New research from flight-free travel company, Byway, reveals that 42% of UK holidaymakers are seeking alternatives to flying to reduce their carbon footprints, a figure that rises to 56% for London-based holidaymakers and 61% for Gen Z. The research is from Byway based on a survey of 2,000 UK holidaymakers conducted by OnePoll*.

• Flight-free holiday appetite is significant and climate is almost always the reason: 43% of UK holidaymakers would rather take a train, ferry or bus than fly and 42% of UK holidaymakers want flight-free alternatives specifically to reduce their carbon footprints.
• Younger generations are most likely to try flight-free in 2023: UK Gen Z travellers are over three times more likely than average to choose flight-free for the first time in 2023 (28% vs 8%), and those aged 25-34 are more than twice as likely (17%).
• Twice as many chose flight-free for the experience as for the environment: 38% of those who’d travelled flight-free enjoyed seeing more of the regions they visited, while 19% did so because it was more environmentally friendly.

The survey shows a growing** demand for flight-free travel and for the travel industry to evolve to meet it. Just yesterday First Choice announced a major relaunch of its online platform featuring a partnership with Byway†, making First Choice the first mainstream travel brand to offer dynamic train, bus and boat holidays online.

Despite clear interest, travellers cite a number of factors stopping them from choosing flight free trips. Time constraints, cost and complexity are the biggest. Worries about the hassle of planning stop 27% choosing overland trips, and disruption concerns are a blocker for 25%. Both of these are resolved by Byway’s offer: Byway plans trips, books all travel and accommodation, and includes free disruption replanning as standard. However, of those that haven’t yet tried a flight-free trip, a third (32%) cite the price of rail and ferry travel versus air as a significant barrier to choosing overland travel – a sentiment especially prevalent amongst younger travellers at 45% amongst 18-24s. Byway this week launched an online date picker that shows the cheapest/most expensive dates for any trip but founder, Cat Jones, believes the government must do more.

Cat Jones, Founder and CEO, Byway said: “It’s clear from our research that holidaymakers across the UK want alternatives to flying, whether for environmental reasons or simply because they enjoy the experience of travelling through the world rather than flying over it. “We started Byway to take the hassle out of finding and booking low-carbon holidays. Over the last three years, we’ve done just that for over 3,000 people. However, aviation is still heavily subsidised and cost is one of the most prevalent blockers to choosing flight-free. Last month, France’s Transport Minister said France will raise flight taxes to pay for trains. If we’re serious about hitting the UK’s carbon reduction goal of 100% by 2050, we need our government to step up and make similar bold moves.

This month, Byway launched a new collection of budget friendly flight-free trips to help more travellers choose rail and ferry over flying. The trips range from three to seven nights and span destinations across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Prices start from £130 per person per night, including all transport and accommodation.