US travellers are more familiar with sustainable travel terminology than they were two years ago but remain unwilling to pay more for eco-friendly travel options, according to July travelhorizons – a quarterly consumer survey co-authored by the U.S. Travel Association and Ypartnership.

The percentage of American travellers who consider themselves “environmentally conscious” has not changed since 2007 (78%); however, there has been a remarkable increase in the percentage who report familiarity with the term “carbon footprint” (from 12% in July 2007 to 54% in July 2009). Awareness of the term “green travel” also improved from 9% in July 2007 to 22% in July 2009. Despite these increases, only 9% of consumers say they are willing to pay more to use travel service suppliers that offer eco-friendly options, and only 3% have purchased a carbon offset when booking travel.

“Although consumers are reluctant to pay more to support green travel service suppliers, they are definitely paying attention to those who are green, even in this down economy,” said Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership. “Travel service suppliers should therefore continue to adopt green practices that have a minimum impact on consumers’ wallets.”

Among consumers who would pay higher rates or fares for eco-friendly options, roughly four in ten (39%) would pay as much as a 5% fare or rate premium to an environmentally responsible supplier and an equal percentage would pay between 5% and 9% more.

“Consumers are looking for ‘green travel’ choices at the right price. The travel community has developed thousands of options and we are adding more daily,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel Association. “Earlier this year, U.S. Travel and American Express launched TravelGreen.org to facilitate best practice sharing among travel companies and provide a clearinghouse on the latest research and trends in green travel.”

Other key findings from the survey were:

  While consumers believe travel service suppliers should be good stewards of their environment, over half (54%) also believe that individuals themselves have the greatest responsibility for preserving and protecting the environment.

Six out of ten (58%) travellers say they believe that environmental programmes by travel service suppliers could have a positive effect on the environment.

The majority (51%) of consumers will continue to patronize “green” travel service suppliers regardless of an economic downturn. In fact, nearly half (48%) of travellers say that continuing to support environmentally-responsible travel service suppliers is a necessity, even in an economic downturn.

Less than one-third (29%) say it is easy to find out about environmental policies and initiatives of travel service suppliers.