Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Seven tips for sustainable travel
The COVID-19 pandemic could help to make tourism more sustainable, but for that to happen, each traveler has a role to play. Let us show you how your next holiday could be made more sustainable.
For over a year the travel industry has been hit by an unprecedented slowdown amid coronavirus restrictions. But when travel possibilities expand, many people want them to be more sustainable. Nearly 60% of respondents in a survey conducted last year by the Holiday and Travel Research Association (FUR) said they wanted to make their vacations as socially responsible and environmentally
friendly as possible. Here are a few tips for boosting the sustainability of your future travel plans.
1. A long vacation instead of short trips
Sustainability begins with planning your vacation. Jetting off to Milan for two days because flights and hotels are cheap? Then off to South Africa for a week's safari? That's impossible at the moment, but before the pandemic, numerous short trips a year were attractive to many travel enthusiasts, not least because of the low prices. However, such trips are not sustainable. After all, every trip to and from the vacation destination generates a lot of CO2. Such flying visits also leave little time to get to know the country and its people. Especially when traveling further away, the rule applies: It's better to go on vacation once for three weeks than three times for one week.
2. Near rather than far afield
Due to the ongoing travel restrictions amid the pandemic, many people have discovered the benefits of vacationing on
their own doorstep. This is a positive development for sustainable tourism: travelers who can use more environmentally friendly means of transport can therefore travel in a more climate-friendly way.
3. Trains over planes
Travel to and from the destination accounts for by far the largest share of a vacation's