In the world of travel, sustainability has long since stopped being a niche concern. At this year’s World Travel Market in London, one message rang clear across panels and presentations: travellers are ready to travel responsibly but they need guidance, honesty, and experiences that truly connect them to place and people. Promoting sustainable travel in Andalucia has long been one of our goals at TOMA, so it’s always heartening to see fellow travel experts looking at how best to deliver true sustainability.
Experts at the WTM Sustainability Summit spoke of a growing movement towards “cool tripping”, slow tourism, and the sophisticated traveller – someone who values time, depth, and authenticity over box-ticking itineraries. Yet, as Jane McFadzean from Trip.com Group noted, there remains a “say-do gap” between travellers’ sustainable intentions and the holidays they actually book.
Experiences that speak to the heart
To bridge that divide, McFadzean argued, we need “clear, credible, and consistent” labels, and perhaps even more importantly, we need experiences that speak to the heart.
At TOMA & COE, this has always been our way. We’ve never needed a label to define our approach; sustainability is built into the rhythm of how we travel. Our journeys through Andalucía are designed around small groups, local partners, and community connection — from olive growers and flamenco artists to family-run inns and artisans keeping centuries-old crafts alive.
Olive Farm Experience Taste of Andalucia Food Tour Camino de Santiago
Independent climate action expert Jeremy Smith, who launched Travel Declares a Climate Emergency, reminded delegates at WTM that tourism must reimagine its purpose within the climate crisis. He urged the industry to move beyond carbon metrics and focus on empathy and understanding. As he put it, “Climate literacy will come through what we feel, not what we read.”
That insight feels especially true here in southern Spain. When guests walk among cork oaks in the Sierra de Aracena, hear the silence of a dehesa at dusk, or share a meal prepared from local seasonal produce, sustainable travel stops being an abstract concept; it becomes something felt, lived, and understood.
Breaking stereotypes
Elsewhere at the Summit, Kgomotso Ramothea from the African Travel and Tourism Association spoke of breaking stereotypes in tourism. Her call for storytelling and respect resonates deeply with us. Andalucía, too, has often been reduced to clichés: sun, sangría, and siestas. Yet beyond those postcards lies a land of extraordinary diversity of Moorish legacy and mountain villages, of wetlands, vineyards, and a coastline teeming with migratory life.
Through our journeys, we invite travellers to see the real Andalucía: to support local economies, engage with the environment consciously, and come away with stories that matter.
As sustainable travel becomes more than a buzzword, TOMA & COE continues to champion a slower, richer, and more human way to travel because meaningful journeys don’t just respect the land; they help it flourish.
