Does global warming awareness signal the deathknell of the international traveller ...

Excerpt from Sydney Morning Herald:

Travel's change of plan

10 April 2007

Concern about the environment is going to change the way people travel - even whether they travel.

To the passionate traveller there's nothing more seductive than the prospect of getting on a plane. It doesn't really matter where you're going - it's all about experiencing and enjoying the planet.

However, taking responsibility for our own carbon emissions has become such a hot issue it can take the shine right off those travel plans. Rather than rushing off to a new destination we're expected to ask a lot of tricky questions first - and the answers may determine what kind of holidays we have in future. And where.

The first question is simply this: is it sustainable to regularly travel long distances, by plane or otherwise? If we want to care for the environment can we continue to holiday in the same way with a clear conscience?

"No," says Associate Professor Stephen Wearing from the school of leisure, sport and tourism at the University of Technology, Sydney.

"The real ecotourist stays at home," he says. "It's the postmodern dilemma, isn't it, because the amount of impact you have in just travelling to your destination is huge in terms of carbon emissions - and obviously the market's cottoned on to that because you've got the carbon emission extra fee payments for airline tickets.

See - Ecotourists to stay at home - permanently.