ITB 2008: Climate Change

Climate change was a prominent issue at this year’s International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin. As Sabine Minninger reports, major tour operators have entered into cooperation agreements with carbon offsetting organisations such as Atmosfair and Myclimate. They have introduced either “opt-in” or “opt-out” models to motivate customers to compensate for their CO2 emissions, but the so-called flat rates that are offered do no reflect the actual CO2 emissions of the respective flights. According to Atmosfair, however, customers need to know the truth about the environmental impact of their holidays. But even if they do, as in the case of the German tour operators’ association “Forum anders reisen”, acceptance and customer participation remains rather weak.