To celebrate Earth Day on 22 April, Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travellers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, has released the findings from its latest global ‘Sustainable Travel Report’ which states that awareness of eco-friendly accommodation options is growing, with Indian travellers seeking to book more greener stays than ever.  The research highlights that 97% of Indian travellers want to travel sustainably in 2018 with 88% of them willing to pay an extra premium to ensure the same. The study also reveals that while 73% of current Indian travellers always or often opt for sustainable travel, around 32% are willing to pay at least 15% more to ensure as low an impact on the environment as possible.

According to Vikas Bhola, Head for the Indian Sub-Continent, Booking.com, “Sustainable travel is a subjective term that has different connotations for different people.  As Indian travellers increasingly look to explore and experience the world in a sustainable way, we continue to look at ways that can help make it even easier for them to do that, whether by highlighting eco-friendly properties or enabling people to filter their search results on Booking.com. This research reaffirms that sustainable travel is within reach for all of us, which is encouraging as we together strive to make a positive impact for a more sustainable future."

It’s good to go green

Proving that sustainability measures don’t need to come at an inconvenience, many Indian travellers indicated they engage in sustainable travel behaviour because the activity itself adds a positive experience to their trip.

Eco-inspiration

When it comes to what inspires people to travel more sustainably, it seems that travel itself is the biggest motivator.

Overcoming eco-barriers

While perceived extra cost remains the top barrier for Indians wanting to travel more sustainably, 88% of travellers would be willing to spend at least 5% more on their travel to ensure it was as low impact on the environment as possible.  The research states that Indian travellers are the most willing to pay the premium closely followed by Brazilians and Chinese.

** Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of adults who have taken a trip in the last 12 months/plan to take a trip in the next 12 months. In total 12,134 respondents were surveyed (1000+ from (12 markets) Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Spain, France, India, Italy, Japan, Brazil, the UK and the US). Respondents completed an online survey in February and March 2018. The result in the press release focus on Indian travelers only which consisted of 1018 respondents)