One in three Australians will seek out sustainable travel options when they holiday over the next year and almost one in five say they will travel less or not at all if they cannot find one.
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The findings, from a study of more than 1000 adults by the Travel Corporation, also found environmental concerns would impact the choice of holiday destination for two in five Australians.
The research comes amid growing efforts to reduce carbon emissions from air travel and after the federal government established the Jet Zero Council to provide advice on a sustainable aviation industry.
The research, conducted by Pureprofile, found environmental, community and wildlife concerns were high on the minds of Australian travellers and had grown since 2021.
The Travel Corporation managing director Toni Ambler, who represents brands including Contiki, Trafalgar and Insight Vacations, said COVID-19 travel restrictions had raised awareness about the impact tourists had on some parts of the world.
"The pandemic, as bad as it was for the travel industry, it's probably made a lot of people who weren't thinking about it more aware of the impacts people have on places they're visiting," she said.
"There were all those images of the waters clean in Venice and the lack of fumes around the world."
The travel survey found 40 per cent of Australians had changed their view of sustainable travel over the past five years and 33 per cent planned to seek sustainable options on their next holiday.
Their concerns were so great, the survey found, that 34 per cent of Australians would swap overseas with local travel if they could not identify sustainable options and 19 per cent would travel less or not at all.
Sustainable travel options did not just involve lower travel emissions, Ms Ambler said, but could also involve reducing food waste, eliminating single-use plastics, supporting developing regions, and ethical wildlife experiences.
The research also revealed most Australians expected environmentally friendly options to cost more but Ms Ambler said The Travel Corporation used a carbon fund to offset charges.
"There's a big correlation between people wanting to travel in a sustainable way and make good choices but at the same time being very aware sometimes sustainable choices come at a premium," she said.
Australian airlines Qantas and Virgin have made commitments to cut emissions from domestic and long-haul flights in recent months, with both agreeing to meet the aviation industry standard of net-zero emissions by 2050 through the use of offsets and biofuels.
The federal government also announced in June the establishment of a Jet Zero Council to advise the government on the use of sustainable aviation fuel and other ways to reduce pollution from the sector.
Australian Associated Press
