Britons' attitudes towards travel and climate change

With climate change hot on the agenda in light of this week's Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, TNS-RI Travel & Tourism bring you the latest results of a survey we have undertaken on the environment.

The report which looks at general attitudes towards the environment and climate change revealed that despite claiming to be concerned, most Britons are unwilling to cut their flying in a bid to help the environment. Only 13% of people expect to fly less over the next 12 months; a worrying 4% fewer than aspired to cut flying two years ago. In fact, 15% have admitted that they are likely to fly more in the next year than they have in the past.

Key highlights:

• Despite media coverage which has highlighted the contribution that cars and planes make to CO2 emissions, there is little evidence to suggest that the majority of the British public would consider significantly reducing the amount of travel they undertake.
• Tourism is generally seen as being a force for good in terms of providing financial and employment benefits to local people.
• This benefit is seen to outweigh any concerns which may be held on the environmental impact of some tourism development, except in fragile environments.
• It is particularly significant that most support is expressed for initiatives where operators within the travel and tourism industries take primary responsibility for implementing changes and improvements rather than the individual traveller doing so directly.
• There is no evidence that the attitudes of the British people towards environmental impact of travel have changed significantly in the last three years.
• People are no more or less likely to take environmental factors into account when planning a trip in 2009 as they were in 2007.

Click here to download the report