Green Travel is Dead, Being Green is a Requirement

MSNBC.com has an article about Green travel.  The point is people don’t want to pay extra for Green, they expect companies to be green.  Being Green is a requirement.

Maybe it is easy being green

Environmentally-conscious travelers want companies to follow suit

Many hotels and resorts have touted their environmental credentials in an effort to cash in on the "eco" tag. But columnist Christopher Elliott says environmentally-conscious travelers want companies to be green without the pricetag that usually comes along with it.

Christopher Elliott

Travel columnist

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Green travel is dead.

I arrived at this unlikely conclusion while talking with Mike Ragsdale, the “town evangelist” for a seaside community in Northwest Florida called Alys Beach. “People think being green means making sacrifices or paying more,” he told me. “That’s not necessarily true.”

Is it a waste to market Green features?

No one is saying that being environmentally responsible is irrelevant when you travel. On the contrary, it’s that being green is so important that it shouldn’t become another marketing gimmick. It should be a part of what you do every day — part of every travel company’s DNA.

That’s why green travel as we know it, with the hotel touting its use of recycled water, the airline bragging about its use of alternative fuels or theme park buzzing about its new lightbulbs, is well on its way to becoming history.

Where are things going?

Personally, I’ll be happy to travel in a greenlightened world. Hotels won’t be able to monetize my environmental sensibilities. Airlines will strive for a long-term positive environmental record instead of scoring a few fleeting points with treehuggers. Same for cruise lines and car rental companies.