Travel: The new Tobacco? - this is the title of an article in the UK Guardian newspaper and picked up other papers in Europe this weekend. The article cites Mark Ellingham, the youthful founder of Rough Guides who has made a living encouraging people to explore the Planet. It seems as if he has had a change of heart, commenting that
"It is hard to say the positive impact travelling has can ever outweigh the damage done by simply travelling to the destination."
Mr Ellingham wants a £100 green tax on all flights to Europe and Africa, and £250 on flights to the rest of the world. He also urges investment for a low-carbon economy and a moratorium on airport expansion.
He said: "The tobacco industry fouled up the world while denying it as much as possible for as long as they could. If the travel industry rosily goes ahead as it is doing... we are putting ourselves in a very similar position to the tobacco industry."
For those of living in North America, where environmental concerns are not as strongly felt as in Europe, this might seem "over the top". I have just attended a weekend course with a wide cross section of people (five nationalities, mostly European). Naturally, I was happy to invite my colleagues to come and explore Canada and visit me. You'd be surprisesd at the number of people who said "thanks but no thanks". Their reluctance to accept this exciting invitation had nothing to do with my cooking - they simply felt it would be imoral to fly long-haul give the carbon cost of the flight.....My experience in the UK last week echoes concerns relayed in an earlier blog post - see here.
Food for thought.... and again, I'm not referring to my cooking..... Change can occur in a twinking of an eye......To be forewarned is to be prepared????? How well do we know our customers? And if this is thr fringe, when will the mainstream follow? Anna
