Caroline Bremner, Senior Head of Travel and Tourism at a global market research company, and ENU Alumni, has recently launched her book, ‘Future-Proofing Travel: How to Create a Resilient and Sustainable Industry.”
In March, I published my book – Future-Proofing Travel: How to Create a Resilient and Sustainable Industry. The opportunity came about after 28 years of working in travel research for a global market intelligence company. In my role, I’ve been analysing trends and impacts such as 9/11, the Global Financial Crisis and the pandemic. Travel is on the frontline of converging factors including macro-economics, geopolitics, digital transformation, changing consumer behaviours, demographics and the net zero transition. It is a vital economic pillar creating 348 million jobs and generating USD11.4 trillion in 2024, according to the World Travel and Tourism. Yet it faces significant challenges to transform and decarbonise or face an existential threat.
In December 2023, I was approached by a business and academic publisher. I had just lost my cousin to cancer, so I jumped at the chance to embark on a deep dive into the industry that I’ve been passionate about since working as a tour guide for the National Trust at Brodie Castle during the school holidays. The part time job was a way to earn money, meet people from different countries, share the stories of Scotland whilst practising my languages. Who wouldn’t love working in travel and tourism?
After my proposal was submitted and approved, I spent 5 months writing and researching the book, including conducting interviews with 30 global industry experts. Every interview revealed new perspectives and spurred me on thanks to the passion and purpose of these talented interviewees. They included global sustainable tourism leaders, changemakers, social impact entrepreneurs, digital technologists, conservationists and even an ‘accidental hotelier’.
It was a truly family affair: my son helped me with data permissions and sourcing; my daughter was a sounding board for ideas especially of Gen Alpha and my husband contributed some beautiful ink drawings, illustrating the transformation of a tree through its lifecycle. Their input and support were vital, seeing as the book took a significant amount of my time, writing after work in the evenings and all weekend.
My editor equally played a critical role in terms of the editorial approach, guiding me through each stage of the book research where I submitted chapter batches and incorporated her invaluable feedback.
By August 2024, the manuscript was wrapped up, along with everything signed off for data permissions and interview quotes. The next six months were given over to the publisher to finalise proofreading, production, marketing and publication.
The book launched internationally on 3 March 2025, with the Americas following later in the month. I was in Berlin for ITB Berlin – a major travel conference – and it was a great moment to know that the hard work was over, and a new chapter was beginning.
The past year has been a rollercoaster, balancing different work and family commitments to meet deadlines. Overall, I’m pleased with the result and met some amazing people in the process. Whether it will be on the Amazon best-seller list, we will need to wait and see!
Get your copy here: https://linktr.ee/futureproofingtravel
Discount code: KOGANPAGE25
