87% of travelers want to travel more sustainably. 39% of travelers always manage to actually keep it sustainable. 43% said that “never, rarely or sometimes” manage to travel in a sustainable way.
This specific figure of 87% has been a significant benchmark in sustainable travel data, notably appearing in the 2018 Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report. In 2026, the sentiment remains incredibly high; current Booking.com data suggests that while the exact percentage fluctuates slightly by year and region, approximately 75% to 80% of global travelers consistently state that sustainable travel is important to them. There is, however, a well-documented "attitude-action gap," where many travelers express a strong desire for eco-friendly options but find it difficult to implement them due to higher costs, lack of clear information, or limited availability. In 2026, travelers are increasingly looking for "tech-led" sustainability, such as AI-guided routes that minimize carbon footprints or accommodations with transparent energy-saving systems. While the intent to travel sustainably is a near-universal sentiment among modern tourists, the industry continues to work on making these choices more accessible and affordable to convert that high percentage of interest into actual booking behavior.
Electric bike tours, carpooling, and even electric camper vans are all the rage. These modes of transportation reduce your carbon footprint and offer unique opportunities to explore the world at a slower, more intimate pace.
Towards 2030, the metaverse will enable visitors to mentally teleport themselves to destinations, regardless of time, financial resources and physical abilities. Individuals will seamlessly move between integrated digital and physical realities, where the engagement with travel becomes a part of daily life.
Nature tourism or ecotourism is a type of environmentally friendly tourism. Nature tourism is a subvariant of responsible tourism which focuses on areas of nature and wilderness, environmental conservation, and leisure activities involving nature.
They are categorized in four pillars: (A) Sustainable management; (B) Socioeconomic impacts; (C) Cultural impacts; (D) Environmental impacts. These standards were built on decades of prior work from industry experts around the globe.
Tourism forms identified by the literature as being “sustainable” are numerous: ecological tourism (ecotourism), green tourism, soft, rural tourism and agrotourism, community tourism, solidarity and responsible tourism, all these opposing to the traditional, mass tourism.