Recently done survey in which the French were asked about both their opinion on responsible travel and their behavior when choosing the holidays has shown that their trust in responsible tour operators has dropped considerably.
A large majority of French people believe that responsible tourism is expensive (74%) and that primary benefits go to the pockets of tour operators (72%) and yet, paradoxically, 74% of French people think responsible tourism is the future of traveling. The ambivalence highlights the suspicions of the French towards the operators of responsible tourism, as well as the perception of their offers as inaccessible and restrictive. According to the VoyagerMoinsCher.com, the firm that was in charge of the survey, only 9% of French people are willing to say that responsible travel is fun.
Consequently, the number of French people who claim to take into account their impact on the environment when choosing the holidays has dropped by 28% between 2009 and 2010. Among the 31% of the French who are eager to bring together traveling and environmental impact, only 26% choose an environmentally friendly accommodation, 12% choose a tour operator specializing in responsible tourism, and only 8% choose the ecological travel offer of a classic travel agent. Ultimately, even the French, who claim to travel responsibly, do not go beyond small non-binding individual actions such as adopting a responsible attitude on the spot and stop throwing away waste (77%) or start using public transport (42%).
Pierre Brisson, the head of VoyagerMoinsCher.com, says that responsible tourism suffers from a poor image among too many French and that this must be changes first. That is why the VoyagerMoinsCher.com created a section on their web pages that is dedicated to various forms of responsible tourism. The section includes offers of tour operators recognized in the industry and a list of associations which can provide information. Curious customers will be surprised at how travel managers can be original, fun, useful and accessible to all budgets.
