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Science & Tech

Sustainability and tourism go hand-in-hand

Rebekah Hammond - Science & Tech Editor

Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world which is why it's important to find sustainable ways to manage it.

Sustainable tourism looks at expanding long-term existence of the industry and includes more than being environmentally-friendly.

"[It includes] everything that happens within the environment," said Sydney Johnsen, a TRU tourism management instructor. "The natural environment all bases on that, but it takes into the social, cultural, heritage and political environment as well as the economic environment."

Ted Manning, president of an international firm for sustainable development in tourism called Tourisk Inc. gave a presentation at TRU last Monday.

"I have the world's best job. I get to go to the world's neatest places, helping people make them more sustainable," said Manning who has worked with CIDA and private, national and international tourism programs amongst other organizations.

"It's important to green the entire system from travel, hotels, tours, food services and overall planning," he said. "Tourists use about five times as much water and energy per, day per, tourists as locals in most places."

Transportation is one of the biggest concerns.

"Without travel there's no tourism," Johnsen said. "Yet travel is a huge contributor to climate change with carbon emissions, so we need to do everything we can on the other side to make up for, or try to reduce the negative impact of that travel component."

While some people say not traveling is one solution to lower environmental impact, Manning said it's an unrealistic approach to global warming.

"How many of you are willing never to travel again in order to save the planet?" he said.

There are ways to travel that, while they don't eliminate carbon emissions, have a lower impact.

"Buses are the very most efficient use of transport; cruise ships are even better, same with trains," he said. "The family vehicle is the worst per person for energy."

For hotels and resorts, Manning stressed the importance of composting, cleaning and reusing grey water, incorporating and preserving natural features and using of local products.

Manning dubbed the Fairmont Chateau Whistler resort the best in Canada. Amongst other innovations, "they have motion sensor lights in the backrooms and it's saved almost 40 per cent in energy costs and made it easier for the employees," he said.

He concluded by saying many technological innovations are being used in tourism and he believes it's a positive aspect of sustainable tourism.

"In some ways the tourist industry can become a catalyst to finding new green technology," Manning said. "The tourism industry [can be used] to push people to look at their footprint."

At TRU, helping people learn to appreciate their natural surroundings is one of the adventure tourism department's goals.

"One of the benefits of introducing people to the backcountry is they're more inclined to preserve it," said Gilles Valade, chair and instructor of the adventure studies department. "They might get a kick out of changing their own lifestyles to less impact even their activities at home."

Adventure tourism doesn't encounter as many sustainability issues as other areas, but there are still some negative impacts, such as transportation to backcountry locations.

"It's our driving that's very challenging to reduce," Valade said. "We have bigger vehicles, but a lot of us use multi-passenger vehicles as opposed to having seven people drive to meet somewhere."

Currently, the adventure program is working on creating a course on the environment and global warming.

"All of these do have an impact on our industry," he said. "If there's no more snow in 15 years then that's not so good for us."

In TRU's school of tourism management sustainability also plays a large role.

"Sustainability is such a big issue, it's a part of every class," Johnsen said. "The industry rides a very precarious balance where it really needs all the political and natural structure to be supportive in order for it to succeed."

Manning, Valade and Johnsen all warn against green-washing, where the word 'sustainability,' 'eco-tourism' and 'green' become marketing tools.