kabarsula Travel industry full of good intentions but failing to deliver on purpose, research finds bandar SLOT INDONESIA
The travel industry has no shortage of sustainability promises, but new research suggests many organisations are failing to turn their good intentions into measurable commercial outcomes.
The Brands with Heart research, conducted by Expedia Australia and New Zealand country director Philippa Durant, found that while travel businesses increasingly recognise the importance of purpose, relatively few have embedded it into the commercial mechanics of their organisations.
The findings are based on 26 in-depth interviews with senior travel industry leaders conducted between May and August 2026, spanning Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Africa.
The research included executives from Intrepid Travel, Qantas, Air New Zealand, G Adventures, Bunnik Tours, Virtuoso, Six Senses, Scenic and several other major travel brands.
Its central conclusion is that the industry does not have a values problem. It has a process problem.
“Travel has more intent than rigour. Intent gets you the values statement. Rigour gets you the revenue,” Durant said.
According to the research, many travel companies continue to measure their environmental and social contributions through sustainability reports, carbon offsets, conservation initiatives and community projects.
While these activities can deliver meaningful benefits, the report argues that they are rarely integrated into the financial and operational metrics used by executives and boards to evaluate business performance.
By contrast, organisations demonstrating the strongest integration of purpose and commercial performance are measuring it through executive bonuses, financing arrangements, revenue targets and employee engagement.
Intrepid sets the benchmark
Perhaps the most striking finding was the unanimous recognition of Intrepid Travel as the industry’s leading example of purpose-driven business.
All 26 executives interviewed independently named Intrepid when asked which travel organisation does purpose well.
The research highlighted several initiatives that distinguish the operator from its competitors.
Intrepid links B Corp certification to bonuses for eligible employees, including executives. Its sustainability-linked loan facility also offers more favourable interest rates when greenhouse gas emissions intensity targets are achieved.
Carbon emissions per passenger are additionally linked to executive remuneration through a long-term incentive target.
The company recorded a 29 per cent increase in revenue to $809.3 million in 2025, alongside a 26 per cent increase in EBITDA.
“We aim to balance purpose and profit. Sure, we could spend less on purpose and you could argue that may result in more short-term profit. But that would fundamentally change who we are as an organisation and the way that we think about creating value,” Intrepid Group CFO Michael Burnett said.
“We believe the more we invest in purpose, the better our product is, the more our customers will come back, and the more engaged our people will be.”
Purpose needs to move beyond marketing
The research identified three consistent factors among organisations successfully integrating purpose into their commercial operations: employee engagement, ownership and leadership commitment, and the ability to respond to emerging industry trends.
Founder-led businesses, including Intrepid, G Adventures, Natural Selection and Bunnik Tours, were particularly prominent.
However, the report argues that founder ownership is not a prerequisite for success. CEOs and boards can achieve similar results by embedding purpose into strategy and holding leadership accountable for measurable outcomes.
Other examples included G Adventures, which measures the proportion of travellers’ spending that remains within local destinations through its Ripple Score.
At Six Senses, 0.5 per cent of revenue at each hotel is allocated to local community and conservation initiatives, while general managers have monthly community engagement KPIs.
Inside Travel Group has also incorporated travel to under-visited destinations into its business KPIs, reporting an increase from 12 per cent to 19 per cent.
Travellers aren’t necessarily putting their money where their mouth is
The research also identified a significant disconnect between travellers’ stated environmental concerns and their actual purchasing behaviour.
Air New Zealand research cited in the report found that while 70 per cent of passengers said they cared about climate impact, only 2–3 per cent opted into carbon contributions, with participation declining.
However, Durant’s research suggests purpose is becoming a more significant motivation among affluent travellers, expedition travellers and younger generations.
It cites findings that 91 per cent of Gen Z travellers said environmental or social concerns had influenced their travel plans in the previous year, compared with 62 per cent of Millennials.
The report argues that overtourism, artificial intelligence and changing generational expectations could further strengthen the commercial case for purpose-led travel.
For businesses hoping to capitalise on that shift, the message is clear: sustainability commitments alone are no longer enough.
The next competitive advantage may belong to those that can demonstrate not only how their business benefits the world, but how doing so strengthens the business itself.
The Brands with Heart research was conducted independently by Philippa Durant as an extension of her University of Sydney Executive MBA research. The qualitative findings reflect patterns across executive interviews rather than statistically representative industry-wide results.
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