A world full of good intentions

MELBOURNE – Almost one quarter of Asian travellers have never purposefully considered the environment in their past travels.

But all travellers polled by Lonely Planet have said they would or might purposefully partake in environmentally friendly travel in the future.

A new global survey by the travel information company reveals that travellers are keen to make significant changes to their behaviour to travel sustainably.

Lonely Planet’s annual Travellers’ Pulse survey, which polled over 24,500 people worldwide, showed 84 per cent of respondents said they would consider offsetting their emissions in the future, where only 31 per cent had done so in the past.

One of the strongest changes for the future was in volunteering. A huge 79 per cent of respondents said they would or might volunteer overseas in the future, with only 25 per cent having done so in the past.

Seventy per cent of travellers said they had purposefully travelled in a low-impact way in the past, (for example catching a bus rather than flying) and over 90 per cent of people said they would or might do so in the future.

Travellers also have good intentions when it comes to protecting the environment. Although 36 per cent of people had never purposefully considered the environment in their past travels, 93 per cent of people said they would or might purposefully partake in environmentally friendly travel in the future.

Lonely Planet’s Adam Stanford said it was encouraging to see travellers embracing change.

“The survey reveals that 73 per cent of respondents feel that travel is “in their blood”, so its fantastic to see that people are consciously considering their impacts, and are willing to alter their actions to protect the destinations they love.

“It will be encouraging to watch whether these intended behaviours follow-through,” said Stanford.

The survey also revealed that the majority of travellers are worried about carbon emissions from flying, with only 7 per cent saying that they did not think aircraft carbon emissions were a concern.

In the survey, respondents were given several options and asked to choose the one that they would primarily support for being most effective in reducing emissions from flights.

While offsetting came out on top, with a quarter of all votes, surprisingly 43 per cent chose one of the more radical options: boycotting flying for other less damaging modes of transport; airlines reducing the number of flights; increasing flying costs via a carbon tax; or everyone having an annual carbon allowance into which they must fit their travel.

Activity or interest has been a strong reason for travel in previous Travellers’ Pulse surveys. This year it was even stronger with 32 per cent saying activity was their main purpose for travel, highlighting the growing trend towards exploring niche experiences rather than simply visiting destinations for sightseeing.

Other results from Asia were:

– 45 per cent of respondents in Asia said they had offset their carbon emissions from flying in the past, and 88 per cent of respondents in Asia said they would or might offset their emissions in the future.

– 22 per cent of respondents in Asia say they have volunteered in a foreign country in the past and 85 per cent said they would or might do so in the future.

– 80 per cent of Asian travellers said they had purposefully travelled in a low-impact way in the past, (for example catching a bus rather than flying). And 94 per cent said they would or might do so in the future.