Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainable Transportation Guidelines for Nature-based Tour Operators
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Energy-saving light bulbs
... are a good start ... ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
... but the real issue ...
... for sustainable tourism is this ! ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Structure of this presentation 1. Background: Why focus on transportation ? 2. Principles of sustainable transportation 3. Implementation (case studies)
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Why focus on transportation?
Source: Scott et al.2007 ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Why focus on transportation? ¾
Climate impact of aviation may be much bigger due to high-altitude and non-CO2 greenhouse gases
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Long-haul tourism: > 90% of trip emissions transport-related (DE); Seychelles: 97%
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Worldwide, holiday trips have become more frequent, shorter and to more distant destinations
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Modal shift increasingly from ground (public) transport to air transport
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Individual energy balances: frequent flying is part of an extremely unsustainable lifestyle
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Unfortunately, ecotourism is no exception ¾
same planes ...
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Remote destinations ...
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Multiple-site trips ...
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motorized on-site activities (whale watching, helicopter flights!) ...
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NZ: Nature-based tourism more energy-intensive than mainstream beach resort tourism !
Î Ecotourism cannot be truly sustainable without solving this problem! ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Mitigation strategies 1.
Technological (energy efficiency, renewables)
2.
Logistics (airport, flight management, etc.)
3.
Modal shift (increase share of public/ground transport)
4.
Climate-friendly travel behavior, products
5.
Carbon-offsetting
6.
Government regulation (fuel taxes, emissions trading, etc.)
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Travelling with the Climate in Mind 1. Travel less frequently, but stay longer in far away destinations ! 2. Prefer nearby destinations if you have little time ! 3. Relax - do not squeeze too many sites into one trip ! 4. Use environmentally friendly modes of transportation wherever possible ! 5. Stay in shape through muscle-powered mobility ! 6. Compensate for your emissions, if you cannot avoid them, by paying into certified offset projects ! ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Why focus on tour operators ? ¾
TOs design and market trips
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TOs choose destinations
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TOs select and contract suppliers
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TOs function as a link between suppliers and customers
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TOs can educate/influence travellers by offering them climate-friendly packages
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TOs can favorably position themselves to cater to the climate-conscious consumer
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainable Transportation Guidelines - Framework Product development
Customer relations
Supply Chain Management
Int‘l transport
FAR
FAR
TF
National transport
EUR
EUR
Local transport
NB EA
EA NB
Internal management
Cooperation with destination CANAECO
EUR NB EA
TF STI
Overall: Introduce a carbon-management system ! ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainable Transportation Guidelines - The hardcore solution -
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainable Transportation Guidelines - Product development ¾
Exclude short trips by plane if reasonably possible
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Offer environmentally-friendly means of transport as part of the experience (esp. trains)
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Conceive long-haul trips with extended length of stay
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Spend more quality time at selected sites (sense of place)
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Minimize local transport and energy-intensive leisure activities; advertize non-motorized mobility as part of the experience
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Compensate remaining emissions through high-quality, certified offset projects
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Integrate costs into price of carbon-neutral trip options ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainable Transportation Guidelines - Customer relations ¾
Inform/educate customers about climate change, how they contribute to it by traveling and how they can mitigate their impact
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Calculate climate footprint of trips (GHG emission per day) and include it in trip information
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Specially promote climate-friendly travel products (lighthouse projects)
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Make longer trips more attractive by advertizing trip price per day
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Inform customers about carbon-offsetting
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(if not included in trip price) Integrate voluntary payment into booking procedure and/or match customers‘ payments ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Carbon-offsetting as indulgencies
Source: Mike Lester, The Rome News-Tribune.com (27 March, 2007) online at: www.caglecartoons.com
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Needed : A single sustainability label for carbon-offset providers !
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Sustainability Standards for Carbon-offsets 1. Adequate calculation of emissions (RFI etc.) 2. Adequate compensation projects (additionality, permanence) 3. Standardized certification/verification 4. Customer education ĂŽ Energy reduction before offsetting !
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Ecotourism Survey results (2007) ¾
Website analysis (N=248): 15% mention sustainable transport activities
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Survey (N=67): High general awareness of climate change, but often lack of specific knowledge
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Outbound TOs: carbon-offsetting (no modal shift, no modified travel patterns)
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Inbound TOs focus on local transportation: technological improvements; minimization of travel
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Barriers: lack of knowledge, higher costs, customer acceptance questionnable, supply constraints
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
ATTA
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
(Association of German special-interest operators)
¾ no flights below the 700 km range ¾ min. of 7 days for any plane trip ¾ min. of 14 days for plane trips > 2.000 km ¾ Compensation of flight emissions through cooperation with atmosfair (Gold Standard carbon-offsets) ¾ Exclusion of motorized leisure activities ¾ Introducing CSR reporting to curb growing incidence of non-compliance ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Modal shift: The case of Avanti Bus Travel
他
Bus trips to Southern Europe (typical flight destinations) ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
How far one gets with one ton of CO2 ... 35000 30000 25000
Reisebus 31250 km
Bahn 19231 km
20000 15000
PKW 6944 km
10000
Flugzeug 2525 km
5000 0
km Fahrleistung bei einer Tonne CO2 Klimawirkung Source: Fed. Environmental Agency 2007 ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
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“Carbon-audited“ office operations
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Modal shift as part of trip design (public transit, traditional local transport)
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All flight emissions of staff & customers (if purchased through Intrepid AUS) are being compensated
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Compensation through high-quality offset projects
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Customers appreciate & support Intrepid taking action Photos: N. Blackett, Intrepid UK
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008
Sustainable Tourism Management
Thank you for your
sustained attention !
ESTC Vancouver
Dr. Wolfgang Strasdas
Oct.18, 2008