Sustainable stays

AUSTRALIAN travellers are willing to spend more to book eco-friendly stays and almost 80% say they want to travel sustainably, according to research by Booking.com.

The website’s Sustainable Travel Report says 31% of Australians believe they often or always travel sustainably, but 48% say they don’t or rarely do.

While the term “sustainable travel” is subjective, the report says almost half of travellers consider it to mean staying in eco- friendly or green accommodation.

Booking.com says the top reasons Aussie travellers give for choosing eco-friendly options are to help reduce environmental impact (34%), to have a locally relevant experience (32%) and wanting to feel good about an accommodation choice (24%).

Impressive natural sites were given as the inspiration to travel sustainably by 57% of people.