TripAdvisor Survey Shows Concern for the Environment

April 20, 2007 at 10:33 am lcordiner Leave a comment

A TripAdvisor survey of more than 1,000 travellers worldwide has found that 40% take environmentally-friendly tourism into consideration when making travel plans. The survey also found that 66% believe that environmentally-friendly measures in travel are making a difference.

Nearly 25% believe that air travel should be avoided, whenever possible, to help preserve the environment, while 38% said would pay more to take an eco-friendly flight and 26% would pay a 5-10% premium.

But only 3% have ever purchased carbon credits.

Just over a third (34%) said they would pay more to stay at an environmentally-friendly hotel, while 38% said they had already stayed at an environmentally-friendly property, and 9% would specifically seek out environmentally-friendly establishments. When asked to specify how much they extra they would be prepared to pay for ‘green’ accommodation, 25% said they would pay a 5-10% premium, and 12% would pay a 10-20% premium.

“This survey shows that far from being irresponsible, planet polluting energy wastrels that they are often portrayed, many travellers do care about the environment and are willing to pay for it,” said Ian Rumgay, European communications manager for TripAdvisor.

“It is a wake-up call for all sectors of the travel industry to provide more green options”.