If you do choose to visit crowded and popular cities, consider doing so outside peak summer months, say experts. Stay longer, choose accredited accommodation using a site such as bookdifferent. Ellis said. Another way to spend your hard-earned dollars is to travel to destinations rebuilding after disaster.
Puerto Rico, for example, has developed a robust tourism sector since weathering a devastating hurricane in Travelers can help further by volunteering in environmental and social projects helping to rebuild devastated communities, said Laurie Myers, the project lead for the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council, which helps the industry to focus on sustainable outcomes for disaster-affected communities.
Myers said. Myers said, it can help them to rebuild after crisis and welcome visitors to their natural environment in a way that is sustainable. Transport is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants. Considering how you get to your destination and around it can help you leave a lighter footprint. Often, when traveling long distances, flying may be the only reasonable option to get to your destination, but the aviation industry is also responsible for emitting harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
According to one study, every metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent shrinks the ice cover in the Arctic by three square meters, or 32 square feet. Planes expend a significant amount of fuel just reaching altitude and descending, so the shorter the distance you fly, the less efficient, said Bryan Comer, a senior researcher with the International Council on Clean Transportation.
This is worth considering when traveling shorter distances you could reach by other means. Cruise ships may seem like a good alternative, but they can be even more polluting, say experts. According to one study , even the most efficient cruise ships emit between three to four times more carbon dioxide per passenger per kilometer than commercial flights. Ships also usually burn the lowest-quality and most polluting kind of fuel, which can affect the passengers, crew, and the environment and populations of the destinations being visited, Dr.
Comer said. There are other reasons to avoid cruise ships — for example, when visiting sensitive destinations like Venice, where the boats can dominate the skyline, crowd the city and even cause large waves that some say have contributed to the erosion of the islands. Comer added. By most accounts, trains as a form of travel emit the lowest levels of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants, whether they are electric or diesel-powered. They also offer an opportunity for slow travel: Take in the landscape, read a book, and arrive at your destination refreshed and ready to explore.
When it comes to cars, remember that the greater the number of passengers, the lower the carbon footprint per mile for each person and their luggage and animals. When driving long distances, sites like blablacar. Whatever your means of transport, you can choose to offset your journey by buying credits that go toward a project that either avoids the emissions of greenhouse gases, or helps sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Keep in mind, however, that offsets tend to be unregulated and can vary substantially in quality. There are a number of offset registries that check and rate programs, such as the Climate Action Reserve , where Mr. Miller is a board member. What you take on your journey can help reduce your impact on your destination even further. For example, biodegradable shampoos and laundry detergent, and sunscreen with fewer chemicals can help lessen the mark you leave on natural environments, while bringing your own water bottle and even cutlery can reduce your consumption of single-use items.
When packing clothes, take a collection of essential items that mix and match well with one another and can be layered. Alden Wicker, the founder of the sustainable fashion and travel blog Ecocult , recommends choosing a simple color palette; natural materials including cotton, linen and wool; and items that can be easily hand-washed and air-dried. Consider that clothes you travel with are likely to get dirty, worn and washed often, so choose clothing that is built to last.
Here are some more tips for paring down your packing before a trip. One of the easiest ways to reduce your plastic and consumption of single-use products is to pack a reusable water bottle when you travel. And for destinations where the water may contain impurities, it may be worth spending a little more on a bottle that can filter and purify water, such as the Lifestraw Go or GRAYL.
These bottles can also help to reduce the likelihood of getting a stomach bug when abroad. A weekly roundup of the best advice from The Times on living a better, smarter, more fulfilling life.
See sample Privacy Policy Opt out or contact us anytime. About one-quarter of all planet-warming greenhouse gases emitted each year are a result of what we eat , so thinking about what you eat while traveling is crucial if you want to leave a lighter footprint. While language and cultural barriers can make it harder to decipher exactly what is in your food and where it comes from, the change in diet can also present a great opportunity to try new foods and make different choices.
Wicker, the founder of Ecocult, recommends taking a cooking class when you arrive somewhere new. In general, eating vegetarian or vegan whether at home or traveling is a great way to make a sustainable and environmentally friendly choice. Meat and dairy, particularly from cows, have an outsize impact on climate change , with livestock accounting for around If you still want to eat non-vegetarian, choose chicken or sustainably sourced seafood instead. If you want to try cutting these out entirely, however, tofu and nuts are among the most sustainable options.
What we bring home with us matters as much as how we travel there and what we leave behind. Being conscious of your consumption while traveling is another way to lower your personal emissions and leave a lighter footprint. Here are some things to consider:. Wicker said.
She is currently based in Melbourne, Australia, and has also reported on the climate desk in New York. By Livia Albeck-Ripka. Efforts by international organizations such as UNWTO, OECD, and Eurostat have led to significant progress, including the establishment of international standards and tools such as the Tourism Satellite Account , which helps to understand the growing economic importance of tourism. However, monitoring efforts have focused mainly on economic aspects, leaving behind the social and environmental impacts that, as we have seen, play a key role in the generation of sustainability-oriented tourism policies.
Nevertheless, tourist destinations are already confronted with the need to develop public policies to promote sustainability, which requires new approaches in terms of generating data and guiding decision-making processes. In the case of Portugal, the implementation of Tourism Strategy required the development of a sustainable tourism indicators system , enabling tourism policy evaluation and providing the private sector with instruments for making strategic decisions.
Those 34 indicators followed recommendations from international organizations like UNWTO and Eurostat and cover economic, environmental, and social pillars, using existing and comparable data sources.
These indicators are available to relevant tourism stakeholders through TravelBI , a free and open data platform provided by Turismo de Portugal. Finally, the new generation of tourism strategies requires a completely new approach in terms of data to enable real-time decision-making, especially of crisis management operational decisions, and broaden the dimensions of destination management.
Global tourism experienced steady growth for more than six decades, benefiting from the rise of technological advances that have made travel easier and cheaper. Now, it is time to use technology as a tool for managing tourist flows and improving the experience of both visitors and residents. For more insights and analysis on how countries performed, read the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
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