Sustainable tourism: The best tips
Ten questions and answers for eco-conscious globetrotters
1. Does tourism even play a role in climate change? What is negligible is the share that the tourism industry has in global greenhouse gas emissions: five percent (according to World Tourism Organization WTO). Around 900 million people travel each year, and there are likely to be more soon as Indians, Chinese and Russians can afford to travel around the world. According to surveys, half of Germans are worried about what makes their holiday trips ecologically and socially. However, our wanderlust is greater than our bad conscience: We are the most travel-loving people in the world. According to the nature conservation organization WWF, every German statistically produces around one tonne of carbon dioxide a year on his own, and the rest of the world only a quarter.
2. What is an eco-journey? Hard to say. Some of them understand traveling in semi-natural or protected areas with high biodiversity. Others insist that the term may only apply to sustainable tourism. And those who see it even more stringently demand that the guest also think about the social compatibility of their holiday and pay the locals fair prices. It is certain that under the label "eco" also a lot is offered, which is primarily economic sense for the organizer. The list of criteria of the organizers' association "Forum anders reisen" offers good orientation: For example, one should not only avoid air travel under 700 kilometers and heli-skiing, but also choose hotels where waste prevention and regional fare are taken for granted. More about: www.forumandersreisen.de www.visumsurf.ch
3. Does the lifecycle of my trip only include the means of transport? Generally, four factors play a significant role: First, the journey. Second, the accommodation. Third, the food. Fourth, the activities on site. Strictly speaking, the life cycle assessment also includes what happens to nature in the destination area for the benefit of the guest. For example, snow cannons are set up in the Alps that consume vast amounts of energy and as much water in one season as 1.5 million people in one year. In dry Spain, golf courses are irrigated, with one alone consuming on average just as much water as a place with 8,000 inhabitants. The Mediterranean coasts are gradually being built up with hotels, pools are being heated, rooms are being cooled, sand is being cared for on islands, in Mexico, for example, mangrove forests are being cleared and sand is being carved out so that the beach can be created ...
4. How can I quickly find out if I travel "incorrectly"? On the Internet, a questionnaire is called, which is called "travel compass" and for example, checks how well you have informed yourself about the destination and the accommodation. When filling out, you feel a bit like a student with the senior teacher - and you end up with a kind of testimony. This indicates, for example, whether one's own preparation is "acceptable" or the accommodation is "questionable". This may be a bit vague, but the questions raise one's awareness of what one can think of in preparation except passport, ticket and sunscreen. www.reisekompass-online.de
5. What is a climate calculator? Flights contribute to the greenhouse effect. Climate calculators on the Internet calculate how much CO2 emissions a specific flight causes, and they calculate which donation would be appropriate to make up for the damage elsewhere. Anyone who donates this sum as a passenger (deductible from the tax) supports projects that contribute to climate protection, such as the construction of solar, hydropower and biomass power plants in developing countries. This ultimately avoids emissions elsewhere. Meanwhile, package tour operators such as TUI and Thomas Cook as well as airlines offer the possibility of voluntarily making a climate donation. To the climate computers: www.atmosfair.de www.myclimate.org
6. Are compensation payments the best solution? Critics speak of "indulgence trade" and that one can neither neutralize nor compensate for the carbon dioxide emissions of a flight with money. It was only about mitigation, better would avoid damage? so renunciation. But who lives ascetically? More up-to-date is a compromise solution: First, one asks oneself critically whether the journey really has to be. If it is indispensable, you offset the resulting emissions by climate donations. Or you do it like a German tour group that wanted to go to the Olympics in China. She cycled from Athens to Beijing. 13,000 kilometers in 175 days. Well, go!
7thHow are the climate footprints of the means of transport different from each other? The differences are significant. The Federal Environment Agency has calculated the CO2 emissions for the route Berlin? Paris (about 1050 kilometers) per person; By plane it is 387, by car 151, by train 55 and by coach 34 kilograms. If you were to travel the distance with a cruise ship, you would blow away the most carbon dioxide: 430 kilograms. For comparison, the climate-friendly annual budget of a person is a maximum of three tonnes of CO2. An average German currently has around eleven tonnes; If he flies to Thailand, he adds just over five tons to his annual balance sheet.
8. Are the exhaust gases of aircraft more harmful than those of cars? Emissions for medium and long-haul flights are 2.7 times as damaging to the Earth's atmosphere, according to the Federal Environment Agency, than they are to the ground. The pollutants enter directly into the higher layers of the atmosphere and are therefore more significant.
9. Can one, as an individual, influence anything with his or her holiday behavior? From Alaska to New Zealand it's the same everywhere: "The tourists" are always the others and "the ones" are always doing something wrong. If you want to start with yourself, with his travel behavior not to strain the environment, it is actually quite easy. A few examples: in the hotel water and energy savings (keyword towel change); not skiing, where it is only possible thanks to snow cannons; not for two days city trip flying 1,000 kilometers; Do without sightseeing flights and off-road vehicle fun tours. 10. And what contribution does the tourism industry make? You have to be aware that mass tourism is not sustainable. "That just will not work," says the director of the Research Institute for Leisure and Tourism at the University of Bern, Hansruedi Müller. But mass tourism can at least be more considerate. Since the 1990s, with the demand for environmentally friendly travel, the offers of the organizers have grown, from Jahn to Thomas Cook, from Aktivunterwegs to Demeter to ZeitRäume. TUI is on the market with an online-based "Green Catalog", which bundles all offers on the topic "nature and environment" - which does not say much about their environmental compatibility. Airlines are researching alternative fuels, and hotel chains are improving their environmental management. Ultimately, everyone agrees: Travelers do not want to destroy the beauty of the earth, but report from it.
The rule of thumb for your holiday: Regional is optimal
A key factor in the environmental footprint of a journey is the distance it has to cover. Whether it is the high gasoline prices or the awareness that air travel causes a relatively high CO2 emissions: When traveling, the Germans have more desire for closeness again. Although Germany has long been the favorite holiday destination of the Germans, but now it is also really cool, for example, to spend the holidays on the Baltic or North Sea or in the mountains of Bavaria. Apart from that, the country is an attractive destination. An intact environment is the main capital of tourism, and that is no longer sold in Germany as it was 30 years ago. The rivers are becoming cleaner, nature conservation is one of the state's goals, and those with open eyes on cycling and hiking trails, can make exciting discoveries right on the doorstep.
For active people: holidays for the environment
Already clear that Bungeejumping means more action than bent forward to search for animal tracks. But it's not about adrenaline rushes, but about happiness hormones, when working on vacation in nature. You also get fun and to the learning effect, the nice feeling of having done something useful with his free time. Some offers:
Locate whales Even if you only get a glimpse of the tail fin of a whale, you are completely fascinated: whales are something special. If you want to do something for the endangered marine mammals, you can accompany researchers on a whale research ship in the Mediterranean and take on scientific tasks. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Organization WDCS, Julia Neider, Altostraße 43, 81245 München, Tel. 089/61 00 23 95 www.wdcs-de.org
Counting animals In the Biosphere Reserve Southeast Rügen, so-called holiday pilgrims can roam the island from February to October, for example to record the stocks of species such as sea-shore swallow and dwarf bat or to test the water quality. Every week the agency "Discover Rügen" creates a program with excursions for which you can register (free for guests of the Baltic resort Göhren). Discover Rügen, Haus Strandeck, Strandstraße 12, 18586 Ostseebad Gohren, Tel. 038308/66 66 24 www.discover-ruegen.org
planting trees Forest work, such as planting and looking after young trees, is the focus of a mountain forest project in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Depending on what you are about to do, you can also use it to build trails or re-naturalize streams. Food and accommodation available. Mountain forest project, Pickelstraße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Tel. 0931/4 52 62 61 www.bergwaldprojekt.de
read tracks Fauna and flora of national parks in Great Britain and Germany take the volunteers of "Biosphere Expeditions" under the magnifying glass. www.biosphere-expeditions.org
Gather herbs This can be done, for example, with the "Alpine Study Place" offer, which organizes three youth hostels for school classes and families. Coordination: Gerhard Weiser, Tel. 08821/967 05 16, www.garmisch.jugendherberge.de www.mittenwald.jugendherberge.de www .oberammergau.jugendherberge.de
For mountain fans: Environmentally friendly to the Alps
On the one hand, the Alps are a retreat for rare animals and plants. On the other hand, they serve as an amusement park for sports from climbing to skiing. Every year around 100 million people travel to the mountains, which is becoming increasingly popular. In many places there is more individual and transit traffic, and more has been built than nature can cope with. To protect the region and preserve the good mountain air, 24 holiday resorts have joined forces to form the Alpine Pearls network. They are located in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. All locations offer environmentally-friendly, flexible on-site mobility - whether with natural gas-powered shuttle buses, horse-drawn carriages, battery-powered scooters or electric bicycles. A similar concept is also pursued by the community of car-free Swiss tourist resorts (GUEST), which attach great importance to service and environmental protection.
www.alpine-pearls.com www.gast.org
Winter sports with care
The Alps have the world's highest density of winter sports infrastructure: about 13,000 cable cars and 40,000 ski runs on a ski area of about 3400 square kilometers. This is good for the 20 million or so skiers who come here each year, but not for nature. For example, mountain forests are cleared and leveled for the construction of slopes; This not only deprives animals of habitat, but the soil also stores bad water, which can lead to flooding in the valleys.
Those who do not want to miss the fun of skiing holidays can improve their personal environmental balance with little effort: Arrival by bus or train; use public transport on site - often cheap guest cards are offered; choose a holiday resort that incorporates environmentally friendly measures (see Alpine Pearls and GUEST); only drive with sufficiently thick snow cover; leave no garbage.
Are "organic hotels" really organic?
Most hotels limit their environmental management to asking guests not to change the towels every day. A far-reaching concept, ranging from waste prevention to the use of eco-cleaning agents, have the least. The hoteliers, who have teamed up in the association "Bio-Hotels", set only a few focal points in their infrastructure, be it that natural wood furniture is in the rooms or that they pay attention to saving water and energy. "Organic" refers in the hotels primarily, but very consistently and controlled, to the food: All food comes from organic farming, preferably from the region. On the menus, for example, home cooking, vegetarian, gourmet cuisine or whole foods. Most "bio-hotels" are located in Germany and Austria, but there are also some in the Swiss mountains, on the Spanish coast, in South Tyrol, Ireland and in Alsace. The facilities range from simple accommodation to wellness and design hotels. www.biohotels.info
Eco-Labeling
In Europe alone, there are more than 30 labels for labeling eco-friendly accommodation and vacation packages. Which one can you rely on? The portal www.label-online.de of the Bundesverband Verbraucher Initiative has rated several signs as recommendable, including these: www.viabono.de (Tourism offers in Germany) www.umweltzeichen.at (Accommodations in Austria) www.oe-plus.ch (Hotel companies in Switzerland) www.milieubarometer.nl (Tourism establishments in the Netherlands)
Interview with Thomas Schmitt from the University of Bochum: Mass is great?
Bed-castles have a bad image, but they do less harm to the environment than the expansive construction of villas in the hinterland. Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt, geographer at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, investigated why this is so in Mallorca.
Professor Thomas Schmitt
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: You have compared for a study the ecological impact of mass tourism and quality tourism in Mallorca. What is quality tourism really?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: There are different forms and definitions. One says that sustainability must be a quality feature. In Mallorca, on the other hand, quality tourism is de facto meant to offer high-quality holiday offers for a wealthy clientele, from the 5-star hotel in the hinterland to the marina.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Where is the problem?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: Quality tourism of this kind consumes more landscape and water per day and tourist than mass tourism. For the construction of villas and luxury apartments as a second home, forests, heath and shrubbery areas have to give way. In 2008 we examined the landscape consumption in the municipality of Calvià in the southwest of Majorca and compared how much area is occupied per tourist.A vacationer in a high-rise hotel 'consumes' an average of 10 to 15 square meters, a vacationer in his second home 500 square meters. While a hotel room is ideally occupied all year round, the expansive luxury second home is often empty.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How is the comparison of water consumption?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: In Mallorca, the drinking water situation since the 1980s in the summer is generally tense. While per capita consumption in rural communities is less than 100 liters per day, it reaches between 250 and 400 liters in tourist communities.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Is that because of the swimming pools?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: Not in the first place, as far as we can tell. The problem is the irrigation of green areas. For example, a golf course a day needs on average as much water as a place with 8000 inhabitants, about 2000 cubic meters. Significant amounts also occupy the private gardens, where the whole dry summer is poured over and blown up.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Are you saying that it is better to have no garden?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: Not at all, but you should invest in Mallorca traditional Mediterranean dry gardens that get along even in the hot summer with almost no water.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: A recent study by the Autonomous University of Barcelona concludes that the environmentally conscious tourist should live in a hotel tower. Their study of 2007 accounts: Ballermann was better. Should more concrete castles be built again in the future?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: No, there is plenty of that. It would make more sense to qualitatively improve the existing houses. Specifically, this means rehabilitating hotels, raising their levels, using renewable energies, saving electricity, avoiding waste. Offer regional cuisine in the restaurants, thus promoting local agriculture. And you can also upgrade the places, as happened for example in S? Arenal with the new waterfront.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What would be a holiday form that is fun and protects the environment?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: Agrotourism. Since you live in the countryside in houses that have long been an infrastructure. For example, agrotourism in the Serra de Tramuntana in the west of Majorca is very nice. You walk in stages from one place to another and live in high quality hotels.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: And where should eco-conscious vacationers go to live by the sea?
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt: In one of the many well-run large hotels. It does not have to be Ballermann.
