TMI Annual Convention 2026: Sustainability, Coastal Change and the State of Destination Making

26th October 2026

In mid-October, the Acorn team joined colleagues from across the sector at the Tourism Management Institute (TMI) Annual Convention. As always, it was a valuable chance to reconnect with industry friends, share what we have learnt over the past year and look ahead to the challenges and opportunities facing destinations across the UK.

TMI Sustainability Working Group - Leading change on the coast

A highlight for us was bringing together two members of the TMI Sustainability Working Group with the Director of the National Coastal Tourism Academy. As TMI Sustainability Lead for the past four years, our Director Alison Burgh has led the group, which has grown considerably in that time. Together, the group has developed and signposted practical resources for members, produced best practice case studies, run a programme of online events and contributed to TMI’s internal strategic thinking.

This year Alison hosted a panel session, Leading Change on the Coast, which asked what the wider sector can learn from destinations facing some of the greatest environmental, economic and visitor pressures. She was joined by:

• Samantha Richardson MBE, Director, National Coastal Tourism Academy

• Paula Harbidge, Tourism and Culture Manager, Thanet District Council

• Amy Summers, Orange Compass Consultancy, former Head of Marketing and Sustainability for the Isle of Wight

Coastal destinations are often on the front line of change, balancing climate impacts, seasonal economies and the needs of residents and visitors. The panel showed how the approaches being tested on the coast offer lessons for destinations everywhere.

The State of Destination Making

The convention also saw the launch of headline findings from TMI’s State of Destination Making Survey 2026, presented by Natalie Semley of Falmouth University and Dr Peter Robinson of Leeds Beckett University. This research matters. The visitor economy makes a £147bn contribution to the UK, yet the organisations that manage and shape destinations remain under-recognised and under-resourced. Robust evidence like this will be vital in making the case for the sector with government and funders.

What we took away

For us, the strongest learning across the two days was how closely sustainability, community and destination performance are now linked. The coastal panel made this clear: places under the most pressure are often the ones innovating fastest, because they have to. Their experience of managing visitor impacts, supporting local livelihoods and adapting to environmental change offers practical lessons for destinations inland as well as on the coast.

We were also struck by how quickly AI is changing the way people discover and plan trips, and what that means for how destinations market themselves. Fewer visitors may now arrive directly on a destination website, but those sites remain one of the most trusted sources of information about a place. AI tools draw on them to answer visitors’ questions, which makes accurate, up-to-date and well-organised content more valuable than ever. For destinations, the priority is making sure the information about them online is reliable, authentic and reflects what genuinely makes them special.

Finally, it was clear that performance across the UK is far from even. Some regions are growing strongly while others are struggling, which makes good evidence even more important in directing investment to where it is most needed.

Looking ahead

These conversations connect directly with the work we do at Acorn, from helping destinations plan for sustainable growth to supporting nature-based and community-led tourism. We look forward to continuing our work with the TMI Sustainability Working Group and to seeing how the State of Destination Making research shapes the sector over the coming year.

If you would like to talk to us about sustainability, coastal resilience or destination strategy, please get in touch.