UK Ferry Tickets

How much do you care about the environment and are you prepared to back your convictions with hard cash?

In future, environmental initiatives and responsible tourism are set to go to the top of the holiday agenda instead of being dismissed as something only greens and geeks care about. I recently chaired a debate about the future of travel and the issue was a major topic of discussion.

After years of wading into resorts without a care for the consequences, many of the big companies that sell packages to places like Egypt and Turkey are starting to do simple things, such as ensure local workers are treated properly and given a reasonable living wage.

The Travel Foundation promotes responsible tourism and encourages holidaymakers to eat in local restaurants and shop in markets, rather than just staying in their big, comfortable hotels. It is getting a huge increase in enquiries from concerned members of the public, albeit from a small base.

Holidaying with a conscience costs money, of course, and opinion is divided about whether people will be prepared to pay the cost.

Chris Vukelich, the chief operating officer of Cendant, which owns many websites, believes people will be prepared to pay extra, perhaps in the form of a tax or donation through a travel company, to protect the environment. He predicts that before long we’ll all be at cocktail parties, boasting about how green we are.

I’m not so sure. Millions of holidaymakers don’t mix in the cocktail set and, understandably, want the cheapest deals available.

The middle classes are also obsessed by discounts, according to one tour operator. Noel Josephides, the managing director of Sunvil Holidays, said he has around 30,000 clients, most of whom are middle-class people from the south of England, and only 8 per cent of them are concerned about the environment. Ironically, they just want to go to an unspoilt region and give no thought as to whether that area will stay unspoilt.

I’m very interested in your views on this subject. Do you think we should care about the environment when we’re on holiday? Would you be prepared to pay more if you knew the money was helping locals? Is a tax on holidays – with the money going to environmental projects – the way forward? Or do we have enough taxes and supplements already?

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Friday, September 30th, 2005