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Earth day and sustainable tourism: what key players in the travel industry are doing to make an impact.
April 22, 2024
Sustainable tourism stretches far and wide in terms of its reach in the tourism industry. According to the UN Environment Program and UN World Tourism Organization , it’s defined as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.” Additionally, it refers to the “environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability”.
These efforts towards long-term sustainability go both ways in terms of the responsibility of DMOs and tourists. Consumers are increasingly conscious about doing their part for sustainable travel. A worldwide Statista Study polling up to 60,000 people per country in over 55 countries found that 36% of travelers are willing to pay more for sustainable travel.
What are the particular practices of sustainable travel? With growing consumer consciousness, sustainability in tourism touches every corner, spanning beyond saving energy and water resources and going all the way to sourcing local produce, social responsibility, holistically reducing carbon footprints, and so many more initiatives. Sustainability has to become a general mindset and this can take many forms.
In honor of Earth Day 2024: Planet vs. Plastic, we decided to highlight some of the varied initiatives our clients are undertaking to do their part in the effort to make the industry more sustainable.
Iberostar: Working towards waste-free hotels
Iberostar hotels are making waves with plastic reduction, as their hotels are free of single-use plastics and they’ll be waste-free by 2025, avoiding the need to use 692 metric tons of plastic, and bringing them one step closer to carbon neutrality by 2030. They’re also making a maritime impact with their research lab, 5 coral nurseries, 3 mangrove nurseries with 14,4000 trees and 3 coastal dune nurseries.
phade: Making a splash in plastic reduction
phade is shaking up the food and beverage industry with its Marine Biodegradable Straws, which are made of a substrate consisting of canola oil, which helps to eliminate the need for single-use plastics in straws. What makes them stick out from the crowd is the fact that their straws are also being used as a natural, biodegradable barrier to help protect new coral from being eaten by fish and restore coral reefs.
Blue Diamond Resorts: Pitching in
Green Globe Certified Blue Diamond resorts participated in Earth Hour on March 23rd. The event led educational activities for guests, underscoring the importance of environmental stewardship. Guests were also invited to partake in the beach clean-up initiatives, contributing to preserving marine ecosystems and assisting in planting greenery all around the resorts.
Luxury Frontiers: Sourcing Locally
Luxury Frontiers conceptualized and designed Naviva at Four Seasons Punta Mita, their luxury tent accommodation right on the Pacific beachfront, by primarily using bamboo native to Mexico. Bamboo is a material that has a low embodied carbon footprint due to the rapid speed in which it grows and its ability to quickly sequester carbon. In addition, minimal machinery is needed for using bamboo as a construction material and it offers excellent durability, and is ideal for climates with high humidity.
The future of sustainable tourism is vast, but taking responsibility, making collaborative efforts, and taking a holistic approach brings us one step closer to a healthier, functioning planet.
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
This article is part of the research topic.
Climate Change, Human-Wildlife Interactions and Sustainable Tourism Nexus in Protected Areas
Local community perceptions on human wildlife interactions in the face of climate variability. A case of Nyaminyami community, Zimbabwe Provisionally Accepted
- 1 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe
The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
Human interactions with wildlife, both positive and negative, have defined the nature of human wildlife relations throughout history. Along with human wildlife interaction, Climate change exacerbates the complexity and consequences of human wildlife interactions, particularly those that rely on flora and fauna for tourism and development. This study assesses the interrelatedness and causes of human wildlife interactions and climate variability and the impact they have on livelihood. Two hundred and fourteen people randomly selected from four wards in the Nyaminyami community in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe were interviewed.Four focus group discussion sessions with randomly selected residents were also conducted in each ward. Results from the study show that respondents were concerned that human wildlife interactions resulted in human wildlife conflict, and that anthropogenic factors contributed immensely to an increase in the problems faced by local communities. Most of these concerns stemmed from specific areas (wards) where factors such as competition for resources, settlement in wildlife corridors, agricultural activities, tourism and increasing human induced climate change are accelerating human wildlife conflict. Results also show that human related practices contributed to human wildlife interaction in all the four wards. Discussants reported climate change, competition over resources and living close to protected areas as the major factors influencing human-wildlife conflict. It is recommended that communities be educated on, and need to embrace climate change and adapt to it. It is also important that any tourism ventures in the district involve the communities so that they directly benefit from and see the value of living with wildlife and learn to coexist. Proper land use planning is also paramount before any settlements are allocated to avoid living close to protected areas.
Keywords: Climate Change, coexistence, Human wildlife conflict, land use planning, protected area, wildlife damage, problem animals
Received: 26 Oct 2023; Accepted: 22 Apr 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Mupunga and Shoko. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mr. Power Mupunga, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
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