Friday, July 30, 2010
According to the “2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study,” conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, among the guests who were aware of them, 73% claimed they participated in hotels’ conservation programs.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Gulf oil spill was a disaster—for the environment, fishermen, oil workers, the economy and tourism, and its effects continue.
A report, “Potential Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Tourism,” conducted by Oxford Economics for the US Travel Association, projects that the effects of the BP oil spill on travel to the Gulf Coast will last up to three years and cost the region $22.7 billion.
The coastal region’s 400,000 travel industry jobs will be profoundly impacted.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
According to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) calculations, the share of US oil consumption used for transportation is 71%, nearly 9 million barrels of oil per day, or 378 million gallons of gasoline (June 15, 2010).
Friday, June 11, 2010
The World Cup starts today in South Africa, but once the last goal is scored and spectators and teams have flown back to their homes around the world, what will be the size of the carbon footprint left left behind?
To answer this question, Econ Pöyry, at the request of the Republic of South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Norwegian Embassy of South Africa, conducted a feasibility study to estimate the carbon footprint of the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
Though the event’s goal was to be carbon neutral, the report estimated the Cup would produce a 896,661 tonne carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), with an additional 1,856,589 tCO2e contributed by international travel, for roughly a 2.75 million tonne total.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Although commercial air traffic has resumed over Europe, in recent days a graphic comparing daily CO2 emissions from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano and European commercial air flights, created by Information Is Beautiful (IIS), was reproduced on scores of sites ranging from Yale’s e360 to Slate.
Based on aggregated data from a number of sources, the chart illustrated that on a normal day the European aviation industry emits 344,109 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, but during the eruption period—with 60% of flights canceled—planes put 206,465 less tonnes of carbon into the air and the volcano spewed 150,000 tonnes. That is a net daily savings of 56,464 tonnes per day.
Monday, April 5, 2010
The “Future of Transportation National Survey,” from Transportation for America (T4 America), found only 19% of US shoppers and commuters used public transit in the past month.
The primary barrier to usage is availability—47% of respondents said there was simply no public transit in their communities, and if there was, 35% said it was inconvenient to either their homes or end destinations.
Friday, April 2, 2010
According to the “Green Travel Policies” survey, released in The Wire…from AirPlus, a travel payment solutions provider, corporations are finding it difficult to implement green travel initiatives and policies.
As an example, though carbon management of travel was important to 76% of the corporations surveyed in North America and Europe, 63% of them feel they don’t have enough information to quantify impact or create measurable results.
One in every three corporations also point to higher costs—such as booking eco-friendly hotels, buying offsets and measuring emissions—as barriers to implementation.
Monday, March 22, 2010
The introduction to the “Green Traveler Study Report,” from CMI Green, states: “As the planet warms and resources diminish, consumers are demanding sustainable business practices from travel providers.”
The problem is many travel providers are confused. While wanting to be green—they are uncertain as to exactly that means. There are no agreed upon definitions for terms such as green travel and eco-travel. To solve the dilemma, CMI Green went to consumers.
When asked what represented green travel to them, 86.5% of travelers said environmentally friendly accommodations, followed by 60% who said using public transit or renewable energy vehicles.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Today’s uber-informed traveler is the “amateur-expert.”
That is how Amadeus, a travel technology company, identifies consumers who use the internet to research and plan their trips—travelers are often more knowledgeable about destinations than their travel agent.
The 2009 “Amateur-Expert Traveller” report by Amadeus found that 72% of travel agents worldwide believe the green travel segment to have a “major” or “some” business opportunity.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The “2010 Canadian Travel Intentions Survey,” from the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), shows that Canadian travelers are thinking green—for both business and leisure travel.
This year, 44% of leisure travelers and 42% of business travelers said they think green initiatives are important, and increase from last year’s results.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
An HNTB survey found 88% of consumers support traveling long distances by high-speed rail.
However, enthusiasm has waned since March 2009, when 94% of consumers favored high-speed rail.
