Sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism (also: "Sustainable " tourism) is a form of travel that has three main concerns:

The Gentle tourism is part of the concept of strong sustainability, coupled with the need to preserve the remaining stocks of natural capital and beyond to invest in this.

Sustainable tourism as an alternative to mass tourism

By sustainable tourism is an attempt to reduce the negative effects of mass tourism in the destinations. For example, avoids the sustainable tourism to change the natural conditions at the resort. The journey should be possible by public transport ( public transport ). In the resort area reducing the traffic moderate development to a minimum, the guests should instead move to the original way, that is mostly on foot, possibly with boats or riding animals. In addition to recreational activities, there are often also offers environmental education. In a large number of tourists worth protecting core areas of nature are respected with the establishment of strict reserves through visitor management, which is approximately in the development of show caves or Red List species and natural monuments in the holiday area of importance. Reserve service, nature experiences and nature offerings, such as treetops paths can complement the visitor management.

Also in the hotel industry, there are moves towards greater sustainability and support of sustainable tourism. Increasingly, renewable energies are used, the volume of waste is reduced and water is used sparingly. In the choice of the device is paid to environmentally friendly materials and regional crafts preferred. Sustainable Hotellerien be awarded appropriate certificates.

The gentle tourism makes it a point to make the nature of the visited area unaltered and " with all senses" experience. This peculiarity of both natural and cultural characteristics are meant (city guides ). Here, the life of the local population should be affected as little as possible, which also gives the visitor a genuine impression as possible of the visited culture zone.

Practical examples of sustainable tourism

Exemplary offers of sustainable tourism are:

  • Theme trails that make through clever visitor management protected areas with hidden observation stations experienced.
  • Barefoot paths which provide an initial contact with nature and health benefits.
  • Swingolfanlagen which represent a simplified version of the game and golf are developed by local initiatives under its own power
  • Guided snowshoe tours, which is a more environmentally-friendly variant of the winter sport in sensitive mountain regions as the costly provision of technical winter sports with ski lifts, snow groomers and energetically difficult snow cannons.
  • Farm shops that deal with locally produced food.

Conceptual history and development of the idea

The concept of sustainable tourism and rewrote the first time coined the Bernese architect and regional planner Fred Baumgartner 1977 in his article "Tourism in the Third World - for development? " ( Neue Zürcher Zeitung NZZ of 16 September 1977). Robert Jungk deepened the term in 1980 in an article in the magazine GEO. As an extension of sustainable tourism, the term integrative tourism can be understood, which was coined in 1995 by Friends of Nature and the Institute for Integrative Tourism and Leisure Research. Integrative promoting tourism, according to these associations the networking of tourism with other economic and living areas as part of an independent regional development and calls for the co-responsibility of the traveler, the tourist regions. The German Federal Government has established in 2006 a counseling center for Sustainable Tourism Development.

Many certification programs attempt to clarify the concept of sustainability in different segments of tourism, to define standards, conduct independent investigations and to award environmental quality that complies with the standards. Tourists are so able to assess the sustainability of offers right and the providers incentives and assistance in improving their offers will be given. Since the late 1980s, more and more certification programs emerged. Overall, there were in 2001 about 100 such eco-label worldwide. Few of these programs are multi-sectoral and global active. Among the most important part of Green Globe. Examples of sectoral, national or regional programs and eco-label Blue Flag, TourCert for hotels in the Green Key or the Eco-label for Alpine Club huts for tour operators in beach management and marinas. For the European Eco-label for tourist accommodation standards ( 2009/578/EC ) and camping services ( 2009/564/EG ) have been developed, but it was hardly awarded in these categories by 2013.

The state government of Baden- Württemberg has launched the Special Programme Sustainable Tourism in March 2008. As part of this special program -investment projects to improve the tourism infrastructure in the areas of gentle tourism can be promoted in the state of Baden -Württemberg. These include in particular

  • Bicycle tourism
  • Hiking tourism, especially accessible hiking
  • Health Tourism
  • Ecotourism
  • Cultural tourism.

With this special program, the tourism economy of the State of Baden- Württemberg will be strengthened in the context of structural challenges such as climate change and demographic trends.

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