Canadian travelers choose eco-friendly accommodations

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With 2017 being designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations, it’s fitting that Canadians are changing the way they travel.

The recent Sustainable Travel Report commissioned by Booking.com, found the number of Canadian travelers staying in an eco-friendly accommodation at least once could almost double this year with 61% expressing this intention versus only 36% who stayed in one or more last year.

When it comes to making luxury adjustments in order to stay somewhere eco-friendly, the vast majority of Canadians are more than happy to accept these, with 94% willing to stay in a property with energy saving light bulbs, 88% in one with AC/Heating units that only run while you’re in the room and 81% in one with low flow showerheads.

In addition, for nearly three quarters (71%) of Canadians, sustainable considerations also impact their mode of transport when travelling, with 32% saying they would take public transport whenever possible, 38% would try to walk, bike or hike as much as possible and nearly one fifth (18%) would even go as far as flying less to reduce their carbon footprint.

Sustainable travel goals

The term ‘sustainable travel’ continues to mean many things to many people, but the role of accommodations in helping travelers to achieve their sustainable travel goals is clear. The research shows that over half (54%) of Canadians consider staying in eco-friendly accommodation as sustainable travel, topping the list of what travelers think when they hear the term. For well over a third, it means conserving water by reusing towels and bed sheets (42%) and conserving the environment by reducing use of amenity goods such as shampoo, soap, toothbrush, shaving razor (33%).

Top-5 reasons global travelers choose eco-friendly accommodations:

To help reduce environmental impact 52%
They provide a more locally-relevant experience 36%
They treat the local community better 31%
They tend to provide more locally-sourced/organic food 30%
An interest in experiencing new trends in travel accommodations 24%

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Chief Assignment Editor

Chief Assignment editor is Oleg Siziakov

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