to reduce effort, adapt to context, and quietly support travellers at each stage of the journey, portals become calmer to use, easier to trust, and far more effective for airlines.
The basics still matter more than airlines think
Before talking about AI or personalisation, it is worth being honest about the fundamentals.
You can see that accessibility standards aren’t yet being applied and portals aren’t optimised for mobile, which results in performance drops. Navigation feels heavier than it needs to be. Search often works, but only if you already know what to ask and how the airline expects you to ask it.
These are not exciting topics, but they shape everything that comes after. If a portal is slow, confusing, or inaccessible, no amount of intelligence layered on top will fix the experience.
At Branchspace, we see this repeatedly. Airlines want to move faster, personalise more, experiment. But the UX foundation is not always ready to support that ambition.
Where portals lose traveller trust
The biggest UX issues are rarely dramatic, they are subtle and cumulative:
- A vague error message that offers no next step
- A long paragraph that hides the one thing the traveller needs to know
- Three different words for the same concept depending on where you are in the journey
- A mobile page that technically works but feels endless
In isolation these are small instances, but they compound to create friction for a user. And friction erodes confidence.
Travellers begin to hesitate, scan more carefully, and spend extra effort just trying to stay oriented. They stop trusting that the portal will help them when things go wrong. Good UX goes beyond delight, it is about reassurance.
Decision-making is the real job of UX
Every airline portal is a decision-making environment:
- Choose a flight
- Choose a fare
- Choose a seat
- Decide whether to rebook or wait
The role of UX is not to present all options equally. It is to reduce the mental work required to choose well.
That is where simple principles matter more than flashy ideas: clear visual hierarchy, familiar patterns, plain language, and progressive disclosure.
When these are done properly, travellers stop analysing the interface and start moving confidently through it.
This is also where intent-led thinking becomes powerful. When portals are designed around tasks rather than pages, complexity begins to fall away naturally.
What changes when you design for intent
When you stop designing for navigation and start designing for intent, the portal behaves differently:
- Shift the focus to intent and the portal begins to respond in new ways
- Search leads the experience rather than sitting in the background
- Logged-in travellers with an upcoming trip see what they can do next, instead of being asked to explore
This is the direction we have been taking with platforms like Triplake by allowing the portal to respond to context, trip stage, loyalty status and behaviour.
Where AI actually helps and where it should stay quiet
AI has a role in airline UX, but it works best when it stays in the background rather than taking centre stage. The strongest AI-driven experiences are often the ones you barely notice, because the interface feels simpler and the path forward feels clearer.
That might mean routing a traveller straight to the right outcome based on a natural language query, or surfacing the most relevant rebooking option when a disruption occurs. In other moments, it is about removing repetition altogether, using known preferences to spare travellers from making the same choices again and again.
At its best, AI offers clarity, supports decisions without trying to make them on the traveller’s behalf. People still want to feel in control of their journey, they just do not want to work so hard to get there.
The portal is becoming a living interface
The most interesting shift we are seeing has very little to do with technology and everything to do with behaviour. Airline portals are gradually moving away from being static websites and towards adaptive interfaces that respond to where a traveller is in their journey.
Before the trip, the portal helps you prepare. On the day of travel, it shifts into a supportive role, surfacing the information that matters most in the moment. Afterwards, it follows up, closing the loop rather than simply ending the experience.
Making this work demands modular design systems, flexible platforms, and teams that think beyond individual pages and flows. It is not an easy change, but it is both achievable and increasingly necessary.
