How much CO₂ causes a holiday trip?

Go directly to the emissions calculator for holiday trips

The climate crisis is a fact. Never have the consequences been so obvious as they are today. It is clear, we have to act! This also affects the travel industry. Above all, transport and accommodation in hotels contribute the most to CO₂ production. The travel industry and also every individual tourist should therefore focus on transport and accommodationOn the other hand, those who travel in a motorhome do not emit any climate-damaging CO₂ by staying in a hotel. If you do not look for a sustainability certification when choosing a hotel for a two-week holiday in a neighbouring country and book a standard hotel that does not take energy-saving and other CO₂-reducing measures, the overnight stay can cause more CO₂ than the journey by car. The differences in climate footprint between a standard hotel and a certified hotel can be very large. If you choose a hotel that operates in a climate-neutral way, you can completely wipe out the CO₂ emissions for the overnight stay.

If you want to reduce the climate footprint of a trip, the means of transport and the choice of hotel are important when travelling to and from the hotel. Only one thing is certain: travelling by bus or train is always the best method that produces the least CO₂, provided you don’t take your bike. If you choose to travel by car or plane, it all depends on the distance and the number of people in the car. Sometimes one solution is more harmful to the climate, sometimes the other. when planning their holidays, so that their next holiday does not turn into a climate nightmare.

A plane is not always the choice

However, it is not always easy to know which means of transport emits more and which less CO₂ per kilometre. Often the plane is the worst choice, but not always. On shorter journeys it can be superior to the car, especially if only one person is sitting in a large car. However, this is only the case if you fly economy class and do not choose business class. Because there, the proportional CO₂ emissions per seat are significantly higher.

What many people probably don’t think about. Due to their size and weight, the increasingly popular motorhomes cause significantly more CO₂ production on some routes than an aircraft, at least if it runs on normal diesel and not on biodiesel.

On the other hand, those who travel in a motorhome do not emit any climate-damaging CO₂ by staying in a hotel. If you do not look for a sustainability certification when choosing a hotel for a two-week holiday in a neighbouring country and book a standard hotel that does not take energy-saving and other CO₂-reducing measures, the overnight stay can cause more CO₂ than the journey by car. The differences in climate footprint between a standard hotel and a certified hotel can be very large. If you choose a hotel that operates in a climate-neutral way, you can completely wipe out the CO₂ emissions for the overnight stay.

A camper van is not a climate-friendly choice

If you want to reduce the climate footprint of a trip, the means of transport and the choice of hotel are important when travelling to and from the hotel. Only one thing is certain: travelling by bus or train is always the best method that produces the least CO₂, provided you don’t take your bike. If you choose to travel by car or plane, it all depends on the distance and the number of people in the car. Sometimes one solution is more harmful to the climate, sometimes the other.

If you want to know exactly how much CO₂ your last holiday trip caused and which option is the best for your next holiday, in other words the one with the lowest CO₂ footprint, you can calculate this here on our website.