Travel Tech Insider

Is Sustainability Sustainable?

• Gilad Berenstein and Cara Whitehill • Season 4 • Episode 3

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0:00 | 48:14

Sustainability in travel hasn’t disappeared,  it’s just gone quiet.

After a decade of bold net-zero commitments, ESG branding, and high-profile climate pledges, the conversation in the U.S. has cooled. Political pressure and cultural backlash have pushed sustainability out of the spotlight, leaving many to assume momentum has stalled.

But beneath the surface, the opposite may be true.

Major airlines are still investing in SAF. Hotels continue to fund energy efficiency and retrofit programs. Corporate travel buyers are increasingly factoring emissions into procurement decisions. And even in unlikely places, like Texas, the energy mix is shifting faster than headlines suggest.

In other words: the labeling may have gone underground, but the capital hasn’t.

 At the same time, hard questions remain. Travelers say they care about sustainability, but rarely act on it. Decarbonization costs are real, timelines are long, and the ROI is anything but clear.

So where does that leave the industry?

In this episode, we unpack whether sustainability in travel is truly durable — not just politically, but economically — and what it will take to move from quiet progress to meaningful impact.

Follows

Gilad Berenstein – host

Cara Whitehill - host

Matt Ridley  — guest

Anna Feinberg — guest

Javier Arredondo – guest

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