Go green – Tour by coach

What is the greenest form of travel and the most eco-friendly way to go on a short-haul holiday? We know it’s not travel by air or car so perhaps going by train is best? Not so - coach travel is more environmentally friendly than all three.

Research in 2007 by the famous Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg for RDA, the International Coach Tourism Federation, showed that coach travel uses six times less energy than planes, six times less energy than cars and two times less energy than trains.

Coaches are also seven times safer per mile than a car while a gallon of fuel will pro-rata, take two people travelling by coach six times further than by car. Gone are the days when an old bus took people to the seaside for a day trip – today passengers travel in ultra modern, air-conditioned coaches with all mod-cons, costing as much as £250,000.

The new Coach Tourism Council Handbook 2008 underlines the sheer size, importance and diversity of the UK’s coach industry. It is published by the Coach Tourism Council (CTC), which for the past 20 years has promoted travel and tourism by coach on behalf of a membership of more than 300 national and regional coach companies and industry suppliers.

More than eight million people take a coach holiday each year, with more than five million taking a coach tour in the UK. The market is worth £2.35 billion and is expected to reach £3 billion by 2011.