This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: U.K. vacationers and the tourism industry have a "real opportunity" to shift to low-carbon European vacations, researchers say. Air travel is deeply embedded in the way many people take vacations.
However, it has significant environmental impacts, and concern about climate change is increasing among the public. Rather than focusing only on customer choice, University of Exeter experts say it's key to understand the mix of marketing, booking processes, infrastructure and support that influence decisions. After running focus groups with customers from travel brands Inghams and Inntravel, researchers have created a new "toolkit" that sets out how eco-friendly travel to Europe—mostly by train—could become cheaper, easier and more desirable.
"People don't want to damage the environment when they travel, but at present they face significant barriers if they choose some of the low-carbon options," said Dr. Ewan Woodley, from the University of Exeter. "For example, booking a flight from the U.K. to European vacation destinations is easier and often cheaper than going by train.
"But there's a real opportunity to reimagine vacation travel for the better—and our aim here is to provide a guidebook on how to get there." The Exeter team ran workshops with 50 customers of Inghams and Inntravel about their general experiences of train travel for vacations. Some raised the difficulties of train and ferry travel, comparing these experiences with fast, "seamless" airline booking. The researchers highlight three areas to focus on: Woodley's key recommendations are to make "no-fly" vacations visible—promoting the green travel experience—and to follow the lead of airlines in making it quick and easy to book travel.
The toolkit's other recommendations include: Krissy Roe, head of sustainability at Inghams, said, "Lower-carbon travel should be an easy, attractive choice, not the harder one. Over the past three years, Inghams has grown its rail offering so that more than 30% of our resorts can now be reached by train. We know the appetite for lower-carbon travel exists.
As this research shows, better connectivity, fairer pricing and greater reliability will be essential to making lower-carbon travel accessible to everyone." Lucy Saggers, Inntravel sustainability executive, added, "At Inntravel, we want to build on the number of customers who already choose rail for at least one leg of their journey to our walking vacations. Travel Towards Net Zero provides the evidence to support the shift in travel choices that both we and our customers want to see. It also offers valuable, practical guidance on the steps individuals, governments and tour operators can take to make lower-carbon travel more accessible and easier to choose." Stewart Barr, a professor, said, "Together, government, the tourism industry and customers can change how we think about travel.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
