TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, announced on Earth Day (22 April) the eco-friendly practice findings of the TripBarometer by TripAdvisor. This study, the world’s largest accommodation and traveller survey, reports on travel and hospitality industry trends, according to more than 35,000 travellers and hoteliers around the world.
British travellers second least concerned nation with eco-friendly practices
British travellers fall significantly behind the rest of the world when it comes to eco concerns in travel – just 67% of UK travellers feel that it’s important for hotels to take measures to go green – the lowest percentage of all countries polled apart from Japan, and considerably lower than the European and worldwide averages at 78% and 79% respectively.
Not just showing a lack of concern for hotels to act upon going green, when asked about their own eco-practices on holiday, over a fifth (21%) of British travellers said that they are actually less eco-friendly on holiday compared to at home. Only 13% claim to make an effort to be more eco-friendly while away.
UK accommodation owners much more eco-friendly
British accommodation owners paint a much more eco-friendly picture for the UK hospitality industry. Eighty-six percent feel that it’s important to adopt eco-friendly practices within their business. The study also reveals that UK accommodation owners’ opinions and reality are very much in line, with 80% acting upon their concerns for the environment and putting such eco-friendly practices in place.
In Europe as a whole, 88% of hoteliers believe it is important for owners to take measures to be eco-friendly but only 73% are actually following through and implementing these measures.
Some more diligent than others
“The TripBarometer study has revealed that while being eco-friendly is on the radar worldwide, some nations are far more diligent than others”, commented TripAdvisor spokesperson, Emma Shaw. “UK travellers clearly have some catching up to do in the eco-friendly stakes compared with the rest of the world, while UK accommodation owners are one step ahead and catering to international visitors for whom being eco-friendly is higher on the agenda.”
Methodology: The TripBarometer by TripAdvisor is based upon an online survey conducted in Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2013. A total of 35,042 people participated in the online survey from 26 countries spanning 7 regions. The sample is made up of 15,595 consumers and 19,447 businesses, making it the world’s largest combined accommodation and traveller survey.