Commentary

Last week our Hotel Manager Katrin Schönig went to the ITB here in Berlin, which is one  of the largest and most important tourism fairs in the world. As well as meeting some old friends from the European hostel scene, and checking out some different seminars about the future of budget travel and tourism and general, she brought back some interesting information about the impact of youth travel on the environment, which was collected together by the guys at WYSE – the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation.

In their industry guide, they present some interesting facts about the carbon footprint of travellers, and the research shows that a young traveller has a CO2 footprint of only 9% of a mainstream traveller. The reason, the report argues, is because youth travellers are more likely to use public transport and local accommodation, as opposed to taxis and large hotel chains.

Nevertheless, the guide has lots of interesting suggestions and advice for both travellers and the industry in general about how we can all reduce the environmental impact of our travel choices, such as renewable energy, carbon offsetting, and the promotion of sustainable travel.  You can have a virtual flick through the industry guide here: Climate Change & Youth Travel.

If you would like to see what we are doing here at The Circus to make sure we reduce the impact of our activities in the hostel and hotel, take a look at the Sustainability page on our company site.