Sustainable Travel Survey, Report, & Trends 2023 – 82% Say it is Important; 71% Would Pay More to Lower Carbon Footprint; 74% Plan to Make More Eco-Friendly Travel Decisions

Earth Day is April 22. And, it is now less than a month away. We just conducted our 2023 Summer Travel Survey that showed nearly 85% of American adults intend to travel. 42% said they will vacation more this summer than last. With so many people on the move, we wanted to know where Americans currently stood on sustainable travel and protecting the environment with climate change such a threat.

We set out to conduct this 2023 Sustainable Travel Survey to understand current American sentiment for traveling sustainably. How important is it to people? Do people intend to make more eco-friendly decisions when traveling? Is cost the most important factor when making a booking? How much more are American adults willing to spend to lower their carbon footprint? Below you can find the result of these questions as well as key takeaways and demographic comparisons.

How important is sustainable travel (environmentally friendly) to you?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Very Important. — 28.71%
• Somewhat Important. — 53.39%
• Not at All Important. — 17.90%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Women are more likely than men to think sustainable travel is important. 30.42% of women said it was Very Important while only 26.71% of men did. Additionally, 57.01% of women said sustainable travel was Somewhat Important while only 49.15% of men did. Overall, 87.43% of women said sustainable travel had some importance to them while only 75.86% of men did.

Key Takeaway — More than 82% of American adults say sustainable travel is Very Important or Somewhat Important to them. The 82.1% that said this equates to 212 million people according to the latest census. 212 million American adults say environmentally friendly travel is Very Important or Somewhat Important to them. This seems like a lot, and it certainly is. However, it is 5.22% less than the 87.32% that said this in last year’s survey. This means more than 13 million fewer people say sustainable travel is Very Important or Somewhat Important to them this year. It’s certainly possible that inflation, cost of living, and other crises have altered their perception of the importance of sustainable travel.

Do you intend to make more sustainable (eco-friendly) decisions when planning travel?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes, regardless if it inconveniences me. — 22.81%
• Yes, but only if it does not inconvenience me. — 51.52%
• No. — 25.66%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — The oldest generation of American adults over age 60 are the least likely to make more sustainable decisions when planning travel. 37.70% of people over 60 simply said “No” when asked. The percentage of people saying “No” decreased as age decreased. For example, only 27.61% of American adults aged 45-60 said “No”. And, only 22.96% of people aged 30-44 said “No”. Lastly, only 13.22% of American adults aged 18-29 said “No” they won’t make more sustainable decisions when planning travel. The younger generations clearly have more interest in being environmentally friendly.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 26% of American adults say they do not intend to make more sustainable decisions when planning travel. The 25.66% that said this represents more than 66 million people. In last year’s survey, only 18.43% or nearly 48 million American adults said this. This means within the last year, 7.23% of all American adults, or more than 18 million people halted intentions of making eco-friendly decisions when planning travel. These people do not intend to make more sustainable decisions even when it does not inconvenience them!

Which factor is most important to you when booking travel?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Cost. — 59.78%
• Time and Convenience. — 35.59%
• Sustainability and Carbon Footprint. — 4.62%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — American adults in the West South Central region are the least likely to say Sustainability and Carbon Footprint is the most important factor when booking travel. Only 1.14% of people in this region said sustainability was the most important factor. The West South Central region contains the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. On the other hand, people in the Pacific region are the most likely to say Sustainability and Carbon Footprint is the most important factor when booking travel. 8.97% of people in this region made this statement. The Pacific region contains the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Key Takeaway — Less than 5% of American adults say Sustainability and Carbon Footprint is the most important factor when booking travel. The 4.62% that said this equates to nearly 12 million people. This seems quite impressive, but again this figure is down from last year. In our 2022 survey, 6.84% said sustainability and carbon footprint is the most important factor when booking travel. The drop from 6.84% to 4.62% represents a percentage decrease in the last year of more than 32%!

How much more would you be willing to spend on your vacation in order to lower your carbon footprint from the trip?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• $0. — 29.11%
• Less than $50. — 29.30%
• Between $50 and $250. — 26.94%
• Between $250 and $500. — 10.62%
• Over $500. — 4.03%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Women are more likely than men to say they would pay more for a vacation to lower their carbon footprint. 73.22% of women said they would be willing to pay some extra money. On the other hand, only 68.16% of men said they’d be willing to pay more for their trip to lower their carbon footprint.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 71% of American adults say they are willing to pay more for a family vacation to lower their carbon footprint from the trip. This 70.89% equates to nearly 183 million people. It includes the 29.30% of people that say they would spend less than $50 more and the 26.94% of people that say they would spend between $50 and $250 more. Additionally, it includes the 10.62% of American adults that say they’d spend between $250 and $500 more and the 4.03% of people that say they would spend over $500 more on a vacation to lower their carbon footprint. Keeping with the trend of this survey, this is less than the 78.28% of American adults that said they would pay more for a family vacation to be more sustainable in our 2022 survey.

Survey Methodology

This 2023 Sustainable Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 1,017 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on March 1 to March 2. Of those surveyed, 46.02% were male and 53.98% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey was 22.32% in the range 18-29, 26.55% in the range 30-44, 26.35% in the range 45-60, and 24.78% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±3.136%. You can learn more about SurveyMonkey’s sampling method by clicking here.

The questions were chosen and the results were analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.