23 April 2008

Environmentally-conscious Ã¢â¬Ëœholidaying closer to homeÃ¢â¬â¢

Specialist operator responsibletravel.com claims to have seen the number of domestic holiday enquiries more than double so far this year.

The company has had a 113% increase in the number of enquiries from travellers looking for trips and accommodation options in England between January 1 and April 21, compared to the same period in 2007.

England has jumped from 14th to second most popular destination in terms of actual holiday bookings via responsibletravel.com, just trailing behind Egypt in first place.

Justin Francis, co-founder of the Brighton-based company, said: "We have seen strong overall growth in responsible holidays and I'd like to think that this latest news perhaps shows that travellers are starting to cut down on short haul flights and city breaks.

"Responsibletravel.com was one of the first travel companies to encourage customers to take fewer and longer holidays.

"Over the past year or so, we've also been proactively adding to the site, some fantastic UK-based trips and accommodations have joined that really put responsible tourism at the core of their business.

"Every one of us needs to be reducing our everyday carbon output and holidaying closer to home can be a great way to do this, wherever you may be based in the world.

"Appreciating the local character of a place is what travel is all about - it's something unique and truly memorable, whether you are travelling 20 or 20,000 miles from home."

By:Phil Davies