Travel News

Green tourism 'now a mainstream concept'

A travel expert has claimed that environmentally friendly tourism is now a mainstream element of the industry.

Frances Tuke, a spokeswoman for the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said that this change has been led by the industry itself, as customers tend to claim that they are interested in eco-friendly travel but fail to back this up in their holiday choices.

"In order for the industry to make any difference it has led itself and made its own inroads," Ms Tuke said.

"It really has started to take off very quickly and a couple of years ago was a real tipping point. It went from being a niche idea to being a mainstream one."

The Abta spokeswoman said that it is important for travel companies to lead the way in green developments in the industry, as the public sometimes finds it easier to ignore certain issues if they are constantly swamped by negative information.

"I think it's important for all tourist holiday companies to be as responsible as they can and to take responsibility for their own emissions and to reduce the negative impact on both the environment and the local community," she said.

In a survey carried out by TripAdvisor last year, 34 per cent of people claimed they would pay more for an environmentally friendly hotel and 38 per cent said they would pay more for an eco-friendly flight.

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