WebinarOnline
Decarbonising travel: The future of sustainable transport and its impact on mass tourism
Friday, 6 November 2026
An accessible assessment of how aviation, rail, road and maritime travel might reduce emissions, with attention to technological limits, growing demand, destination dependence and the need for a fair transition in mass tourism.
About this event
Mass tourism depends on affordable, reliable movement across long distances, yet transport produces a substantial share of its climate impact. This webinar examines how travel could be decarbonised while remaining socially and economically accessible. It considers aviation, rail, road and maritime transport as connected systems rather than isolated sectors with separate technological solutions.
The session will review the roles of efficiency, electrification, alternative fuels, operational change and demand management. Each pathway involves limits, infrastructure requirements and difficult timescales. Participants will consider how claims about future technology should be assessed against present emissions, and why reductions in carbon intensity may not lower total emissions when the volume of travel continues to grow.
Attention will also turn to the geography of transition. Destinations that depend on distant visitors may face different risks from places connected by rail or domestic markets. Pricing, taxation and investment can influence behaviour, but their effects vary by income and location. A fair transition must therefore consider workers, communities and travellers who have fewer alternatives.
Researchers, students, policy professionals and tourism practitioners will gain a framework for comparing transport strategies across modes and timescales. The webinar will ask what sustainable mobility means for the scale, frequency and distribution of tourism. Rather than promising a single solution, it will examine combinations of technology, policy and planning that can deliver absolute emissions reductions while supporting valued forms of access, exchange and regional livelihood. It will also consider how better virtual access might complement, rather than automatically replace, necessary physical journeys.