In recent years, also thanks to the growing and easy accessibility to low cost offers, it has become an increasingly widespread trend to organize the “Extreme Day Trips“, that is to say “Extreme day trips“, Which go far beyond the concept of deaths and runs. A phenomenon that sees travelers fly to distant cities, such as Milan, Paris, Florence, Amsterdam, and even Reykjavik, for Visit them in just 12 hoursjust enough time to discover some characteristic corner, take some instagrammable photos and then go home, maybe for dinner.
A type of idea that would have taken hold for the belief (wrong?) That the best memories are those related to the “first day”, while everything else is often considered boredom.
To talk about it is the Travel Blogger Monica Stottinterviewed by the BBC, for which a single day is more than enough for “fly to another country, explore it and go home before going to bed“, Opinion that – alas – reflects an increasingly rooted trend.
In fact, browsing the social groups and websites dedicated to these 12 -hour escapes, it is perceived how this practice is becoming a real fashion:
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But, needless to deny it, behind this tourist frenzy more serious issues are hidden, linked to the environmental impact that the travels, and in particular air flights, have on our planet.
The imprint of air flights
THE Air flights are responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gase emissions. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the aviation represents about the 2.4% of the world emissions of carbon dioxide. This figure becomes particularly alarming if we consider, and we now know it well, that the emissions deriving from the flights contribute directly to the global warming, increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When a plane takes off, it releases not only CO2, but also other compounds such as nitrogen oxides and water vapor, which, at high altitudes, have an amplified effect on climate change.
A short -range flight, also typical of extreme trips, has a particularly high environmental impact compared to the duration of the trip. On average, take -off and landing, the most energetic phases of a flight, represent about the 25% of total fuel consumption. Therefore, even a short flight involves an intensive use of fossil resources and a significant issue of greenhouse gases, despite the limited duration of the trip.
The contradiction between fast tourism and sustainability
This new fashion of traveling quickly and extremely concentrated is ecologically unsustainable and therefore also goes against the principles of responsible and conscious tourism, which promotes the idea of slower and local travel, which have a minimum impact on the environment and which favor a deeper and more authentic experience of the place visited. Traveling for 12 hours by plane not only generates an enormous ecological imprint, but also contributes to the explosion of mass tourismoften characterized by negative impacts on the culture and economy of destinations.
In addition, a tourism that is limited to a superficial visit and a frenzy of consumption, without the possibility of stopping and really getting to know the places and people, it becomes only a mere experience of “consumption” of the landscapewithout leaving anything significant.
If we really want to make the difference, we start to support tourism methods that are respectful of the environment, which value authentic experiences and that contribute to the safeguarding of our fragile ecosystem.
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