Motorhome holidays are greener than other alternatives

According to a study by the German institute ifeu, an institute for energy and environmental research, motorhome and caravan tourism is doing very well in terms of environmental friendliness and greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, air travel and car and hotel travel come out worst and train + hotel travel only slightly better, although logically one might think otherwise.

The factor that tips the balance in favour of the motorhome is the reduced pollution at the time of the overnight stay, the motorhome generates hardly any CO2 at night while hotels generate 10 times more per person.

The foundation compared various forms of tourism and came to the conclusion that caravans have a comparatively good climate balance. Two studies by the Öko-Institut, an independent research organisation working for a sustainable future, had already reached similar conclusions in 2007 and 2013. In each case, the following components of a holiday trip were analysed: departure and arrival journey, accommodation and meals, as well as local mobility. The ifeu study also takes into account the production process (material balance, energy requirements for production, maintenance) and the disposal of leisure vehicles.

The study is based on a two-person holiday to the island of Rügen. In this case, the caravan holiday results in a more favourable climate balance than a trip with a passenger car and hotel accommodation. It is true that motorhomes and passenger car plus caravan combinations emit more greenhouse gases on departure and return due to their size and mass. However, as previously mentioned, this is more than compensated by the lower CO2 emissions of the accommodation, in this case an AC area or a campsite.

In an additional study of longer holidays outside Germany (in the south of France), caravanning ranks first in terms of environmental friendliness.

This is in addition to many other advantages of self-drive tourism and is sure to encourage even more people to try this form of travel if they have not already done so.

For more information the full study is available at the following address: https://www.civd.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020_ifeu_Klimabilanz-von-Reisen-mit-Reisemobilen.pdf