green | news SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL Industry looks to balance green with growth
ACCORDING TO A sustainable travel poll by
Booking.com, over half of global travelers are likely to favor a destination that can offer a reduced impact on the environment. Te summer survey of over 32,000 travelers
found 52% of respondents claim they consider the environmental impact when choosing their vacation
destination, supporting another
summer study of 1,000 US citizens, conducted by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS), which found 71% of respondents prefer to stay at eco-friendly establishments. But with more people traveling than ever
before, concerns on how to keep pace while balancing conservation and sustainability is becoming an increasing issue for the industry. One destination actively putting an ecotourism
plan into place is the Indonesian island of Lombok, which
hosted an International
Geographical Union conference on sustainable tourism in July. With its neighbor Bali already established as
a major tourist resort, authorities are bidding to lure visitors over to Lombok — penned to be the next big Indonesian destination. But large-scale developments are in question as the island prepares to cater to growing tourist numbers, partly due to the opening of its international airport in 2011, with many tourism officials wanting to avoid the overdevelopment seen in Bali. Cancun in Mexico is also trying to heighten its
position within the green tourism industry while also catering to mass tourism. Partnering with Sustentur, a sustainable practices consulting company, Cancun’s CVB is looking to push the
NEWSINBRIEF
n WATER WASTE: Starwood has updated its water reduction strategy to lower water use. Since 2008, Starwood has already reduced its water usage by 17%, but with more than half of its properties located in areas facing water issues, the company has pledged to introduce new technology, greener guest programs and partner with local communities.
starwoodhotels.com
n ROADS AHEAD: Rotterdam could become the first city to pave its roads with recycled plastic. Hailed to be greener than traditional asphalt, the new road surface made of recycled plastic is being tested by Dutch engineering company KWS Infra. The new road paving would be able to last up to three times longer and withstand temperatures of -40 to 176F.
kws.nl
n FUNDING FOCUS: JetBlue is offering grants to students to help develop sustainable tourism in the Caribbean. The education grants will focus on science, particularly climate change studies and the use of natural resources. In July, the airline sent two students to attend Innovators Think Tank: Climate Change and Coastal & Marine Tourism in the Dominican Republic.
jetblue.com
resort towards sustainability and the preservation of its natural resources. Airlines are also seeing the strain as wealthier
countries such as China and India increasingly turn to air travel. IATA figures released earlier this year state that passenger numbers could more than double to 7.3 billion a year in the next two decades, with demand growing 5.9% between 2013 and 2014. But without the use of biofuels, passenger
number hikes could threaten the aviation industry due to forthcoming rules limiting global aircraft emissions. After a public hearing in
August held by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on aircraft emissions in Washington DC, the EPA could put in place new regulations and restrictions on US air travel as early as 2016. And while other modes of transport, such as cars and trains, can run on electricity and more environmentally friendly means, air travel still struggles to find viable green alternatives. Yet while the travel
industry struggles to
balance growth with green, a rising consumer demand for sustainable travel in itself should make ecotourism plans more successful.
Lombok, Indonesia
fall 2015 | ASTAnetwork | 33
WORDS: TAMSIN WRESSELL. IMAGE: GETTY
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