Eighty-seven percent of American adults say that sustainable travel is important to them (34 percent saying it’s “very important,” with 53 percent saying only “somewhat important”). This was among the findings of The Vacationer’s recent “2022 Sustainable Travel Survey.” This is a nearly 5 percent increase from the 2021 version f the survey—a number that represents 12 million people. The Middle Atlantic (containing New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) reported a 93 percent response rate to sustainable travel being important.
More than half (52 percent) of respondents said they would make more eco-friendly decisions when planning travel, but only if it did not inconvenience them; 30 percent said they would make such decisions, regardless of in/convenience. The youngest cohort (18 to 29) said at a 92 percent clip that they would make more sustainable decisions when planning travel. The oldest generation only said do 76 percent of the time.
That said, “sustainability and carbon footprint” was the least important (just under 7 percent) compared to the cost (nearly 60 percent) and time and convenience (nearly 34 percent) when it came to importance while booking travel. In fact, just 2 percent would spend over $500 in order to lower their carbon footprint while traveling. Nine percent said between $250 and $500; 33 percent between $50 and $250; another 33 percent said less than $50, while the remaining 22 percent said $0. Still, there has been an increase from 2021, when only 4 percent of Americans said sustainability and carbon footprint was the most important factor.
Just under one-fifth (18 percent) of respondents said there are enough sustainable travel options when it comes to flights, hotels, and rental cars, while more than one-third (37 percent) saying there are not. Forty-four percent were unsure. There were nearly identical responses regarding whether travelers went out of their way to find sustainable options: 19 percent said yes, 37 percent said no, and 44 percent did not know these filters exists.
This 2022 Sustainable Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 1,096 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on March 1.
Source: The Vacationer
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