Posted by ABA President & CEO Peter Pantuso, April 11, 2008

With Earth Day coming up April 22nd, there is no better time to tell our industry's green story - and leverage that story to attract new customers.

Every industry is trying to burnish its green credentials these days. But few have the facts to back it up. The motorcoach, tour and travel industry does.

Motorcoaches currently provide 184 passenger miles per gallon (MPG), more than double the second most fuel-efficient sector, commuter rail at 86 passenger MPG. Transit buses achieve 32 passenger MPG, domestic air carriers achieve 42 passenger MPG, and single passenger automobiles achieve 28 passenger MPG.

Motorcoaches produce carbon emissions of only 56 grams per passenger, compared to 371 grams for a passenger car.

Motorcoaches use 946 BTUs per passenger mile, compared to 3,890 for planes and 2,134 for trains.

Motorcoaches emit the least carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger mile when compared to other vehicles. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by an average of 85% per passenger mile for every person who chooses motorcoach travel instead of driving alone.

Each motorcoach has the potential of removing 55 autos from the highway. That's millions of cars not driven annually, saving fuel, cutting emissions and reducing congestion.

But it's not only our equipment that has superior environmental attributes. At the most recent Marketplace in Virginia Beach this past February, we held our premiere group tour & travel event in the nation's first certified green facility, the new Virginia Beach convention center.

Many of our hoteliers and their suppliers are going green by cutting water use, recycling and using only biodegradable products. The same holds true for many attractions, parks and historical sites. The whole industry can be proud of its collective effort to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The media have a term for industries that talk the green talk but don't walk the green walk, labeling it as "greenwashing." We should all stand proud and use Earth Day this year to show that we are the very opposite: We are all model environmental stewards.

I'd love to hear what ABA members are doing to leverage their eco-friendliness to attract new customers. Please feel free to post a comment to share your thoughts on how doing the right thing by going green can also help your business generate some green.