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Peter Frank is the Editor-in-Chief of CondeNet travel site Concierge.com. Prior to taking the helm of the Internet counterpart of the elite Conde Nast Traveler, he served as Deputy Editor[…]

Environmentalism has had an impact on world travel, says Peter Frank.

Frank: Well I think people are lot more conscious of the impact of their travel makes on the world and that is every thing from the carbon-di-oxide out put of the plane to where there are spending their money and who is actually getting the profits there and to the development of the destination at the high raises on the beach all it is several low impacts so and the industry is really responding in a lot of very creative way, so you are seeing a lot of equal larger or hotels that are low impact that are trying to do things like recycle the rain water to the area at the gardens or have solar electricity panels and you are also seeing a lot of ways you can get back to the communities, so visiting a school in the poor area or you can go do things volunteer vacations where you go we may be go the beach for few days but then the last day or two, you will help build a home for a poor family or school something like that. So there are lot more options for people to feel little bit more country and just about the where they are traveling.  I think it is a hot trend right now, and so you are seeing a lot of media attention about it. I think seeing a lot of hotels and travel companies playing let service to it, so there will be a shake out there and some of the hotels would say and they will all needs ask our guest should not wash their towels every day in that kind of thing and I think you will see the people who are really sceneries about traveling that way will, we will set of select the message in hotels that do it right.

Question: How can you be positive a resort is eco-friendly?

Frank: Well, you have to ask, I think you have to really ask, you can’t just take it on the word of the website or the brochure that they are doing the right thing. So when you call the book room as the reservationists, what is your environmental policy. They may actually have an environmental policy and there is an knowledge but asking the question what at least thank you may be we are not to meet to sort of publicize what we do here. But you should ask things like how many of your employees are local right are they bringing people in from other parts of the chain or other countries, or they employing will those in training them and enabling them to bring to the how through the family and you could ask things about recycling water and electricity.  And using if it in lighting and that sort of thing and a lot of hotels are doing that which is terrific, it doesn’t mean that it’s a full of be environmentalist form the hotel, but it is the more hotels they do that and the more consumers who say that’s important to me well that better off a little bit.

Question: Are people traveling less to reduce their carbon footprint?

Frank: No, I think people think about a lot more only they have stopped traveling just heard. I think more than any thing else it is soft may be economy well sort of curve of little bit of the number on travel, but the economy has often before and tell of you throwing, so if people take fewer your trips to Asia, and more trips to the Caribbean or with in United States because it is cheaper and it also happens to tempt down a little of the carbon di oxide emissions, that’s a good things and but I also think that there are destinations out of far away, there also worth seeing and by seeing, you help deserving, for example take in place like Papua New Guinea right so out in the Pacific completely developing country very poor, has a lot of natural resources like forest that timber companies want to chop down and but they also have national parks and more tourists and visitors now in actually in parks that better they in chance of they are actually going to save those resources and not have them destroyed by industry, so is it worth flying to Papua New Guinea and using up all about fuel and then helping to destroy the environment in the atmosphere is at you going to help keep the environment in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea. May be it is one of these things you have to ask your self and see how you feel about it.

Question: How will global warming affect travel?

Frank: In the ironic thing is that the glaciers are melting in green lands right because of the global warming would guess what, every one is at 40 degree now when I see the glaciers before they melt. So there is a disconnect between the realities of the world and the realities of the world as travelers are consumer see them well off that agreement it is not my fault the glaciers are melting right, so people are going to keep skiing, so we are going to keep slice entries off mount so they can ski, we are going to keep golfing, so you are going to keep having these huge golf courts irrigate and watered and fresh and lit up with big lights, people are going to keep traveling and the industry has a figure out a way to make that a sustainable industry that the desire first set on the beach some where is it going to go away, so let’s make it so that you have sitting on the beach with that high raised hotels and that they are employing local people so at the economy of the little where you are on is actually benefiting from the tourism, it is not all going back to the corporations head quarters and it is more of  some what that.

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