Brits reluctant to let global warming influence travel plans

More than half wouldn’t alter their trip despite 80% admitting to environmental ‘concerns’

More than half of Brits wouldn’t change their travel plans due to environmental concerns despite last summer’s significant heatwaves and wildfires being driven by global warming, according to a recent survey.

UK travel insurer, Staysure, surveyed 2,000 British adults who had travelled abroad in the past year. 

While 53 percent said the environment wouldn’t alter their plans, 80 percent admitted they were ‘concerned’ about the potential impact on travel from global warming events, but not enough to make a notable change.

Among those who were conscious of global warming and more likely to make changes to their itineraries, 42 percent said they planned to travel less than they had previously.

When it came to sentiment around travel insurance, the impact of events like wildfires and other natural disasters had altered buying habits.

Of all respondents, 36 percent said they’d be more likely to take out a policy. That number was 50 percent among millennials.

Conversely one in 10 said they’d never buy travel insurance for a holiday and the risks of global warming wouldn’t change their mind.

A third (34%) said they sought out low emission or carbon neutral flights, while 23 percent said they now only travelled short haul or within the UK.

However, when asked without the leading context of global warming, common eco-solutions proved more popular. As many as 45 percent of respondents said they preferred travelling in the ‘shoulder’ months of May and September, possibly to avoid the crowds during the peak summer season, and the extreme heat waves.

According to Staysure’s Chief Commercial Officer Simon McCulloch a holiday is one of the few times that we get to relax and switch off from our everyday lives, momentarily forgetting about the troubles of the world, but that doesn’t always mean a holiday will be trouble free.

“There’s no doubt that, in one way or another, climate change will impact our holidays in years to come, so it is reassuring to see that more of us are likely to take out travel insurance for that all important protection and peace of mind,” Mr McCulloch noted. 

“Researching and investing in a good policy should form part of planning your holiday and could turn out to be just as important as your passport.”