Only 42% consider environmental sustainability of holidays?

[EveSix]

Just came across this survey at the bottom of another thread.
Is this really representative? Or is it that most people are planning rustic camping holidays in the UK so genuinely don't need to worry much about the environmental impact of their holiday?
I'm surprised. If I think about various social contexts I'm part of (colleagues, friendship circle, DCs' school, extended family etc) not many people would announce a foreign holiday involving flights without a little bit of apologetic cringeing.
Or am looking at it the wrong way around, and 42% is perhaps a big improvement on the previous decade?

Honestly though OP, what is the point of people in your circle ‘thinking’ about the impact, if they still go on the holiday anyway? Being apologetic about it doesn’t make it any more environmentally friendly.

So if it is an audit of an overseas manufacturing site, you are saying that no one one who lives in that country is capable of carrying out an audit? A team must be flown in to do it because people in that country aren't up to it?

Other than a specialist medical procedure there is nothing on your list that couldn't be done by people resident in the country, or by video-conference.

Waddle, quite, but the survey just asks who considers the environmental sustainability of their holiday decisions, not who actually does anything about those considerations, and it's the 'thinking about it' aspect, being what I consider low, that I find interesting. Allowing concerns for the climate or environment to actually impact decision making is probably an even lower number. As Plait pointed out, it is an ambiguously worded survey.

And "carbon off-setting = medieval indulgences"; absolutely.

And "carbon off-setting = medieval indulgences"; absolutely.

Yes - great analogy!

Sarain, the survey asks specifically about holidays, as opposed to corporate / business flights.
Flights to tourist destinations will not necessarily take off 'anyway' if the 44% who do consider the environmental sustainability of their holiday making choices decide to act on their concerns. Demand falling will impact supply.

Eh? What on earth are you on about, OP? I'd imagine not even 10% consider the implications and most of those 42% are telling fibs!
And I am a non-driver and vegetarian since the 90s.

It's hard to say to people that you try to minimise flying for environmental reasons. They take it as "virtue signalling" and get offended, even though it's only a statement of fact.

I'll talk about it on here but I keep pretty quiet about it in real life.

@PlaitBilledDuckyPuss Yes that is what I'm saying. You don't replicate all roles in all countries. It makes no sense. You'd have staff staring at the walls half the year. No business going replicates all roles in all countries. It's simply not how it works. Then there are global functions that work out of HQ and do a lot of travel but they are specialists.

Shall we stop filming on location? No more location scouts etc. There are so many more examples.

Do we stop seconding staff? Do we not fly to see family? People live so globally now. That genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

Businesses to do spend huge amounts on travel for fun. They do it because it's necessary.

If you knocked out all tourist flights you're talking about plunging millions of people and loads of countries into poverty. It's just madness.

We live in a passivhaus. We drive an electric car. But no, I'm not giving up travel.

Exactly this. People pretend to care about the climate but they have no intention of driving a more fuel efficient car (or none at all), giving up flying, ski-ing or cruises, or not getting a dog or having a third+ child.

I do agree with a pp that the worst culprits are the super-rich with their private jets. I really would like to ban them, and cheer when Extinction Rebellion blockade the likes of Farnborough airport.

Businesses to do spend huge amounts on travel for fun. They do it because it's necessary

It isn't necessary. My fairly woke employer has the extremely unambitious target of reducing business travel by about 30% over 2019 levels. As far as I am concerned it should be at least 50%. We know from covid that we can do so much remote first and in my view there is no need for most of the air travel that my colleagues indulge in.

I don't mean to get into an argument about holidays. But many posters find holidays in the UK quite expensive. Generally. Plus, they certainly were when we were finally allowed to travel in the uk, in covid times.

Meandfour:
Fair enough that price for Dorset is reasonable.

And @Meandfour You are wrong. Ds1 and I pre him going to uni flew to Milan for £36 return last summer.

And yes. You can go AI for a week for £1k. Not years and years ago. If you search you can find cheap deals. We went last year. Easter 21. Actually Dh found a particularly cheap deal of cheekytrip. £1100 for 4, AI for a week. Cala Ratjada. Majorca. Total price £1100. Would you like to see my credit card statement?

Sorry it was Easter 22, last year, not Easter 21, we got a cheap deal to Majorca. £275 each. For a week all inclusive.

Seems about right to be. As I only fly once or twice a year I don't see any need to sacrifice my holidays when celeb and rush types are flying weekly or more all over the world with crazy carbon footprints

I consider it, yes.

We really enjoy slow travel, so where we can, we use trains, buses, ferries etc.

But ultimately I still travel frequently by air.

I'm satisfied that we're very low on energy usage and resource consumption. I think when we did an assessment of our carbon footprint, we came out low even with the flights. I'm working on growing all of my own veg, and buying local meat. We buy most of what we own second hand.

Can't really substitute for a holiday though.

I know so many people who loudly bang the environmentalist drum, yet take several flights a year, purely for leisure purposes 🤣🤣

We take overland holidays too, not sure of the relative carbon footprint of flying to Spain vs taking the motorcycle via the Portsmouth-Santander ferry, anyone?

Absolutely. The idea of carbon offsetting is such a load of bullshit!!! I cant believe people actually say it with a straight face

@Meandfour

And just to prove a point here I am on said very cheap holiday, with a particularly large pina colada!!

To be honest I don't think about it. After years of not being able to afford holidays it's what I like to spend my money on and I go abroad several times a year.

5 years ago I'd really have agonised over holiday flights, and most likely have paid to "offset the carbon".

Now I am broke with 2 little kids, and it's been widely reported that those carbon offset payments were a scam. My family need a holiday and I will go for somewhere short-haul and as cheap as possible just to try to bring some sun and joy into a grey and miserable year...

I can't afford to care about sustainability when I book our holiday.

In any case the water is muddy as hell on this whole issue (look at the environmental cost of electric cars - massive issues with the life-cycle of the batteries, components mined from war-zones, etc). Goalposts moving massively on what "sustainable" really means - greenwashing everywhere.

I give up.

Yes, this. I am so tired of the virtue signaling around this particular thing. It’s low hanging fruit because lots couldn’t afford to jet halfway around the world 3-4 times/year even if they wanted to.

You don’t find many middle class people actively avoiding period homes that use an enormous amount of energy to keep warm or refusing to install wood burners because of the environmental impact.

People are doing the best they can and I would venture to say that most are making at least some form of lifestyle adjustment, even if it’s not travel related.

I have one friend who is openly concerned with the environmental impact of travelling - doesn't seem to stop them going on several holidays a year abroad so I suspect there is an element of carbon offsetting to assuage her conscience going on there.

My other super-eco friend NEVER mentions the environmental impact of travelling but also seems to manage to fly at least a couple of times a year.

Not a single other friend ever mentions it.

You can't guarantee the weather here that's the problem for most people and why they refuse to holiday in the UK.

I wouldn't even think about it, no.