Holidaymakers 'can make a big difference to tourism footprint'

When thinking of taking a luxury holiday, people may wish to consider their environmental impact, according to one institution.

There are several simple measures that travellers can take when going on holiday in order to reduce the carbon footprint of tourism, the Travel Foundation has said.

Whether abroad on a Caribbean holiday, Maldives holiday, or even a city break, people should ensure that they switch off the heating or air conditioning in their hotel rooms while going out for the day as opposed to keeping them running.

David Weston, spokesperson for the Travel Foundation, said: "Taking off the packaging from goods before you leave home, rather than in the resort, is also beneficial because they are often without recycling facilities."

Mr Weston added that although such measures are quite small, if everybody makes the effort to do them "it adds up enormously".

The number of holidays taken with environmentally-friendly tour operators and visits to green tourist attractions have increased by 25 per cent since 2001, according to statistics from the Co-operative Bank's Ethical Consumer Report, released last year.