Survey Reveals Strong Interest In Travel To “Vanishing Destinations”

The Great Barrier Reef, Glacier National Park and Venice, Italy top the list of “vanishing destinations” that travelers want to see before they disappear, according to a survey of 2,300 U.S. consumers from travel marketing organization MMGY Global.

Roughly four in ten respondents feel it is “very to extremely important” to visit iconic destinations that are in jeopardy, either due to climate change, pollution or general decay over time. Interest varied according to income, age group and education, MMGY said, with those with an annual household income of $100,000 or more expressing the most commitment to visiting these endangered destinations. More than four in ten (44%) of travelers with a college degree or higher feel it is important to visit vanishing destinations, significantly more than those with partial college education (32%) or a high school diploma or less (27%). Millennials showed more interest than those in older generations.

As further evidence of the awareness of the effects of climate change on the environment, 40% of travelers responding to the survey said that climate change does impact their vacation destination decisions.