Consumers will remain confused about how to book sustainable holidays until they are fed more expert advice from one over-arching organisation, lastminute.com boss John Bevan has warned.
The number of consumers choosing to offset their carbon emissions when making a booking through the online retailer has reached 17% – up from 10% just over a year ago.
But Bevan said consumers are still confused by what they should do if they want to book a sustainable holiday. “Customers are aware of the issue but there is so much confusion about what the right thing is to do. Until we get a body that can tell us this is what contributes positively and this what you should do I think customers will always be confused,” he added.
The online retailer launched its carbon offset scheme in November 2006. It now operates across flight-only and dynamically packaged bookings.
“We are trying to position ourselves with a scheme that experts tell us works. We give the money to organisations that have carbon neutral schemes. We are not going to force people down that road.”