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?

I suspect most of the 42% were lying. I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone i know who gives it a fleeting consideration.

How does this benefit your children though? I mean, it will be amazing for them, and fun...but how does it benefit them? Why make justifications? Just enjoy it, there's nothing wrong with taking your children abroad just because you want to! Doesn't need to benefit anyone!

Thats fair enough but thats not the argument that was put forward, it was put forward that its cheaper to go abroad than holiday in the UK

Apologetic cringing… but do it anyway? So sounds like they know they’re supposed to care but don’t really. Why is that any better than just not considering it?

I agree. So hypocritical. I also agree with posters who object to celebrities who lecture us all on environmental issues and then fly everywhere.

Just out of curiosity, which celebrities are we talking about? Several people reference celebrities who lecture (I presume not actually lecture professionally, but talk about) the impact of flying and who themselves fly for leisure.
I can't think of any.
I can think of people in the public eye who might fly in their line of work while also being on record as having spoken about the detrimental impact of flying on the climate. Not sure if they also fly for leisure.
This survey is about holidays, and not necessarily just about flying, but the impact, I imagine, of other things like cruising (as mentioned by a couple of PPs), holiday homes, over-use of areas of scientific interest and ecological sensitivity such as rainforests and coral reefs, of staying in resorts which place huge demands on local resources such as water supply, waste disposal, sewage and energy consumption.

I am one of the 42% in that I actively seek to avoid flying, unless there really is no option such as to a relative who lives on a small island.

Actually, depending on where you go and how good you are at hunting out bargains, on balance abroad can be cheaper. For example, my friend and I are going AI to Tunisia on 1st May for £780 per person for two weeks. I have been looking for a week anywhere in the UK one month later in a dog friendly cottage. The cheapest I have found has been £480 and I'll have one week less time and all my catering etc to purchase. So that will be much more expensive, and I have no guarantee it won't rain all week. A cottage that I rented last year for myself and my dog has gone up in price by £210 per week. I'm not prepared to pay those prices for the UK and especially not when going abroad is more competitive. The two weeks I have booked in Greece, also AI in September is only £200 more than two weeks at that UK cottage for two weeks.

Just out of curiosity, which celebrities are we talking about? Several people reference celebrities who lecture (I presume not actually lecture professionally, but talk about) the impact of flying and who themselves fly for leisure.

I can't think of any.

A quick google produced this. There are more but this will do to be going on with:

Elon Musk has been preaching to the world about the harms of carbon emissions. He also travels the world using his Gulfstream G650ER private jet, which uses 1,854 litres of petrol every hour

Leonardo DiCaprio called for emergency actions against climate change. So much so, that in his attempt to fight climate change, he once flew
8,000 miles by a private jet from Cannes to New York City to pick up an environmental award

After telling the world that taking bold action on climate change is the right thing to do for the people of the planet, Richard Branson’s main vehicles for luxury travel are his Dassault Falcon 50 EX private jet and Necker Belle yacht

Arnold Schwarzenegger
After winning his International Climate Leadership Award in 2009, Arnie told us about his vision to fight climate change by passing a new law while Governor of California that rolled back emissions by 25% and approving a multimillion-dollar solar roof initiative. His most fuel-sapping vehicles include a Bugatti Veyron Vitesse, military-grade Hummer H1 and his Gulfstream III

Although Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez infamously claimed that "the world is going to end in 12 years" in Jan. 2019, the New York Post noted that she logged in 66 airline transactions for her 2018 campaign with only 18 Amtrak uses

Actually, depending on where you go and how good you are at hunting out bargains, on balance abroad can be cheaper. For example, my friend and I are going AI to Tunisia on 1st May for £780 per person for two weeks. I have been looking for a week anywhere in the UK one month later in a dog friendly cottage. The cheapest I have found has been £480 and I'll have one week less time and all my catering etc to purchase. So that will be much more expensive, and I have no guarantee it won't rain all week. A cottage that I rented last year for myself and my dog has gone up in price by £210 per week. I'm not prepared to pay those prices for the UK and especially not when going abroad is more competitive. The two weeks I have booked in Greece, also AI in September is only £200 more than two weeks at that UK cottage for two weeks.

But you can't take your DDog to Greece, so you also have to pay for his holiday in a kennels on top.

And the cottage would be cheaper per person if you were doing that with your friend. Tunisia solo would be twice the price assuming you're sharing a room.

Thanks, Adante. I'm always wary of people 'calling out' climate hypocrisy or virtue signalling in others, using these as reasons to not make any changes in their own habits. I was imagining celebrities in the entertainment industry travelling on holidays, but the people on this list are a bit of a grey area as far as this survey is concerned.

I don't measure my own personal climate efforts against Russia or China or 'the government' or 'the elite', but against what I think I can reasonably manage in my own life based on finances, effort and logistics.

Yes like my massively lefty anti-private school friend who sends her kids to ( wait for it) private school and then sighs deeply about how terrible it is that the local state school is so bad because nice families like hers all opt out to private schools .

Honestly OP I suspect most of the 58 per cent who say the do consider it, actually don’t but can’t admit it to themselves. Of the 25 percent who say they consider it a bit, all of them are lying or think ‘gosh isn’t it terrible that we are flying to the Maldives again this year!’.

Yeah well I'm massively lefty and anti private school, all my mates are lefty, and very few of us fly any more. So there you go.

(and my kids don't go to private school).

Honestly thought it would be higher.. I don't know anyone who feels like that.

When the likes of the Beckhams, Dicaprio and Bono stop flying in private jets, multiple transatlantic flights and spending summers on super yachts I will think about my 4 flights a year to the med and the carbon footprint it entails!

I do consider the environmental impact of flights yes. That doesn’t mean no flights ever but it does mean putting more effort into exploring destinations within the Uk and/or ones reachable by other forms of transport.

I don’t really give a shit about celebrity views on much let alone the environment. they certainly don’t provide me with an excuse to be wilfully ignorant 🤷‍♀️

When comparing like for like accommodation it's almost always cheaper abroad. We are staying in a 2 bed apartment for 10 days in Greece at Easter. Its less than £500 (way cheaper than a UK equivalent).....but the flights were another 1300 for 4 of us. (Plus travel to the airport)

but the people on this list are a bit of a grey area as far as this survey is concerned.

EveSix why are these people a grey area? Nobody actually needs a private jet so to own one and then lecture people about environmental issues is extremely hypocritical.

The thing is, lots of us don’t fly enough for us to think about it in any great detail, due to cost. If I was in the financial position to take multiple flights a year I would probably think about it more. As I can only afford to go on holiday every 2-3 years (and then it’s only a 2.5 hour flight to visit my family in Spain) it’s not something that forms the basis of my decision. Most people I know only fly once a year at most anyway. It’s more of a ‘problem’ for the well off.

I admit I dont quite know what you're saying here

You're saying your trip to Greece (including your dog?) is 780 pp for the two weeks, but the self catering cottage for 2 weeks would work out less per person (I assume there is 2 of you)

If the holiday to Greece doesnt include the dog then presumably you have doggy day care on top of that cost, plus of course travel to airport, airport parking etc etc

You have food to buy in the UK rather than being all inclulsive yes, but Im not seeing the financial side of it make sense

Yes of course the weather is going to be different.

Adante, I absolutely agree with you about the ludicrousness of private jets.
I am keen to avoid the discussion going the way of "Well, they don't x, y or z, so why should I?", which is what often happens when you bring people in the public eye into the climate conversation.
I'm trying to stick to the survey findings, and, besides not being on this thread to comment on their own responses to this survey, if they did take part in it, your details doesn't specify whether they use private jets or other flying for work or leisure, and whether they consider the environmental sustainability of potential holidays in said private jets.

Flights need to be much more expensive.

I'd love to see a sliding scale of flight tax whereby any individual's first flight in a year was minimally taxed (so that ideally most people could afford a holiday if they wanted one), but the second one incurred a higher rate, the third one higher still, and so on.

And as for private jets ...!

Absolutely agree with this. I find it really interesting though, all the reasons that people find to justify their choices on this (and many other things too!) Humans aren’t great at being honest with themselves about their motivations.

I suppose what I mean is that I decided my decision to stop flying was maybe unfair on them... They have never been on holiday abroad & I want to give them that opportunity once or twice. I am not trying to justify it, it was a decision I thought really hard about having not flown for so long for environmental reasons.

As I can't afford to go on holiday at the moment to anywhere, the environmental impact, if I can finally afford one somewhere is somewhat low down on my priority list, probably even below what colour bedding is being provided.

Exactly this 😂. This is truly a discussion for the privileged.