Why we should tread lightly: The growing importance of eco-travel

Horseback safari

“96% of Condé Nast Traveller readers think hotels and resorts should be responsible for protecting the environment they operate in. With 74.5% saying a hotel's environmental policies influence their decision to stay there,” according to the Center For Responsible Travel (CREST).

The impetus is, therefore, no longer left with travel agents to cookie-cut holiday experiences for travellers. Our globalised world provides us with so many opportunities to express ourselves through our online personas and, as a result, people are looking to express their opinions and passions through all aspects of their lives, including their global travels.

A small and positive footprint

Lee Kelsall, CEO of adventure travel company Ker & Downey Africa, comments: “Travel experiences have become yet another extension of people’s self-expression. They care about the impact of their travels, they want to connect with the destinations they visit and know that their footprint is a small and positive one. We aid travellers in achieving the positive impact they’re after through developing tailor-made, experiential adventures for our guests - experiences that allow them to both impact positively on the wildlife and communities that they visit as well as allow these elements to impact their lives positively.”

Silent safaris - electric game vehicles at Chobe Game Lodge, Botswana

Examples of these travel experiences include mobile camping safaris, a travel concept which allows you to trek on foot through wild areas, with a team of rangers. Not only does this reduce carbon emissions as a result of eliminating the need for a safari vehicle, but the mobile campsites which are set up every evening are solar powered. These travellers thereby do not leave any impact on the area travelled through. Other examples include mokoro and horseback safaris through the Okavango Delta and opting to walk long routes such as the Otter Trail in South Africa, as opposed to defaulting to travel by carbon emitting modes of transport.

Lodges responding to the eco-travel call

Further up the supply chain, lodges are responding to the eco-travel call through creating eco-friendly infrastructure, something that requires major capital investment which would not be embarked upon if the demand in the market weren’t there. Some of Ker & Downey Africa’s most popular trips include incredible eco-friendly accommodations such as the Highlands, an eco-lodge in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania that operates solely on solar power and wood burning stoves, wooden huts at the summit of the Nyiragongo volcano in the Congo, and electric safari vehicles and boats at Chobe Game Lodge that have saved a combined 38,045kg of CO2 emissions.

The Highlands - view from camp

Travel companies and accommodation providers in the world’s top travel destinations have long since promoted their eco-friendly stance, but the growing importance of eco-travel, and the increasing demand for treading lightly means that the eco-friendly stance now has to be backed up by real long term investments into eco-friendly infrastructure.