Recently, the July edition of Travel Horizons co-authored by the U.S. Travel Association and the YPartnership, came out with a study stating that Amercian travelers are more aware of sustainable travel, but they are remain unwilling to pay more for it. As a travel booking company that focuses on helping travelers make their travels more environmentally friendly, we were intrigued by this new study and what it meant. Familiarity with green travel terms and awareness of what “green travel” means have increased dramatically in the past two years, but according to this study, only 9 percent of consumers say they are willing to pay more to use travel service suppliers that offer eco-friendly options for travelers, and only three percent have purchased a carbon offset when booking travel.
Still Good News For Companies With A Green Initiative
A quote from their press release:
“Although consumers are reluctant to pay more to support green travel service suppliers, they are definitely paying attention to those who are green, even in this down economy,' said Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership. 'Travel service suppliers should therefore continue to adopt green practices that have a minimum impact on consumers' wallets.”
Other key findings:
- While consumers believe travel service suppliers should be good stewards of their environment, over half (54%) also believe that individuals themselves have the greatest responsibility for preserving and protecting the environment.
We completely agree with this!
- Six out of ten (58%) travelers say they believe that environmental programs by travel service suppliers could have a positive effect on the environment.
They Do! To increase awareness of green travel, we donate 20% of our profits to eco-friendly organizations to help us improve our environment.
- The majority (51%) of consumers will continue to patronize 'green' travel service suppliers regardless of an economic downturn. In fact, nearly half (48%) of travelers say that continuing to support environmentally-responsible travel service suppliers is a necessity, even in an economic downturn.
This is also true, and RezHub.com can help you find green ways to travel without spending more money!
- Less than one-third (29%) say it is easy to find out about environmental policies and initiatives of travel service suppliers.
You can visit our green travel hub page to find out more about who we are and our environmental policies and initiatives.
We know that getting Americans to think about green travel more is a challenge, but it does NOT need to cost more to travel green. The broad misconception about green travel is that you need to travel to an Eco-Spa or a remote jungle location to experience “green travel”. This is simply not true. You can choose a hotel with a high green score rating, choose a direct flight, drive rather than fly, and make good use of the three “R’s” while traveling: reduce, reuse, and recycle. None of these actions require you to spend more money if you do your research, and RezHub.com can help you with all of your green traveling needs!
