Picture 1: greenhouse gas emissions in kg CO2-eq of different holiday scenarios, based on a day and per person.
The results show that the travel distance and the choice of the means of traffic for getting there and back are far more important than the activities pursued in the holiday destination.
The activities during the winter and summer holidays have the lowest share of GHG emissions.
The accommodation is responsible for significantly more emissions than the activities pursued during your holidays. The emissions arising from the accommodation are highly dependent on the amenities offered by the hotel. Exclusive hotel categories (five stars) have a considerably higher share of GHG emissions per square metre and guest, in addition they often offer energy-intensive services such as sauna areas or heated pools. Moreover, the type of energy supply of the hotels play a role.
The distance of the journey to get to your holiday destination has the biggest influence on the greenhouse gas balance. The farther away from your holiday destination you live, the more likely you are to take a place. Air travel contributes more than average to emissions. High emissions from air travel are less significant for longer stays than for short breaks. Many short breaks in connection to air travel put the heaviest load on the climate.
The most significant GHG saving options ranked by impact on the balance are: the travel distance, the choice of the means of traffic and the type of accommodation. The activities pursued during your holidays are of minor relevance.
(Source: study of the Umweltbundesamt Oct 2018, on behalf of the WKÖ, trade association of lifts, in cooperation with Wintersport-Tirol)