Study – Green is Important to Travelers

If you are going to leap, it’s always nice to know you have some safety measures in place, particularly when we are talking a leap in business. As such, it is very helpful to see new research showing that being green is important to travelers.

Today I definitely have some interesting new research to present to you. San Francisco State University recently completed a survey of US and international visitors to the city of San Fransisco and their data may surprise some readers. Almost half the visitors said they would be willing to spend 10 percent more on travel for environmentally conscious services. About 37 percent of respondents said they specifically seek out green service providers when they plan travel. Additionally, almost two-thirds of the respondents said they have changed their consumer practices. About one in four respondents said they selected a travel service primarily because it used green practices.

Undoubtedly, these are some fairly positive responses. The researchers felt these strong numbers were partly due to the beautiful natural setting that attracts visitors to San Fransisco. Accordingly, if that is the case for San Fransisco, one can fairly confidently guess that visitors attracted to the amazing beauty and landscapes of Vancouver Island would feel equally strong on environmental issues.

There is one area of concern from this survey. One in three respondents said they felt that claims of businesses being eco-friendly were of little substance and largely “greenwashing,” or public relations campaigns. As a result, the issue at stake for our region is how we can go about engendering trust is our green initiatives. Do we need regulations, certifications, or will self management work? This are not easy questions to answer, but it is certainly worth talking about. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this topic!