Four sustainable transport strategies for 2025

You’re prepared to plan your upcoming vacation and understand the importance of leaving as little of a travel impact as possible. However, where do you start?

You’re not alone if you’re at a loss. A recent Booking.com survey shows 84% of international travelers value sustainability. Although there is a strong desire to travel more sustainably, many people are unsure about how to get started with eco-tourism. According to a 2025 World Travel & Tourism Council research, cost is a significant obstacle, and a Trip.com study indicated that almost half of travelers are unsure of what sustainable travel entails.

2025 is a critical year to reconsider how we travel, as environmental challenges increase and global tourism recovers. Here are a few easy, doable strategies to travel more effectively this year without compromising comfort or enjoyment.

1. Pick charitable travel destinations

Experts advise considering whether you want to be a passive tourist or a visitor who contributes to the destination when you plan your vacations for 2025 and beyond. A trip with a regenerative focus can include trekking in Australia that supports the revival of Aboriginal culture or engaging in hands-on conservation at an Ecuadorian ecolodge. While Hawaii’s Mālama experiences encourage visitors to give back to the environment and local communities through habitat restoration, beach cleanups, and other initiatives, Fiji’s new Loloma Hour encourages travelers to commit at least one hour of their stay to a positive environmental, cultural, or social impact activity.

David Leventhal, owner of an eco-hotel and co-founder of Regenerative Travel, a premier supplier of training programs designed to turn the travel industry into a force for good, stated, “We must do better than just sustain travel.” “We must reverse damage, and regenerate working at a whole systems level to integrate people and planet better.”

2. Look beyond the immediate surroundings

In 2025, more than half of all travelers worldwide are aware of how tourism affects both the environment and local communities, according to Booking.com’s 2025 Travel & Sustainability Report. This indicates that travelers are becoming more conscious of the social and cultural effects of tourism. There is an increasing desire to be more cautious about how, when, and where we travel due to protests against overtourism, which are already intensifying in 2025, and the high cost of accommodation in popular areas.

According to Dr. Susanne Becken, professor of sustainable tourism at Griffith University in Australia, “that’s not to say that the environmental elements of sustainable travel are less important – reducing carbon emissions and plastic are as important as ever.” However, she notes that the explosion of tourism is placing increasing pressure on communities to the point where some popular tourist destinations no longer want to interact with it.

Communities can be less stressed by avoiding popular locations during busy periods, showing greater respect for local customs and people, hiring local and Indigenous guides, and making more thoughtful purchases, from lodging to mementos. “Remember that the destination you are visiting is someone’s home,” Becken explains.

Are you looking for a community-based, experiential trip? A new Intrepid Travel tour gives the chance to interact with Indigenous elders while traveling to Colombia’s “Lost City,” while Nepal’s Community Homestay Network has introduced three new “community circuits” for 2025, one of which includes a route via the rarely visited eastern region of Nepal. There are now innumerable options to explore communities in a responsible and regenerative manner, from seeing a Thai island that has taken sustainability into its own hands to living in a ground-breaking Swedish town.

3. Set higher expectations for hotels

Better alternatives are starting to appear, but hotels and other vacation rentals account for a significant amount of the CO2 released by the travel industry. In 2024, Populus, the first carbon-positive hotel in the world, opened its doors in the United States. In March 2025, IHG opened Voco Zeal Exeter Science Park, the first branded net-zero hotel in the United Kingdom.

Few & Far Luvhondo, which debuted in January 2025, is one of several safari lodges in South Africa that are putting an emphasis on ecotourism and ecological innovation. In addition to offering Africa’s first solar-powered cable car ride, this zero-waste, renewable energy-powered retreat is attempting to rewild 50,000 hectares of severely degraded land in the Soutpansberg mountains.

However, you can choose more environmentally friendly lodging options without breaking the bank on a luxurious safari lodge. While Earthships in the US provide distinctive net-zero lodging, a network of hiking “hotels” in the UK provide free, low-impact stays. The Social Hub, an economical lodging company with a social impact, debuted a new hotel in Rome in March 2025, and another is scheduled to open in Porto later this year.

Becken advises looking for international certifications (such as B Corp, EarthCheck, Green Globe, and Green Key), which show that a business is dedicated to mindful consumption and energy efficiency and is concerned about the treatment of its employees. If certification isn’t available, which can be expensive for small enterprises, look for a relevant sustainability strategy that includes social and environmental efforts on the property’s website or ask them directly. With tour operators, a similar strategy can be used.

4. Take into account both the route and the final destination.

By implementing programs like electric safaris, zero-waste dining, or even decarbonizing their entire tourist economies, several places are assisting travelers in reducing their effect once they arrive.

Destinations are becoming more environmentally friendly, but getting there isn’t always. One of the most carbon-intensive aspects of tourism is still flying, and Becken points out that “sustainable” aviation fuels are insufficient to address the industry’s skyrocketing emissions.

Good news for lovers of rail travel: in 2025, there will be plenty of new options to reach your destination in a memorable and less impactful way. La Dolce Vita Orient Express, Italy’s first domestic luxury train, took its first trip from Rome to the Tuscan hill town of Montalcino in April. In Australia, the Indian Pacific has extended its trip from Perth to Sydney to five days, adding additional off-train experiences on each leg. A new Budapest-to-Belgrade line and a revitalized version of the venerable Orient Express, which transports passengers between Istanbul and Paris, are scheduled to launch in 2026. Portugal’s Evora-to-Elvas route is anticipated to be finished in 2025 and is the first segment of a high-speed network that will eventually connect Madrid to Lisbon in three hours.

Use booking websites such as Google Flights, which show the average emissions for each route, to assist you in selecting low-emission flights when you must go. Emissions can also be decreased by prioritizing direct flights and purchasing economy seats. Can’t bear waste in the cabin? Several airlines, including SAS, Alaska Airlines, LATAM, and Air New Zealand, have made significant efforts to cut down on single-use plastic on flights. Furthermore, many experts concur that carbon offsetting your travels through approved programs is preferable to doing nothing at all, even while it does not reverse the harm.

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