Last update:
7th November 2006
Quick links:
What is sustainable tourism?
Why should we aim for sustainable tourism
A guide to sustainable tourism for business
Tips for a sustainable holiday
Tourism in the South West
Useful websites
Towards 2015 - shaping
tomorrow's tourism
Culture South West
South West Tourism
Star UK (UK tourism statistics)
Our South West
National
Trust Visit
Britain
WWF Holiday
Footprinting - a Practical Tool for Responsible Tourism
Sustrans
Ramblers
Association Traveline South West
South
West Protected Landscapes Forum
Climate Care
CO2 Balance |
Sustainable Tourism
What's new on this page...
Tourism facts and figures for the South West
are available here.
What is sustainable tourism?
 Sustainable
tourism simply means tourism that does not damage the environment that
it depends on. It should meet the needs of visitors and local communities
without damaging the environment either now or in the long term.
Tourism is important to our economy,
well-being and culture. However it is vital that visitor pressure or insensitive
development does not damage the high quality of life and landscape that
people who live and visit here enjoy. The long-term prosperity of the
tourism industry involves recognising its interdependence with the environment.
Why
should we aim for sustainable tourism?
As individuals, tourism gives us the opportunity to rest, relax and enjoy
new experiences and cultures. At a national level, it is one of the most
important industries, contributing to:
- Employment
- Wealth
- Entrepreneurship
- Heritage, local diversity and culture
Find out more about the economic value of
tourism in the South West.
However, tourism can also have negative impacts on the environment and
our quality of life. The growing number of people visiting the region
brings increasing waste, transport will have an impact on our air quality,
wildlife and the quality of our landscape may also suffer from increasing
human pressure.
A guide to sustainable
tourism for business
The Green Audit Kit is a
self-help guide for small tourism enterprises, helping them to benefit
from operating their business in a more environmentally sustainable way.
Run by the English Tourism Council and Countryside Agency, the Green Audit
Kit is designed to be used by all types of tourism businesses, such as:
- Tourism service providers (e.g. restaurants/cafes, transport/tour
operators, retail/gift shops)
- Attractions
- Caravan parks
- Serviced accommodation
- Other accommodation.
The kit contains tried and tested practical ideas to help tourism businesses
to:
- Benefit from the attraction of the countryside
- Appeal to a new and/or growing market and ensure that existing customers
return
- Benefit from good publicity opportunities
- Find ways to cut costs
- Contribute to the local community and local economy
- Invest in the future of the local environment
- Invest in their long-term future.
A guide to
sustainable tourism in the South West is available from Our South
West. Advice is available on the use of sustainability checklists for
tourism projects.
The majority of new tourism developments need planning consent. Planning
applications have to be judged against existing planning policy (national
and local), but there are opportunities for local authorities to influence
proposals through negotiation, to secure sustainability benefits. This
is because most significant applications involve some discussion prior
to being considered by a council planning committee. A simple checklist
could be used during negotiation, or when an application is received.
Our South West recommend that a Sustainability
Checklist be used by planning staff to give a quick indication of
how any particular proposal matches up against sustainability criteria.
Two suggested checklists are given in example.
What can you do -
tips for sustainable holidays
Did you know that a typical Mediterranean holiday can account for up
to 50% of a person's annual share of the Earth's natural resources, based
on examples of typical holidays to Majorca and Cyprus (WWF,
2002).
Share of total ecological footprint |
Majorca |
Cyprus |
Flights |
56% |
46% |
Waste |
25% |
35% |
Food consumption |
9% |
6% |
Source: WWF,
2002
You don't have to stop going on holiday. Just being aware of your environmental
impact, acting responsibly and following a few simple steps can mean that
your holiday is more environmentally friendly:
calculate your ecological footprint |
Find out your personal impact by using a simple online
ecological footprint calculator estimate your own ecological
footprint
|
Offset your air travel emissions |
The Guardian, The Observer and Guardian Unlimited have joined
forces with Climate Care to enable you to pay to balance out your
share of your flight's emissions. Your money will be used to fund
projects that absorb, reduce or avoid an equivalent amount of greenhouse
gases elsewhere. This is called an 'offset'.
Calculate
your air travel emissions
CO2 Balance also have an air
travel calculator which will also calculate the number of trees
your can plant to offset your air travel. |
holiday footprint for tour guides |
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have produced Holiday
Footprinting Guide - a practical tool and guide that enables
tour operators to calculate the environmental impact, or ecological
“footprint”, that a holiday product has on the environment
in terms of resources used. It also gives an estimate of the relative
environmental sustainability of a product, and helps to identify
opportunities for footprint reduction and cost savings.
The
Holiday Footprinting tool |
use public transport wherever possible |
Using public transport will reduce the emissions of air pollutants
as well as improve the local environment by causing less congestion.
Plan your journey by public transport with Traveline
South West |
Cycle or walk |
Cycling and walking is good for your health but it will also
help to reduce traffic congestion, reduce local traffic related
poor air quality and improve the quality of the local environment.
You will also get to experience more of the South West's environment.
Sustrans
is a charity that works on practical projects to encourage people
to walk, cycle and use public transport. Facilities include route
planning, routes according to county and day cycle rides.
The Ramblers
Association has a detailed guide to walking in the South West,
including paths & routes, public transport information, parks
& countryside links and local authority websites.
A guide to protected landscapes in the South West, including Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and National Parks is available
from the South
West Protected Landscapes Forum. More information about enjoying
these protected landscapes is given, with links to individual websites. |
buy local |
Contribute to the local economy when visiting an area. Local
guides can often take in local pubs, shops and services.
A
guide to buying local produce in the South West is available
here, including links to search tools to find a local produce markets
and farm shops near you. |
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