12 November 2008

Green issues low on travellers' list of priorities

More than half of people say environmental issues have no impact on their travel decision-making, the findings of a new survey show.

The poll of 1,000 UK consumers found that 55% saying that environmental considerations do not come into play with their holiday bookings.

And only two per cent say they take the carbon offsetting option when making a holiday flight abroad, according to the findings which emerged just prior to World Travel Market's World Responsible Tourism Day today (Wednesday).

Just a handful of people have adopted specific green holidaying strategies Ã¢â¬' four per cent no longer make domestic flights and three per cent do not fly abroad, choosing to travel by rail, car or ferry.

Only three per cent ensure their destinations, such as hotels, have environmentally friendly values.

The poll by customer insight specialist G2 Data Dynamics, whose clients include World Travel Market organiser Reed Exhibitions, found that 22% now prefer to only take UK-based trips.

In addition, some 12% of respondents claim to have reduced holiday travel overall as a direct result of environmental concerns.

The companyÃ¢â¬â¢s director and global client strategist Kevin Slatter said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœClearly this is a blow to green pressure groups and government departments keen to persuade people to think more carefully about their travel decisions.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœTourism companies that want to make a real reduction to their impact on the environment need to think more carefully about how they get green messages across in their marketing to change the publicÃ¢â¬â¢s attitudes.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies

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Your Comments (5)

Embedded Values

What we are seeing and this research supports to an extent, is that consumers are concerned about the environment, but dont want to be told to pay for offset as a solution. They are looking for their travel providers to have addressed environmental issues within the delivery and packaging of their products. In short, they are looking for suppliers whose operations, planning and supply chain management help to contribute to reduced impact. Travel companies and suppliers who adopt this approach will produce both environmental and cost savings, whilst positively addressing consumer concerns.

By Hugo Kimber, Thursday, November 13, 2008
Here we go again ...

As there is no link to the study (design, questions asked and answers given), it is difficult to comment. But the triumphant conclusion "clearly this is a blow to green pressure groups" begs a reaction sample of a 1000 isn~´t very impressive if 55% show no concern, do 45% show some or a lot of concern ? I think the percentages cited 12% for reducing holiday travel due to environmental concerns, 3-4% avoiding to fly are very encouraging. Habits are difficult to change and take time. We need a longitudinal study to see if attitudes and actions are changing over time. Can we also be precise in the use of our language : "green" is only one aspect of sustainability. Agree with Ron that most governments (especially the tourism promotion side) don~´t have a clue about how to get their act together on sustainable tourism and get the word out on what they are doing right.

By Ariane Janer, Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thinking not Doing

Responsible travel needs more publicity of the right kind. The fact that "More people are thinking about their travel decisions" is a move in the right direction, but unfortunately I don't feel that enough people are actually doing something about it. It's case once more that "Procrastination Reigns"

By Alan Farmer, Thursday, November 13, 2008
Green Issues = Corporate Savings

As with all product and market 'life-cycles' my experience through EC3 Global's work with hotels and asset managers supports the fact that the suppliers are further up the product curve than the end user. For our clients undergoing certification of 'sustainable practices', they are motivated to go green by three key drivers: 1) save resource cost 2) meet CSR obligations, and 3) act in the best interest of the environment Once the 'traveller' sees a benefit, financial or environmental, green priorities will increase.

By Peter David, Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Source

Interesting. Our findings on Planeta.com show the opposite -- that more people are thinking about their travel decisions than ever before. That said, the advice of thinking more carefully about green messages makes great sense. Most government and PR programs are simply missing the mark in terms of conveying news about ecotourism and responsible travel.

By Ron Mader, Wednesday, November 12, 2008