Fewer flights, travelling better and staying longer in 2023

The environmental reasons for less air travel are strong enough alone. But there are also additional factors that should influence our travel planning for 2023 involving fewer flights, travelling better and staying longer on holiday in one go.

Today and straight after the lockdowns, air travel bounced back like something never seen before. Chaos and cancellations greeted travellers after the ongoing and changing covid travel restrictions.

Following the lockdowns, travellers were ready to jet off again and were encouraged to do so with enticing offers. But was this approach correct? Many of these “post pandemic” trips were to visit family and friends who had been separated for almost two years. But parts of the travel industry became obsessed with comparing statistics to 2019 as if that was the ideal benchmark. It wasn’t. Several cities around the world had had enough of mass tourism and were starting to show resistance. Many city centres were slowly being destroyed by tourists embracing behaviour they would never dream of doing in their home cities. Barcelona and Venice for example became unrecognizable due to mass tourism.

Short breaks abroad are not only bad for the environment but are also very time consuming (airport queues, time zone differences, transfers), expensive and don’t offer much culturally in such short amounts of time. Travellers need longer to relax and fully embrace a destination.

Why the rush to see an overcrowded city when you already live in one? Is a £20 flight really all you will spend? It often costs as much or much more to travel to and from certain airports. Is the holiday rental with a check out time of 10am really worth the stress? Today, hotels are more competitive than ever and offer much better infrastructure and facilities not to mention assistance should you need it than a rental for short stays.

2023 could be the year to really plan travel in a much more efficient way and here are some of the benefits:

– Environmental benefits – perhaps the most obvious one. Flying less frequently is beneficial for the planet.

– Time benefits – staying longer means less stress and you are able to get to the heart of the destination. That early morning start may seem easy enough until it isn’t.

– Financial benefits – many hotels offer longer stay offers usually for stays over four nights and that means you get to maintain a base as you explore beyond the immediate destination.

– Avoid the obvious destination benefits – Certain cities with “cheap” flights are often the most expensive destinations once you arrive. Do you really want to head to where everyone else is going to queue for everything?