DiscoveRent was created to reinvent the way we travel. We challenge the standards set by traditional travel agencies. To be able to create and organise the most responsible travel offers possible, we have studied the various parameters of travel that cause the most pollution. Greentripper - Strategies for low-carbon travel
Our strategy for low-carbon travel is defined in four stages:
- Eco-design
- Reduce
- Contribute
- Engage
In the interests of transparency, we've decided to give you a glimpse behind the scenes.
But what's wrong with travelling?
Why are we harping on about responsible travel? First of all, you should know that 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to tourism¹ . As you can imagine, that's a lot, a very lot...
This is where it gets serious. Planes, cars, boats - everything that gets us from A to B - is responsible for 75% of the global tourism footprint.
So what if we took a closer look?
1. Transport
Flying: the mask comes off?
In 2019, 4.54 billion passengers travelled by plane, according to the International Transport Association (IATA). And the number of planes in the sky is only increasing. On 6 July 2023, a record 134,000 daily commercial flights were recorded. With an average price of €350 for a 4-hour flight in economy class, flying is an attractive means of transport.
40% of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourist transport are due to air travel. So while our air travel may be getting cheaper all the time, it does have a real cost for the planet.
Credible innovations for a low-carbon aircraft?
For the die-hard air travellers out there,
there are a few innovations that could see the light of day in the next decade:
- Airbus is developing an experimental model of the more fuel-efficient A340.
- An electric-powered aircraft could also be on the market by 2030 .
Unfortunately, these advances will probably not be enough to help keep up with the increase in air traffic: the Association of International Airlines (IATA)⁵ predicted before the COVID-19 epidemic that global air traffic would double, with 8.2 billion passengers in the air in 2037.
Our low-carbon solution? Local travel
Holidays are the breath of fresh air we all need, aren't they? But do we really need to cross the planet or take to the skies to get away from it all? We say yes to adventure without a passport and without a huge carbon footprint. We want you to rediscover Europe in a new light, through its great unspoilt spaces.
Our adventures are 100% European, and over 90% of our destinations don't require you to take off by plane. We've decided to showcase the treasures within easy reach by train, carpool or even bike. And when we dare to take a little jaunt to faraway lands like Lapland, we make sure that the trip is an adventure in itself, with extended stays and maximum ease of travel by train.
2. Accommodation
Low-carbon accommodation: Where can you pack your bags in an eco-friendly way?
Less well known than transport, the second factor in carbon emissions from travel is accommodation. It is responsible for 8% of the overall tourism footprint. Accommodation is a service that involves many flows of materials and energy. Staff travel, energy consumption for heating, lighting, room maintenance, laundry and catering - it all adds up².
According to the ADEME² study on tourism in France, an overnight stay in commercial accommodation in France generates an average of 6.9 kgCO2e. This figure takes into account the construction and energy consumption of the buildings, the goods and services purchased, and employees' commuting to and from work.
For commercial accommodation, energy accounts for the largest share of their carbon footprint: 47%².
Your destination also has an impact on your accommodation: I'll explain!
Generally speaking, the carbon footprint of an overnight stay in a hotel depends on a number of factors, including location (and therefore the type of energy used), but also the comfort class of the establishment.
The higher the class, the higher the level of service (larger rooms, more staff available, etc.), and the higher the GHG emissions will tend to be.
For example, according to Greenview's carbon calculator, an overnight stay in a 5-star hotel would generate an average of 73.3 kgCO2e in India, compared with 3.1 kgCO2e in Sweden . A night in a 2-star hotel in Sweden would generate an average of just 0.6 kgCO2e. These values are deduced from data reported by a sample of hotels and from the energy mixes of the countries concerned.
Our low-carbon solution: unusual accommodation in the heart of nature
On our low-carbon adventure trips, we deliberately opt for low-energy and eco-responsible accommodation. With a focus on exploring the European territory, we make the wise choice to work with less carbon-intensive experiential accommodation, such as eco-gîtes, refuges and unusual lodgings.
By taking this conscious step towards less carbon-intensive accommodation, we are drastically reducing the share of emissions linked to accommodation within our trips.
3. Catering
Catering is the third key element of a low-carbon trip. It is responsible for 6% of the overall tourism footprint² . This represents all meals eaten by tourists, from catering to drinks (bars and cafés). This includes the energy consumed by buildings to cater for tourists, employee travel, food and infrastructure construction.
Our low-carbon solution: the short circuit
In order to reduce the carbon footprint caused by catering, we work directly with local restaurateurs and producers in short circuits, and wherever possible we favour vegetarian dishes and zero waste.
4. The weight of the digital layer
We can't ignore the fact that DiscoveRent's activities are entirely digital. But even as you read this article online, our website is also carbon-intensive. The direct energy consumption of the company's servers, computers and other terminals also generates greenhouse gas emissions that need to be taken into account in our low-carbon travel offer.
We're working on it
Aware of this issue, we are actively working to reduce our digital footprint. This involves hosting our services on servers powered by renewable energy, constantly optimising our code to make it more economical, and internal initiatives to raise awareness among our teams of digital eco-responsibility.
5. Local communities
This last point is perhaps one of the most important in our model. Through our platform, we manage to eliminate all the intermediaries between ourselves and the local communities that will welcome you. That's 73% of the price of your trip going straight back into the local communities. To put this into perspective, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)⁷, this can be as low as 5% in most mass tourism all-inclusive travel agencies.
Behind the scenes at DiscoveRent
DiscoveRent therefore works in four stages to create low-carbon travel on the one hand, but also, inspire and take concrete action:1. Eco-design:
- Through a local adventure accessible by train and carpooling.
- By offering only low-energy consumption accommodation in Europe.
- By offering local catering, favouring vegetarian food and 0 waste where possible.
2. Reducing :
- We calculate the carbon footprint of each trip using the ADEME methodology. This allows us to ensure continuous improvement and offer transparency to our travellers. Click here to find out more about our methodology .
3. Contribute :
- We are now turning to a Greentripper carbon offsetting organisation to compensate for what cannot be eliminated.
- Please note that we are not in the business of pure and simple offsetting. Offsetting is the last resort for the carbon content that we are no longer able to reduce or eliminate, while still offering the best possible experience. Above all, we base our approach on a low-carbon journey
4. engage :
- Our guides are the first witnesses to the effects of climate change. Whether through melting glaciers, droughts or changes to certain ecosystems, we want to show you the importance of the ecological cause and inspire you to become an activist.
Our low-carbon approach
The purpose of this article is to explain DiscoveRent's low-carbon approach. We believe that at a time when responsible travel is becoming a fashionable term over-used by travel agencies, it is our duty to inform and explain our approach in complete transparency. The term responsible travel has already evolved enormously and still has a long way to go. We exist to challenge the standards set by traditional travel agencies and to inspire travellers and professionals to take this approach as far as possible.
We can still do better
We don't claim to have all the solutions, but we are committed to transparently sharing our actions and learnings for more responsible tourism.
Give us a hand!
Source: Lenzen , et al :
- Lenzen, et al. The carbon footprint of global tourism. Nature Clim Change ( link )
- ADEME, Bilan des émissions de gaz à effet de serre du secteur du tourisme en France - Rapport 82 pages ( link )
- Green Web Dataset (2024) Green Web Foundation. Available at: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/tools/green-web-dataset/ (Accessed: 24 February 2024).
- Website Carbon Calculator. Available at: https://www.websitecarbon.com (Accessed: 24 February 2024).
- IATA (2019) After a difficult year, improvement expected for 2020 - IATA. Available at: https://prodwildharttstorage.blob.core.windows.net/prod/bc136aa2-c81e-4386-a118-6826fed5fc34.pdf (Accessed: 24 February 2024).
- Ministère de la Transition Ecologique et de la Cohésion des Territoires, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. Available at: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/ (Accessed: 24 February 2024).
- World Tourism Organization (2014), AM Reports, Volume nine - Global Report on Adventure Tourism, UNWTO, Madrid.
