The travel industry cannot continue to grow in the same way if it wants to secure the long-term future of the sector.
Addressing delegates at the ITT conference, Matthew Taylor, chief exec of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), warned: “Unless you find a radical new model for growth you will destroy the goose that lays your golden egg.
“If you understand the relationship between the long-term future of the business and the need for a model of growth that’s sustainable, both in terms of the environment and your relationships, then you should be thinking about this all the time.
“Nowadays people are looking for fulfilment, authenticity and to connect to countries and communities.
Taylor continued: “As well as striving for profit growth, market share, bigger planes etc., remember to reflect on the whole history of tourism and travel, the emergence of human empathy and of human connections across the world.
“You take people on amazing journeys but you also take them on a journey which sees all of us having better lives in a better world.”