For decades, tourism has focused for a narrow promise — happy guests and healthy profits — using growth indicators such as visitor arrivals and room occupancy to fuel an industry now worth nearly USD 10 trillion globally, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

This formula powered decades of growth across Asia. It created jobs, lifted communities out of poverty, and introduced millions of travelers to the region’s cultures and landscapes. However, this is achieved while externalizing costs that matter most to long-term viability, including biodiversity loss, infrastructure strain, socio-economic equity. It is notable, in many destinations, less than half of tourism revenue remains in local economies, as documented by a Travel Foundation report.

The question facing the industry today is no longer whether tourism needs to change — but how deeply.

That was the central focus of Asia Sustainable Travel’s recent webinar, “Is Triple Win Possible? Guests Return, People Prosper, Nature Thrives.” Bringing together a travel business founder, a conservation practitioner, and a systems designer, the discussion cut through surface-level sustainability claims to examine whether tourism can truly deliver value for guests, people, and nature — at the same time, and over the long term.

The answer from the webinar was neither idealistic nor dismissive. Triple-win outcomes are possible — but only if tourism stops treating sustainability as an add-on, and starts redesigning how value is created, measured, and shared.

This webinar also made clear that incremental fixes are no longer enough. What’s required is a structural reset.

If your hotel’s strategy still focuses only on room rates and marketing, you’re overlooking your strongest asset: your local community.

For hoteliers in Asia, where culture and community are deeply connected, collaborating with local communities builds loyalty, reduces risk, and delivers benefits beyond financial metrics.

This article reveals the hidden ROI and strategies to make community engagement a smart business move.

After years of debating whether sustainability matters to the future of tourism, the industry now confronts a more immediate and uncomfortable question: who can still be trusted? 

The conversation has been overtaken by the loudest voices, many of whom are trading in sweeping claims unsupported by evidence. Unsurprisingly, consumers are growing skeptical, tuning out sustainability narratives that feel rehearsed and performative.

In this environment, success in 2026 will not belong to businesses making ambitious promises, but to those that can show verifiable impact, communicate with transparency, and scale responsibly. 

That shift demands a reset, away from rhetoric and toward evidence-informed decisions, genuine community partnership, and outcomes that can be measured and verified. 

Below are three high-level mindsets that must be reframed if the industry is to respond to the urgency and scale of the climate and sustainability challenge it now faces.

Discover how Donsol in the Philippines transformed from a quiet fishing town into a global ecotourism success through community-driven marine preservation. Learn actionable strategies for integrating the Blue Economy into your business, from empowering local stakeholders to adopting science-based mangrove restoration. This article highlights lessons from the Environmental Planning Conference and the groundbreaking whale shark ecotourism model.

Artificial intelligence presents significant opportunities and risks for sustainable travel. This article highlights key insights from our recent Asia Travel Future Summit—a collaboration between Asia Sustainable Travel and Wise Steps Group—which featured experts from Travalyst, Archipelago International, Advant Labs, Lightblue, Lemongrass Marketing, Baotree, and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). Discover practical strategies for using AI to enhance efficiency and guest experiences, while managing its environmental impacts and ethical concerns, ensuring technology benefits people, the planet, and profits.

As modern travelers seek meaningful experiences and eco-conscious choices, independent hotels in Asia are reimagining loyalty programs. From personalized guest moments to sustainability-driven rewards, discover how platforms like GHA Discovery, Journey, and SLH Club are helping independent properties stand out in a competitive market.

How can sustainability evolve from a series of isolated efforts into a unified mission championed by every member of your team? 

This question was at the heart of our recent webinar, where Dimitri Syrris, Founder & CEO of Baotree, and Rhea Vitto Tabora, Co-Founder of Asia Sustainable Travel, explored how to transform sustainability into an inclusive, shared responsibility within hospitality operations.

They discussed why this approach is more critical than ever for the hospitality and travel sector and shared actionable insights, compelling examples, and innovative tools to help professionals create a team-driven sustainability roadmap.  

As the leading luxury travel trade show in Asia, ILTM Asia Pacific occupies a position of profound influence in shaping the region’s high-end tourism sector. Its 2025 edition at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, saw 740 luxury travel advisors and exhibitors engage in over 40,000 pre-scheduled meetings, a significant 12% growth from the prior year. 

But behind the polished networking lounges and celebratory metrics, a more urgent question emerged: is the luxury travel sector, and ILTM Asia Pacific itself, ready to move beyond the aesthetic uniformity that increasingly defines much of global hospitality, and lead a shift toward cultural diversity, sustainability,  and innovation?

Hospitality has long been measured by its ability to provide comfort and luxury, but things are changing. With the rise of biophilic design, guests now want more than just a place to stay. They are looking for spaces that bring them closer to nature and rejuvenate them. It's now about blending the natural world into architecture and creating experiences that go beyond the built environment.

This article explores the core principles and growing importance of biophilic design, highlighting its benefits and successes. It offers hospitality professionals a practical guide to creating spaces that deeply resonate with guests while promoting sustainability.

Type “Vietnamese luxury hospitality” into Google or ChatGPT, and the top results still lean toward international names. 

These global names have helped propel Vietnam into one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. Naturally, they also dominate the narrative and expectation of what luxury hospitality should look and feel like in Vietnam. 

A quiet shift, however, is underway.

Across the country, a new class of Vietnamese-owned hospitality brands is emerging, not just as operators of world-class resorts, but as cultural authors reclaiming their own space in the narrative. From the reforested valleys of Mai Chau to the artisan islets of Hoi An, properties like Avana Retreat, Namia River Retreat, The Anam, and Ancient Hue are reframing luxury on their own terms: rooted in people, attuned to place, and driven by purpose.

What does it take to succeed in an industry where every guest expects more than just a room? At the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association Summit (HSMA Summit 2025) in the Philippines, held on June 19, 2025, more than 300 industry professionals and leaders gathered to share insights on redefining sales, marketing, and leadership while preparing the next generation of leaders with purpose, innovation, and connection.

“Leading the Shift: Redefining Sales & Marketing for the Next Generation” was more than a banner. It was a challenge placed squarely before every delegate. 

What follows isn’t a recap, but a collection of ideas, firsthand lessons, and tested strategies drawn directly from the summit’s most honest conversations. This article is for those who want their work to matter and their teams to excel, not just keep up.

Only a handful of operators stand out for placing sustainability at the heart of their business. Even fewer succeed in doing so while achieving commercial viability, proving that travel businesses can thrive while centering the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

To uncover what sets these trailblazers apart, AST hit the road with Chôm Chôm Travel and Oxalis, two of Vietnam’s leading adventure travel companies. What we found were not just tours, but transformative journeys that are rooted in community upliftment, ecological awareness, and a deep respect for place.

Explore Sri Lanka’s transformation into South Asia’s leader in sustainable tourism. From eco-conscious initiatives like Sigiriya’s certification to diverse, high-value travel experiences, this article uncovers strategies shaping its revival. Hospitality and travel professionals will find valuable insights and future trends.

Luxury hotels in Asia are uniquely positioned to lead sustainability innovation. By blending cultural heritage with bold experimentation, they can model holistic living systems that inspire guests and uplift communities. With flexibility, funds, and influence, these properties can redefine luxury—not as excess, but as purpose, impact, and deep-rooted connection to place.

Learn how electric vehicles are improving city tours and resort experiences, cutting emissions, enhancing guest satisfaction, and highlighting sustainability-led practices in the hospitality sector.

Once a niche concept, low-impact travel has recently become a rallying cry among sustainability advocates in the tourism industry. 

At its core, the movement has long championed reducing emissions through low-carbon mobility, which is a valid starting point, given that transport-related CO2 emissions of the tourism sector account for 22% of all emissions from transport, according to the UNWTO. 

However, the definition of low-carbon or low-impact travel is evolving. In today’s climate-conscious landscape, low-impact travel can no longer rely solely on swapping flights for trains or diesel vans for EVs — especially in a vast continent like Asia, where building the cross-border infrastructure for rail and electric mobility requires large-scale, long-term inter-government investment.

For years, sustainable travel was viewed as a niche, embraced by a small group of eco-conscious consumers and a limited number of businesses offering organic menus, off-grid wellness retreats, and carbon offsets.

But in 2025, the narrative has changed. Sustainability is no longer a fringe concern; it’s a mainstream expectation.

According to Booking.com’s latest global survey, 84% of travelers now consider sustainability important. Homegrown Asian OTA Traveloka echoes this shift: 80% of APAC travelers say they are open to choosing sustainable options, provided they are available and affordable.