The Travel Foundation rebrands as Travel Forward to accelerate action

Calls for coordinated action amid climate and visitor pressures

The Travel Foundation has changed its name to Travel Forward. The independent charity, which has supported destinations for more than two decades, says the new identity better reflects its mission: to mobilise collective action for the wellbeing of tourist places and their communities. The NGO is urging the travel sector to join the effort, with practical measures designed to speed the shift from intention to action.

“The name Travel Forward reflects our role in helping the sector move from intention to coordinated action,” said Megan Morikawa, Chair of Trustees. “We are here to support those ready to act and to create opportunities to change tourism’s impact on destinations for the better. But this is a shared effort. We need partners to get involved, help mobilise support, fundraise where they can, and be part of something bigger.”

To structure this mobilisation, Travel Forward is launching Travel Forward Connect, a membership community for companies and destinations that want to collaborate on practical solutions and share learning. The organisation is also inviting the sector to back campaigns and pilot projects, including sponsorship of the forthcoming Destination Climate RiskScan report, support for Nature Risk pilots, and Climate Week events in London and New York focused on unlocking finance for tourism’s transition. Its training, insight and advisory offer is also being strengthened, from climate action planning and risk and resilience training to market trend analysis and tourism impact assessments.

A focus on access to finance

The NGO says the change is driven by the need to move beyond incremental tweaks towards more ambitious transformation. Its work targets the root causes of the sector’s vulnerabilities — climate impacts, unmanaged growth and the unequal distribution of benefits. The aim is to help destinations absorb shocks more effectively while balancing economic returns, local quality of life and the protection of ecosystems.

Against this backdrop, Travel Forward is positioning itself as a coordinating platform able to link public, private and civil‑society actors around common tools and shared roadmaps. The emphasis on access to finance addresses one of the recurring barriers that destinations cite when planning their transition.

The development of the Travel Forward brand and website has been supported by pro bono contributions from Holiday Extras, Rise and Shine and Partners, and Four Communications, helping to strengthen the organisation’s positioning without diverting resources from its mission. The charity will continue to operate legally in the UK under its existing entity, The Travel Foundation, while progressively rolling out the new name and identity across its communications and programmes.