Holiday emissions Kiwi-made

Kiwis on holiday in New Zealand produce three times more carbon emissions than international tourists, a report says.

Three-quarters of emissions from tourism within New Zealand are caused by travelling New Zealanders, and a significant portion are short trips which would be easily improved by using public transport, a study by climate change research group, the Hikurangi Foundation has said.

With 96 per cent of the domestic carbon cost of tourism coming from transport, mostly cars and planes, there was significant opportunity for improvements through better infrastructure, it said.

Established jointly by the Todd and Tindall foundations in 2008, the Hikurangi Foundation spends $500,000 a year on projects maximising action on climate change.

Report author Susanne Becken, from Lincoln University, said sustainable transport networks for short trips were necessary to ensure New Zealand complied with international carbon mitigation obligations and to strengthen its 100% Pure tourism brand. Made public at the Eco-tourism conference in Nelson today, the research showed most trips occurred within short distances from main centres and tourism hubs.

Hikurangi Foundation executive director Lisa Stupples said the international tourism carbon footprint had been looked at, but domestic tourism had escaped serious scrutiny.

Equally, the carbon cost of domestic movements of foreign travellers was important to quantify. "We have to think about what goes on once they are here, no matter where they are from. And we should be focusing just as much effort on the folks at home, business travellers and Kiwis on holidays."

There was already effort going into reducing environmental impact from the likes of hotels and other existing infrastructure.

In a Kapiti Coast pilot programme, carried out in conjunction with the research, day travellers from the region used new infrastructure to gain efficiencies and lessen pollution.

The Kapiti Coast was well-served with the main trunk railway line, but was lacking easy and efficient links around the region beyond it, Ms Stupples said.

Shuttles and bikes were used as alternatives to buses or private transport and 90 per cent of the trial participants said that, with some timetabling changes, they would use them again.

International research supported the local findings, showing personalised information and accessible pilot projects helped people make the "modal shift" from private cars to public transport, Ms Stupples said. "The people who gave it a try were twice as likely to say, `I'd use the train next time'."

The foundation hoped to do similar trials in other regions because visitor transport between destinations and attractions had not been sufficiently looked at to consider possible regional collaboration. "In some cases it could be as simple as a minivan at the end of a train line, in other cases, it could be a national cycleway."

- © Fairfax NZ News