Travelling is an increasingly popular activity. In 2023, more than 19 million trips abroad were made from Spain, and in 2024, more than 90 million tourists are expected to arrive in our country. But are we changing the way we travel to make it more sustainable? This is the question that Cepsa poses in its latest Energy Insight publication.
According to the data collected in the report, we are travelling more and more. 64% of travelers say they plan to reduce other areas of their personal spending to prioritize leisure travel in 2024. In addition, we are increasingly mixing leisure and work. “More than a third of Gen Z and Millennial travelers said they plan to extend a business trip in 2024 to enjoy free time before or after their work obligations,” says the study.
However, the fact that environmental awareness is increasingly influencing our way of travelling is demonstrated by data such as that almost 50% of the companies that fly the most have halved their business flights since 2019, reducing emissions from business travel by 51% or making cycling more popular. “In Barcelona, the number of women who cycle to work has grown by 81% compared to pre-pandemic figures.”
Furthermore, 40% of Europeans, North Americans, Asians and Oceanians say that the ecological impact of travel and the carbon footprint influence their desire to travel. 53% of travelers look for accommodations that combine comfort with sustainable and innovative elements and bicycle tourism is expected to grow by 8.2% annually between 2022 and 2030. Supporting local economies and minimizing waste have become widespread behaviors, with 88% of Europeans incorporating these principles into their travels. And finally, says the report, “Train travel reached 653 million passengers in Spain in 2023, up from 627 million in 2019.”
How do we move?
In Spain, the car remains the preferred option for the majority: more than 70% of travellers have chosen it consistently over the last decade. This does not mean that we are moving around in the same way as we did ten years ago. In 2023, electric vehicles have reached 464,860 and, if the set objectives are met, it is expected that by 2030 there will be 5.5 million in circulation in Spain.
Meeting this goal will be a challenge, due to, among other factors, the low renewal of the vehicle fleet. Sales of new cars in 2023 (around 900 thousand units) remained well below the years before the pandemic (around 1.2 million). “In addition, although there have been several consecutive months of growth in registrations, in June 2024 sales of electric vehicles fell by 11.5% compared to the previous month,” says the Cepsa study.
Even so, There are already more than 2000 ultra-fast charging points The new electric vehicles are now operational in the Iberian Peninsula, which is a boost for electric vehicles by reducing recharging times and making longer journeys possible. On the other hand, the use of biofuels, combined with conventional fuels, has increased. The obligation in Spain to incorporate biofuels in road transport is already 11% in energy content, and by 2026, it will be 12%.