Hospitality provider Iberostar Group has been recognised with the title of ’World’s Leading Marine & Biodiversity Conservation Programme’ for its Wave of Change programme at the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards. Through the initiative, Iberostar is investing heavily in coral reef restoration. In 2024 alone, the group planted over 12,000 corals and launched four coral nurseries across the Caribbean. Research teams study reef resilience, while guest excursions fund long-term marine conservation. Iberostar integrates reef-friendly sunscreen, low-impact marine tours and real-time biodiversity monitoring into its operations.

The World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA) and Tourism Economics have released the inaugural Global Destination Resilience Index 2025—a landmark study designed to measure how well destinations are prepared to balance growth with sustainability in an era of rapid global travel expansion.

World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards is reinforcing its commitment to net-positive tourism and hospitality by renewing its academic research partnership with Nova School of Business & Economics, Lisbon.

As Global Head of Sustainability for Hospitality at Amadeus, Agnes Pierce has leveraged her passion for environmental stewardship to play a pivotal role in driving the company’s sustainability initiatives. Justin Cooke of World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards met up with Agnes to find out more about her approaches to sustainability, and how collaboration is the key to building a net positive future for tourism.

World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA) has extended its 2024 call for entries deadline to 31 May. Pioneers in sustainable travel can gain global recognition for their work by entering the new programme launched by World Travel Awards.