Accommodation during your travels is a key factor and we believe you have your standards before choosing the facility to accommodate you during your time away for a vacation, trip or any travel and for sure since the power of choice is in your hands, There is much liberty that you can personally exercise to reduce your carbon footprint through the accommodation you choose. Remember, as a traveler, you have the power to drive hotels and other businesses to take climate action and change their practices. When booking any accommodation facility, opt for one that is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint. There are many things that hotels can do to cut their emissions such as installing energy efficient appliances, utilizing renewable energy, automating temperature control, sourcing products locally, actively engaging in or buying carbon offsets.
NOTE; to identify if a hotel is taking climate action, you can start by visiting their website because we believe that most accommodation facilities that are doing something to combat their carbon footprint will be talking about it on their website or social platforms. To identify those facilities who are actually walking the talk, look for specific practices they have in place or data on the reductions they’ve achieved or their visions and plans. If you can’t find information online, ask the management at the accommodation facility what they’re doing in offsetting the carbon emissions.
Additionally, during your stay you might notice practices or processes that they could put into place. If so, remember to share your ideas with the management or on the guest feedback card. Simply asking questions and providing feedback is a great way to show traveler accommodation facilities that their customers are factoring sustainability into their purchase decisions and this for sure will invite more action which will in the long term reduce the carbon footprint generated by the tourism industry.
Ideally, why not try a cultural experience and spend time with the local community for a few of your travel nights? Staying in a homestay gives you the opportunity to live like a local and find some of the best spots to explore that tourists might not usually hear about. And a bonus to this? Homestays with more basic amenities tend to be less carbon intensive than luxury resorts with swimming pools, spas and golf courses
At Upcycle Impact Tours, advocacy for carbon free travels and combatting tourism’s contribution to climate change is one of our top priorities. In addition to working directly with local communities and educating travelers, we encourage destination leaders, and tourism businesses to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and drive systemic change in the tourism eco-system. We hope to scale this approach to additional travel groups, communities and tourism destinations to mitigate tourism’s carbon footprint.
