Last week, Paris once again became the centre of global dialogue on the future of travel as industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators gathered for the 6th edition of A World for Travel. Held from October 29–31, 2025, the summit brought together hundreds of delegates to exchange ideas and solutions for building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable travel industry.
The event featured powerful keynote addresses, including a thought-provoking speech by Gabriel Attal, former Prime Minister of France, who spoke on the intersection of tourism, sustainability, and national policy. Aziz Abu Sarah, the renowned peacebuilder and entrepreneur, inspired attendees with his vision for tourism as a tool for cross-cultural understanding and conflict resolution. Their insights set the tone for an event that celebrated collaboration and innovation while confronting the pressing challenges shaping the future of global mobility.
Moderated by Paige McClanahan, American author and travel writer, the Unusual Suspects panel brought a fresh perspective to the A World for Travel stage — exploring how insights from space science, marine engineering, and data analytics can help the travel industry adapt to a changing planet.
Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, Director for Sustainable Development at CNES (the French National Space Agency), opened the discussion with a sobering overview from orbit. She explained how satellite data show that the planet has already warmed by more than 1.2 °C since pre-industrial times, with sea levels rising over 4 mm per year in the past decade. These shifts are driving more frequent and intense heatwaves, fires, and hurricanes — phenomena that threaten not only ecosystems but also the very destinations on which tourism depends. Her message was clear: travel cannot thrive without climate stability, and the data to understand this change is already at our fingertips.
From the ground, Myriam Younes, Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships at Rome2Rio, offered a human-mobility lens on sustainability. Drawing on billions of real-world travel searches, she showed how travellers are increasingly choosing surface-first options — trains, buses, and ferries — over short-haul flights. In Europe alone, non-air travel searches exceeded 133 million last year, compared to less than one million for air routes. Younes argued that empowering travellers with transparent, multimodal transport data can help destinations manage tourism flows more sustainably and inspire people to explore more responsibly.
Next, Will Bateman, Founder and CEO of CCell, brought the ocean into the room. Using satellite and wave-energy data, his company designs biomimetic artificial reefs that protect coastlines while nurturing marine life. He revealed that nearly half of the world’s inhabited coastlines are now under threat from erosion, with wave energy intensifying by up to 3 % per year in some regions. CCell’s mission, he said, is “to wind the clock back ten years” — restoring natural equilibrium to coastal systems and helping communities defend themselves against accelerating climate impacts.
Finally, Roberto Martinoli of RINA Srl discussed how maritime innovation is reshaping tourism infrastructure — from floating resorts to climate-resilient ports. His insights highlighted the potential of engineering and design to adapt hospitality to a rising-sea reality, merging technical expertise with a sustainability mindset.
Together, the panellists explored how data, science, and collaboration can future-proof travel. They emphasised that actionable information is abundant — through platforms like Copernicus, NOAA, and Rome2Rio’s own analytics — but must be used more strategically in planning and investment. As Bateman put it, “Don’t see science and technology as a cost — see it as a guide.”
Their collective advice: the destinations that will endure are those that learn from every layer of our planet — from satellites and seas to human journeys — and use that knowledge to work with nature, not against it.
