Survey Finds 70% of Travelers Conscious of Eco-Friendly Activities on Trips

JTB Corp., a leading Japanese travel agency, released on November 27, 2008, the results of its survey on environmental awareness while traveling. According to the results, 70 percent of respondents are conscious of eco-friendly activities on their trips; 25 percent stated that they are "always conscious" and 45 percent replied that they are "conscious from time to time". However, 25 percent of respondents were "not very conscious" and 5 percent were "not conscious at all."

Popular ecological actions that the respondents took on their trips were typically related to their daily lives. Seventy percent answered that they had "taken their own toothbrushes and/or chopsticks with them", and "declined daily towel exchange services at their accommodation facilities." Thirty-five percent said they had "chosen eco-friendly transportation." As for more specialized activities, 10 percent said they had "participated in guided tours to world natural heritage sites" and 6 percent said they had "made contributions by purchasing carbon-offset products". Three percent said they had experienced full-fledged activities, such as "tree planting or forest thinning."

With regard to eco-friendly activities they intend to do in the future, "taking own toothbrushes and/or chopsticks"(62%) topped the list, followed by "choosing eco-friendly transportation"(46%), "participating in guided tours to world natural heritage sites"(30%), "joining in ecological activities such as tree planting and forest thinning"(21%) and "making contributions by purchasing carbon-offset products"(15%). The percentages were higher for almost all activities, as compared to those on their actual experiences, showing that the respondents' interest in ecological activities is increasing. JTB concluded that customers expect future eco-tours to be opportunities for them to first "realize the present situation of environmental problems", then to "look on advanced ecological approaches" and finally to "do some eco-friendly activities by themselves.".At the same time, the company added, while the tours are expected to include a system of "making contributions", they are expected to exclude wasteful services on trips, such as needless amenity goods or excess quantities of food.

- Japanese Travel Bureau Launches 'CO2 Emissions-Free' Tour Product (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026742.html
- Japan's First CO2 Emission-Free Eco-Tours on Sale for Individual Tourists (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026884.html
- JTB Group official website
http://www.jtbcorp.jp/en/

Posted: 2009/03/10 06:00:15 AM