Making holiday travel more sustainable

Summary

• Nearly three in ten holidaymakers (28%) said they always or often travel more locally when they go on holiday to reduce the amount they fly. Similarly, one-fifth (20%) choose alternative travel options to avoid flying either always or often. 
• A few holidaymakers reported making other changes to their holiday habits; one in ten (9%) said they always and often travel with providers with green credentials.
• Younger consumers are more likely to travel with providers with green credentials. For example, 14% of 18 to 34 year olds have changed their holiday behaviour to do this, compared to just 4% of over 55 year olds. 
• Consumers potentially believe they are choosing a more eco friendly travel provider when that may not be the case. This is called greenwashing when companies falsely claim to be more environmentally friendly through misleading or exaggerated marketing. Over half (54%) of consumers have not heard of the term, which may mean consumers are susceptible to being influenced by it. 
•  Many consumers are sceptical of airlines' environmental claims, with only 37% saying they trust them, while 46% saying they do not trust them.
• Better regulation on the claims airlines can make and the information they must provide on their emissions may better support consumers who want to travel with greener providers.

Background      

Air travel is a significant contributor to the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 7% of the total of UK emissions in 2022. As consumers returned to flying following the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions from international flights more than doubled between the years 2021 to 2023. Air travel is predicted to exponentially grow by 2050, so reducing emissions will require significant changes in consumer behaviour and flying habits.  

Currently, airlines and airports are not required to publish their emissions, but a growing number choose to. For example, Ryanair publishes its monthly emissions, and the price comparison website Skyscanner provides information about the lifecycle emissions of a consumer’s flights represented by a CO2e number.

This new research from June 2024 shows that the majority of consumers are concerned about, and feel responsible for, the environment (76%, 81% respectively). In addition, research by the CAA shows that many consumers want to have trustworthy environmental information about their flights.  

Some holidaymakers choose to fly less, or avoid flying altogether

Holidaymakers who always or often make the following changes to their holiday behaviours

In our research, we found that some holidaymakers are conscious about flying and have changed their holiday habits to fly less often or avoid it altogether. One in five (20%) holidaymakers regularly avoid flying by choosing alternative travel options when going on holiday (9% say always, 11% say often). Examples of alternative travel could be by rail (e.g. the Eurostar), ferry, or car. 

Furthermore, nearly three in ten holidaymakers (28%) said they have changed their holiday habits to travel more locally, to either avoid flying or reduce the amount that they fly (10% always, 18% often). In the research we didn’t specify what “locally” meant, so respondents may have interpreted this as holidaying in the UK rather than abroad, or taking short haul flights rather than long haul flights. Whilst many holidaymakers may do this behaviour for sustainability purposes, these behaviours may also be due to other reasons, such as a fear of flying or health conditions.

Younger consumers are more likely to travel with providers they view as greener

One in ten (9%) holidaymakers said they have changed their holiday habits to always or often travel with providers with green credentials.  Of these people, younger adults said they changed their behaviour more than older adults,  18 to 34 year olds are over three times more likely to always or often do this behaviour than over 55 year olds (14% and 4%) respectively. Middle-aged holidaymakers (35-54 year olds) were two times more likely to do this behaviour than those older than them (8%).

Those who always or often change their holiday behaviour to travel with providers with green credentials, by age

Consumers might be wrong to assume they’re travelling with a greener provider

Even though 9% of holidaymakers said they travel with providers with green credentials, their answers would likely have been based on their perception of which airlines appear ‘greener’, rather than concrete knowledge. It’s possible that consumers could be influenced by advertising that portrays certain airlines as more environmentally friendly, when this may not always be the case. This practice, known as greenwashing, occurs when companies falsely claim to be more environmentally friendly through misleading or exaggerated marketing. Currently, the CMA are investigating misleading environmental claims across a range of products and services.  Additionally, earlier this year, the European Commission and EU consumer authorities sent letters to 20 airlines identifying several types of potentially misleading green claims. 

When we asked respondents whether they thought they had heard of the term greenwashing before taking part in this research, almost half of consumers (46%) said that they had (28% definitely and 18% maybe). Conversely, slightly more consumers (54%) said they hadn’t heard of the term. A lack of understanding about what greenwashing is may mean consumers are more susceptible to greenwashing and thus many may think they are travelling with a greener provider when they are not.

A general scepticism towards airlines’ environmental claims is demonstrated by a survey we ran a year earlier in June 2023. The research asked consumers whether they trusted various sectors' environmental claims. The level of trust towards airlines’ environmental claims was the lowest, with only a third (37%) trusting them and almost a half (46%) stating that they don’t trust airline’s environmental claims.

Consumers’ who trust (trust a lot or trust a little) companies’ environmental claims in the following services in 2023

Summary

One in five (20%) holidaymakers are conscious about flying and have changed their holiday habits to fly less often or avoid it altogether. Only a small proportion of holidaymakers (9%) - mainly younger holidaymakers - always or often change their holiday plans to travel with providers with green credentials.

The limited shift towards travelling with greener providers may stem from scepticism about airlines’ environmental claims. In 2023, only 37% of consumers trusted airlines’ environmental claims, while nearly half (46%) did not trust them. Better regulation on the claims airlines can make, and the information they must provide on their emissions, would better support consumers who are conscious about engaging in sustainable travel and who want to travel with greener providers.  

Methodology

The fieldwork was conducted by Yonder on behalf of Which from the 19th to 21st of June 2024. A sample of 2108 UK adults were surveyed online and weighted to be nationally representative.