Welcome to the Future: Travel Goes Green

One of the most impactful travel trends on social media in 2024 is eco-friendly travel.

Going green isn’t just a budding interest—it’s something that many travelers are focused on when booking.

So much so that airlines now offer passengers the chance to offset their carbon footprint by paying a small fee.

That makes sense, as travel creates strain on the environment. Flights, in particular, emit tons of carbon into the atmosphere. I’m talking metric tons, not just ‘lots’.

This puts travelers at odds with their goals.

After all, many people fly across the world to immerse themselves in our planet’s greatest wonders, from Zhangjiajie National Forest Park to the Great Barrier Reef to the Amazon Rainforest.

But travelers—especially those in Gen Z—are all too aware that exploring nature irresponsibly can threaten our world’s most stunning biospheres. (And the communities that take care of them.)

With each year, the future of travel becomes greener, propelled by the interests of travelers.

While a truly carbon-neutral tourism industry is a long way away, I’m here to demystify what going green in terms of travel really means—and why the challenge of taking on eco-friendly travel isn’t so out of scope after all.

So, how did we get here?

Before we dive into green travel, let’s cover why it’s necessary.

As mentioned up top, aviation is the greatest contributor to carbon emissions in the context of travel.

Aviation as a whole contributes around 5% to the world’s total carbon footprint annually. But not all who fly are doing so for travel. Some are on business. Others are visiting family, or heading to an international university, or heading off to conduct remote studies.

Only around 2.4% of that total comes from tourists.

So, plane travel is a big issue—but it’s hardly the only one.

When we talk about ecotourism and green travel, our carbon footprint is only one part of the picture. We also need to discuss environmental degradation.

Hotels and resorts (especially those that pop up in fragile environments like jungles and small islands) contribute to contamination. Where does all that waste go? And where do all those construction materials come from?

Overtourism is also an issue. As areas become popular and tourist infrastructure is put into place, fragile ecosystems are pushed to the brink.

In other words, unfettered tourism destroys biodiversity and the environments that attract visitors to begin with.

The bright side

As a former student of foreign tourism investment and environmental sustainability (I have my degree in Global Studies), I can tell you first-hand that there are a lot of challenges facing the industry.

That being said, it’s not all doom and gloom.

As the travel industry matures, it becomes more ethical. I think this is a good point to bring up Hanlon’s razor, a philosophical argument that says we shouldn’t attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance.

What I mean is—now that tourists are aware of the hefty impact of their travels, we’re motivated to improve.

And now that tour providers and hospitality groups know that, they’re more motivated than ever to improve their ecological standings.

What green travel looks like

There are dozens of ways that you can incorporate green principles into your travel plans immediately. And let me shout this for those in the back: it’s not going to take away from your trip or make things less fun.

It’s going to do the opposite, in fact.

Here’s what green travel looks like today:

You can opt to travel with carbon-neutral travel companies and stay at carbon-neutral resorts. These experiences involve offsetting your carbon footprint by contributing financially to carbon absorption projects and environmental initiatives.

Usually, ecotourism companies seek to balance out their carbon emissions—but always read the fine print. Not all claims are backed up with evidence.

You can opt for forms of alternative travel. Sure, trains and ferries and carpools aren’t exactly carbon-neutral. But there’s a growing movement to offer more accessible forms of green transportation.

Train tickets tend to be pricy, but with new bullet trains running between major cities across Europe and Asia, options are expanding quickly.

You can opt for community-based tourism. If you have a background in anthropology and travel, then you might have been wondering when I’d bring up people.

Immediate efforts in sustainability are usually happening on the ground-floor. As in, the local communities know how to care for the environment, and they’re spearheading efforts to preserve and regenerate resources.

Opting for community-based tourism means your money goes straight into their projects—and your stay is guaranteed to be ethical because it’s overseen by locals.

One classic example of community-based tourism is Colombia’s Ciudad Perdida, a ‘lost’ city that can only be accessed via treks guided by local indigenous groups.