Encouraging Environmentally Sustainable Holiday Travel

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2006

Subject Area

infrastructure - vehicle, planning - surveys, planning - education, planning - environmental impact, land use - impacts, ridership - mode choice, ridership - attitudes, ridership - old people, policy - environment, policy - sustainable, mode - mass transit

Keywords

Vacations, Trips, Trip length, Travellers, Travelers, Travel surveys, Travel patterns, Travel distance, Travel behavior, Travel, Transit, Tourist trade, Tourism, Regression analysis, Regression, Recreational trips, Public transit, Persons by socioeconomic levels, Persons by educational level, Passenger vehicles, Mode choice, Modal choice, Mobility, Mental attitudes, Mass transit, Local transit, Journeys, Interviewing, Households, Holidays, Holiday travel, Highway users, Highway usage, Highway travel, Greenhouse gases, Germany, Environmental impacts, Environmental effects, Choice of transportation, Attitudes, Air travel, Age groups

Abstract

Holiday travel behavior, individual characteristics of holiday travelers and strategies to change holiday travel behavior are the subjects of this article. From the environmental perspective, the journey to the destinations is the most critical aspect of traveling. Based on a 2003 survey of 1991 German inhabitants, the kilometers traveled and the choice of transportation mode for holiday purposes have been quantified. According to the number of trips and kilometers traveled, four travel groups have been identified. The groups vary according to socio-demographics, psychological factors, number of holiday trips, and travel mode choice. Persons who traveled to more distant destinations also traveled more often and used air travel for more than 60% of their trips. For the other groups, car travel was more important. Correlating the four travel groups with greenhouse gas emissions reveals that the smallest group—the long-haul travelers—was responsible for 80% of the emissions of the whole sample. Income, education, and openness to change were main indicators of individual greenhouse gas emissions. Target group oriented strategies to reduce the environmental impact of holiday mobility are discussed against the background of 84 in-depth interviews conducted with selected representatives of the first survey.

Comments

Transportation Research Part A Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09658564

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