Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
present a meaningful alternative to current tourism, then low-carbon should
be both integral to, and the key outcome of, slow travel.
Current predictions are for tourism consumption to increase as GDP rises
in many regions of the world (UNWTO, 2009a). If this increased demand for
travel fuels an expanded tourism sector reliant on the aviation and automo-
bile industries, then reduced carbon emissions in other industry sectors will be
cancelled out. Even if new tourism demand fails to materialize, the savings
made by improved technology and efficiency gains (see Chapter 2) will not
reduce the carbon footprint of tourism in line with international policy.
Further carbon reduction will have to be met by other industries, and this may
not be possible. Therefore, in order to achieve acceptable GHG emissions lev-
els, it is essential that the tourism industry develops a low-carbon strategy.
Given that transport is responsible for by far the largest share of tourism's car-
bon footprint, basic auditing principles indicate that industry actions should
be focused on this area. Slow travel is closely associated with moves towards
lower-carbon tourism.
Mode of transport
Within our conceptual framework, choice of mode is intrinsically interlinked
with the other ingredients of slow travel. An evaluation of the carbon foot-
print of tourism travel modes indicates there is a continuum from carbon
neutral modes such as walking and cycling to carbon intensive modes such as
private car and flying (Dickinson et al, 2010b). However, as Table 4.2 indi-
cates, there is a clear divide that separates car and air transport, as the most
carbon intensive forms of transport, from rail and coach transport. Air and
car travel produce in the region of four times the amount of CO
2
per passen-
ger km compared to rail travel, and up to five times compared to coach travel.
Table 4.2 is based on averages and there is obviously some variability, depend-
ing on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and loading factors. Car travel can
achieve comparable efficiency to train travel with high loadings, but this is
rarely achieved. Given the dominance of car travel, this is discussed in further
detail after the ingredients section, along with water-based travel. Water-based
travel can make a contribution to slow travel in some areas, although it is
ambiguous. Based on the carbon analysis in Table 4.2, walking, cycling, train
and coach travel all meet the criteria of low-carbon travel, while car and air
travel do not.
There is an inherent link between the mode of transport used to access a
destination and the mode of transport used at the destination. If a personal
access mode, such as car or cycle, is used, then this is available for use at the
destination itself. Of course, many people travel to a destination by one mode
and then use another to get around the destination area, such as fly/drive hol-
idays. Modes can be linked by institutionalized industry practices, such as car
hire booking facilitated at the time of flight booking.
With respect to slow travel there are some important issues to debate here.
If someone flies to a destination but then relies on local public transport, are
they a slow traveller? In the destination context, yes, but if their holiday is to
meet the low-carbon criteria overall, then the answer is no. There is no doubt
