A study looking at four of Responsible Travel’s specialist holiday companies – in France, Devon, Croatia and Spain – found tourists’ meals and hotels can account for a large proportion of the emissions generated by a trip. 

The data was commissioned by Responsible Travel with Professor Stefan Gossling of Lund University and Dr Ya-Yen Sun of The University of Queensland.

It found although transport is still the largest polluter during a holiday overall, there were cases where a traveller’s ’foodprint’ is greater.

Smaller accommodations can also emit four times less carbon than larger hotel chains.

https://twitter.com/justinmfrancis/status/1216997723980935169

Where more climate-friendly choices are made, emissions on a trip can be similar to the global sustainable average per day, which is 10kg of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

“We have learned a lot already: top-notch holiday experiences can be very low-carbon,” said Gossling.

“This is an exciting way of moving forward on decarbonisation; it helps travellers find the most sustainable and exciting trips, and encourages system change. I hope that other tour operators will follow suit in developing similar tools.”

Justin Francis, Responsible Travel’s chief executive, added: “It came as a surprise to find that, in some cases, food emissions might be greater than those of your flight.

“Eating more plant-based and locally grown food, reducing your food waste and staying in renewable-powered accommodation becomes an important part of reducing the carbon emissions of your holiday.”

He said the industry must tackle these issues in the current climate crisis.