Tourism Watch at a Turning Point – Between Crises, Digitalisation and Responsibility (03/2026)

We are currently facing challenging times for international cooperation aimed at advancing sustainable development. Sustainability standards are being weakened, project funding is being reduced, and NGOs are coming under increasing pressure. The phase-out of Tourism Watch at Brot für die Welt has created a gap in critical perspectives on tourism – both nationally and internationally. Against this backdrop, a project position on “Tourism for Global Justice” has been established to address this gap. The position is hosted by ECPAT Germany and funded by Brot für die Welt under its Education Programme, using resources from the Church Development Service. Tourism Watch continues in this context and is being further developed.

The Tourism Watch Information Service will continue providing key insights into destinations and perspectives from the Global South on a quarterly basis. Subscription data will be transferred from Brot für die Welt to ECPAT Deutschland e.V. Please contact us if you no longer wish to receive the newsletter. If no action is taken, you will automatically receive the next issue in summer from tourism-watch@ecpat.de.

What remains unchanged is our commitment to quality, international perspectives, and enabling shifts in perspective. The Information Service will continue to focus on human rights due diligence and child protection in tourism, as well as on questions of how tourism value creation can be shaped in a globally just manner in the context of limited resources and the impacts of the climate crisis.

Shortly after this relaunch of Tourism Watch, the world’s largest tourism trade fair, ITB Berlin, took place in early March. The sector presented itself amid geopolitical crises, digital transformation, and ongoing questions about whether further growth can be reconciled with greater corporate responsibility. In this newsletter, we provide an analysis of key debates and developments at ITB 2026.