It's a Journey - a sustainable travel podcast

Episode 6: Risk and Regulation – Is climate a ticking time bomb for those not yet on board? ?Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly and Richard discuss climate risk and regulation with guests Jeremy Sampson, CEO, The Travel Foundation and Willy Legrand, Professor of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management at IU International University.In this episode, we unpack:What climate regulation, if any, is coming for the tourism industry How risk associated with climate collapse is making some tourism products and destinations unviable How we could turn demanding systemic challenges into creative and innovative solutions What businesses need to do now to future proof for a changing world The need to rebrand climate action, adaptation and risk to galvanise coordinated action Why we might be getting too distracted by frameworks and certifications "The most durable sustainability shifts probably happen when grassroots momentum creates political permission for smart regulations" Willy Legrand“We’ve got an ‘urgency deficit’ because there are so many distractions, everything overrides the long-term, even in business and even if it’s an existential threat.” Willy Legrand"The biggest risk is that people think that climate change is tomorrow's work, but it's today's risk." Jeremy Sampson “We are in a pre-regulation phase where there are lots of signals that tourism will have to be regulated.” Jeremy Sampson Find out more about our guests in this episode:Jeremy Sampson, CEO, The Travel FoundationWilly Legrand, Professor of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management at IU International UniversityShow notes:⁠⁠Empowering Consumers Directive, also known as the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, is a new EU law that came into force in March 2024, with an application date of September 27, 2026.Economic losses from extreme weather events in 2025 amount to 43 billion Euros, as published in The Guardian. Where next? - Travel Foundation - a new report that sets out a global action agenda for tourism’s climate transition. It outlines four practical, interconnected ideas that would allow tourism to course-correct, at the scale and pace needed, towards climate resilience, economic viability and social equity for destinations worldwide.New Guide to Action on Climate Change - Travel Foundation - a new edition of the report, Destination Stewardship: A Guide to Action on Climate Change, with Destination Wayfinder. It outlines 37 actions and lots of case studies from around the world.Destination RiskScan: Innovation for tourist destinations in a warming world contains info about the Travel Foundation's Destination Climate RiskScan initiative, which aims to help tourism destinations around the world better understand and respond to climate change risks.Follow for more:⁠Holly Tuppen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Hammond⁠⁠⁠ And helpful information from our sponsors, ⁠Lemongrass PR⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:Communicating Impact: Why It Matters for Travel Brands and 10 Ways to Communicate It EffectivelyEconomic Leakage In Tourism: What Is It, And What Can Travel Brands Do About It?Our Impact Report – and 6 top tips for doing your ownOvertourism: A Wicked Problem in Need of New SolutionsHow we are reducing our Carbon Emissions with Carbon Budgets5 things we learnt from Carbon Literacy training and how it can help your travel business==It’s a Journey is a ground-breaking podcast series hosted by Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media and Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert. Sponsored by Lemongrass, it tackles the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠⁠⁠⁠itsajourney.fm⁠

Richard and Holly look back at 2025 and discuss what't hot and what's not for the year ahead.Some of the significant developments in 2025 discussed are Intrepid's change to it's Climate Action Plan that Richard thinks will likely reverberate across the industry in 2026, as well as the decision by the office of Rail and Road to grant Virgin Trains access to Temple Mills which could open the door to future international train services. Holly was excited by the launch of Rewilding Europe's travel booking platform WilderPlaces.com, and they discuss the rise in the phenomenon of 'Coolcations' as well as the ongoing issues of overtourism, and that in Hilton's trend report, 'road trips' were identified as one of the stand out themes for 2026.Looking ahead to 2026, Holly is excited to see how Julie Cheetham as the new CEO of Travalyst takes forward its new Data Hub, which launched at the end of 2025, as well as seeing The Travel Foundation's 'Where Next' campaign develop with its hard-hitting themes of climate justice, climate adaptation and risk of the climate crisis. Richard and Holly also discuss some of the exciting new overland routes in Europe, including overnight coach and rail services.For Richard, travel highlights of the year included a visit to Les Arcs, the first B Corps mountain resort in Europe, seeing community-based conservation projects in Saint Lucia, discovering rural life in Gran Canaria and visiting it's neighbouring island El Hierro, and exploring the coast of West Sweden. For Holly, travel highlights included a swimming holidays in Malta, a press trip with Exodus to support the work of Rewilding Apeninnes, and a family holiday in Albania enjoying a 'day in the life of a shepherd' with Undiscovered Balkans.==It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media and Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert. Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠⁠, the series tackles the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠⁠⁠⁠itsajourney.fm⁠

Episode 5: Community tourism. What does good community tourism look like and can we measure its benefits?Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠⁠Holly and Richard discuss the benefits of community tourism and how to measure it, with guests Manisha Pande, Founder and Managing Director of Village Way and Kelly Galaski, Senior Director, Operations & Head of Impact at Planeterra.In this episode, we unpack:Why some models work better than othersHow to put systems in place to avoid the dangers of tourism in rural areas How to create impact through community rather than for communityHow to establish a constant dialogue to keep generating positive impact for a community How to create an impact measurement and monitoring and evaluation toolHow to monitor the impact of community tourism on an entire village or community How to create replicable community tourism structuresWhy community run and operated tourism can lead to a better guest experience The importance of communities not becoming over reliant on tourism, and how to prevent this happeningThe less expected benefits of community tourism “The success lies in giving the communities collaborative ownership over what they are creating and offering to guests.” Manisha Pande“We did our homework in what would have the best impact and we chose a model that works with an entire village rather than set up homestays.” Manisha Pande“We’ve moved away from the term community-based tourism.” (listen in to find out why) Kelly Galaski“What we’ve created is an impact measuring tool as well as a monitoring and evaluation tool for our team.” Kelly GalaskiFind out more about our guests in this episode:Manisha Pande, Founder and Managing Director of Village WaysKelly Galaski, Senior Director, Operations & Head of Impact at PlaneterraShow notes:⁠Village Ways’ anniversary special  'Kumaon Itinerary', which is available to book from October 2025⁠Another new Village Ways holiday in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh called ‘Forests and Fables'IRCT India Network ​Planeterra 2024 Impact ReportPlaneterra and Iberostar partnershipPlaneterra’s work with IUCN in Protected Areas An example of Planeterra’s work in urban areas Follow for more:⁠⁠Lemongrass PR⁠⁠ Holly Tuppen⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Hammond⁠⁠ ==It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media and Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠⁠⁠itsajourney.fm

Episode 4. Partnerships for Good. Are public-private partnerships the best way to accelerate change in the tourism industry?Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠⁠Holly and Richard discuss the benefits of public private partnerships with guests Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation, Rebecca Armstrong, Head of Impact and Development from The Travel Foundation, Gwen Raez, Strategy Lead at Visit Scotland, and Dr. Anna Spenceley, consultant and Senior Research Fellow with the University of Johannesburg.“We're excited to share this kind of example with other destinations because I think it's a real flagship for the kind of thing you can achieve when you work together.” Rebecca Armstrong“Other destinations are now approaching us because they’re so inspired by this work… and for me, that's frankly far more impactful than any one single travellers choice.” Shannon Guihan“I think the real value that destinations can offer is providing those connections – having a clear vision of where the opportunities are to drive the economic growth and where those quality visitor experiences are and then introducing them to the tour operators where we know will resonate with their guests' experience.” Gwen RaezFind out more about our guests in this episode:Gwen Raez, Strategy Lead at Visit ScotlandShannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel CorporationRebecca Armstrong, Head of Impact and Development from The Travel FoundationDr. Anna Spenceley, former chair of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Tourism, an independent consultant and Senior Research Fellow with the University of JohannesburgShow notesIntrepid’s partnership with MEETTourism Care’s Meaningful Travel MapBatu Batu’s Cultural & Bio Assets Mapping: https://www.batubatu.com.my/whats-new/2021/8/23/mersing-cultural-amp-bio-assets-mapping Further reading from the Visit Scotland, The Travel Corporation, and The Travel Foundation partnership :Qualifying criteria for The Travel Corporation’s MAKE TRAVEL MATTER experiencesSupporting tourism’s transition to a low carbon economyTogether on the road to net zeroDecarbonising the value chain in ScotlandFurther reading from Anna Spenceley about public private partnerships and concessions in Africa: Tools and Resources for Nature-Based Tourism (2020) – World Bank (including all the links below)Best Practice Guidelines on Tourism and visitor management in protected areas  (2018) - IUCNHandbook for sustainable tourism practitioners: The essential toolbox (2021) - Edward ElgarAn introduction to tourism concessioning: 14 Characteristics of successful programs (2016) – World Bank GroupGuidelines for tourism partnerships and concessions for protected areas (2017) – Convention on Biological DiversityTourism concessions in protected natural areas: Guidelines for managers (2014) – United Nations Development ProgramCollaborative management partnership toolkit  (2021) – World Bank Policy on tourism and wildlife concessions on state land (2007) -  Government of Namibia, Ministry of Environment and TourismLet us know what you think in the comments below, and please do like/ follow/ rate/ subscribe to the podcast if you like what you hear. Follow for more:⁠Lemongrass PR⁠ ⁠Holly Tuppen⁠  ⁠Richard Hammond⁠ ==It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠⁠itsajourney.fm

Episode 3: The future of rail. Can train travel in Europe be a practical, affordable, low-emissions alternative to air travel? Sponsored by ⁠⁠Lemongrass⁠Holly and Richard, along with their guests Bjorn Bender, CEO and Executive Chairman of RailEurope, Mark Smith of The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com), and Sarah Fussey, Marketing Director of Inntravel, discuss the future of rail.The message from all our guests is loud and clear. Rail is here to stay and will get bigger and better but there’s a few key steps that the industry needs to take first: Campaign for more competitors on routes Work with third-parties to gain the booking benefits needed to compete with flights Focus on communicating the convenience and affordability of rail Tune in now to hear our guests debating the future of rail, how the travel industry can jump on board, and their top rail booking hacks.Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please do like/ follow/ rate/ subscribe to the podcast if you like what you hear. “What’s happening in rail now is what happened in aviation 20 years ago, and it is going to benefit customers with lower prices and more services.” Bjorn Bender, CEO RailEurope“When we survey customers about why they want to get the train, it's about the experience and being able to get under the skin of the places that they're traveling in, which of course rail is brilliant for.” Sarah Fussy, Marketing Director, Inntravel“The elephant in the room is that public policy is designed to get us flying. Austria, Germany, and other countries charge VAT on international train tickets for the same journey where there's no VAT on air travel. And of course, airlines get a massive hidden subsidy because their aviation fuel is tax free.” Mark Smith, Man in Seat 61Find out more about our guests in this episode:Bjorn Bender, CEO and Executive Chairman of RailEuropeMark Smith of The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com)Sarah Fussey, Marketing Director of InntravelShow notesLiberalisation of European railways leads to cheaper train ticketsDuetsche Bahn releases ticket sales 12 months in advanceThe new Nightjet sleeper serviceInntravel’s Journey’s by RailEurail/ Interrail passesRail Europe for tour operators and agentsHolly and Richard regularly write about travelling in Europe by rail. You can find extensive guides to flight-free journeys across Europe at https://www.greentraveller.co.uk/flight-free-journey-planner, and find some of Holly’s articles at https://www.hollytuppen.com/journalism Follow for more:Lemongrass PR Holly Tuppen  Richard Hammond ==It’s a Journey is a brand new podcast series hosted by Holly Tuppen, sustainable travel writer and expert, and Richard Hammond, Publishing Director of Green Traveller Media. Sponsored by Lemongrass, the first five episodes tackle the uncomfortable, complex, and often overlooked questions facing the travel industry as it strives to have a better impact on people and places.Thanks for listening! Please submit any questions or comments to ⁠[email protected]⁠Get in touch about opportunities at ⁠itsajourney.fm