The Benefits of Green Tourism to the Travel Industry

It seems like everyone is going green these days. The travel and tourism industry is no different. I'm sure you've noticed this trend in advertising and travel industry marketing. As crazy as it may sound, these are two areas where you may not think about green living, but enough people are becoming more aware of its implications to make going green with travel SEO a growing trend.

In other business niches, the idea of going green means big profits, which is another reason why so many hotels are embracing the notion of green travel marketing.

Unfortunately, there are a small number of people out there who don't believe in global warming and the only reason that companies are going green with their online tourism marketing campaign is to get more money. All it takes is one trip to an exotic land to change their minds.

It's those of us who believe in the harmful effects of climate change that online travel marketing ads geared towards green tourism is truly geared towards. The travel companies know that these people believe in their own personal responsibility to do what they can to protect the planet.

The internet marketing of tourism related to green tourism shouldn't be confused with other types of vacations such as an adventure travel. These usually do harm to the environment. Eco-tourism on the other hand must satisfy a number of different criteria that pertain to both the traveler and the well being of the host community. Online tourism marketing, such as travel SEO, is normally built around much of these criteria, as well.

For those interesting in this type of vacation, online tourism marketing, like travel SEO, has begun to notice the idea of going green by providing different vacation options for people interested in protecting the planet. While not every vacation can be a green one, that doesn't mean you can't choose to depart on one every now and then. It is important to work within the boundaries you can manage. Pay attention to the different ads of internet marketing of tourism for ideas which may suit you.

For the traveler who online travel marketing is focused on, the main motivation of eco-tourism is always the observation and appreciation of both the local ecology and the local culture. It must always include educational and interpretation features. As the internet marketing of tourism describes, it must benefit the host community by being organized for small groups by local businesses.

It must always minimize the impact on both the natural and cultural environment, and generate income for the host land. Hopefully, you and your group will come away with an increased awareness of the need for conserving the community's natural and cultural assets.

Online travel marketing companies know and understand this better than you may think. Why do you think there is such an increase lately in travel SEO? They are looking to help their customers and make a profit at the same time. It's a win-win situation for everybody involved.

Green Travel - Do You Turn Off Your Hotel Room's Air Conditioner?

More and more people are starting to jump on the "green" bandwagon. According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, forty-three million US travelers are now ecologically concerned. Here are some tips on how to travel green:

Save Energy

-Master Switches: Some green hotels use master switches. The guest uses a key card to turn on and shut off the power in the room when entering or exiting.

If no master switch technology is available, turn off all appliances when leaving your hotel room manually.

-Use Fluorescent Lighting: Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs or CFLs replace incandescent lamps. They use less power and last longer.

-Use Energy Star Appliances: Devices with the Energy Star logo save 20%-30% on average.

Save Water

-Dual Flush Toilet: These special toilets use a 0.8 gallon flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 gallon flush for solids. They average 1 gallon per flush as opposed to the 7 gallons averaged by older toilets.

-Low Flow Showerheads: Also known as energy efficient shower heads because they use less energy due to less water being heated.

-Reuse Linens: Tell your hotel that you don't need your towels and sheets changed daily.

Save Paper

-Electronic Check-out Programs: Some hotels have a check-out program that uses a minimum of paper either by using the television screen in your room or their own computers.

-Newspaper: Tell your hotel to only deliver a newspaper to your room if requested.

-Electronic Tickets: Use electronic ticketing when purchasing airline tickets.

-Take Limited Brochures/Maps: Take only want you need and return what isn't being used.

Use Green/Recycled Materials

-Green Cleaning Supplies: Try to find a hotel that uses green cleaning supplies. Not only benefits you, but their own employees.

-Carpet: Some hotels have carpets that are made from post consumer recycled material in the backing, fiber and pad.

Reduce Pollution

-Environmentally Conscious Airlines: Some airlines are environmentally conscious, such as Southwest Airlines. This airline recycles all cabin waste and has electronic ticketing.

-Walking Tours: Enjoy walking tours of your destination whenever possible.

-Public Transportation: Use public transportation whenever possible. Also, use the hotel van instead of a rental car to get to and from the hotel.

-Take Only Photographs, Leave Only Footprints: Don't plunder the natural resources of the area you are visiting and don't litter. In fact, be a true world citizen and pick up one piece of litter a day. The world belongs to everyone, treat it like a treasured possession.

Green Travel - Making Better Environmental Travel Choices

We all hear the term “global warming” all the time. During recent months I have started to read travel stories how the permanent ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro is melting, how ski resorts in the Alps are going to be closing permanently due to lack of snow fall, how glaciers are melting in the Arctic, how increasingly more frequent and severe weather disturbances are disrupting tourism, and on and on the stories go. Some of these stories even exhort us to go now before some of these scenic places will be transformed or gone forever. Climate change has now become an issue of concern for global travelers.

Travel, of course, has environmental consequences. Long-distance travel involves the creation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, airliners are some of the most intense pollutants in existence today. In addition, wherever we go, we consume food and other services, and we create waste. So what to do?

As far as airplane emissions are concerned, there are actually a few concrete things we can do. There are ways of offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions generated by air travel by means of purchasing trees that will be planted to offset these emissions. At Trees for the Future, your US$40.00 will actually pay for the planting of 400 trees which will help offset greenhouse gases. You will also get a Global Cooling Certificate and bumper sticker. On their website you will also see a list of partners, including lodges and bed and breakfasts that are powered by renewable energy sources.

The Rainforest Alliance actually offers a variety of information to eco-savvy travelers. They also offer a sustainable tourism certification to tourism establishments which is based on methods for reducing the consumption of water, energy and other resources, and to improve the management, handling and disposal of waste. They even make a toolkit for best sustainable tourism practices available for small and medium enterprises in the tourism industry.

On their website, the Rainforest Alliance also advocates a number of simple eco-friendly behaviours that we can all try to follow:

• Support local economies by seeking out locally owned lodging and dining establishments, locally grown food and locally manufactured products and crafts.

• Patronize green hotels whose managers have programs that save water and energy.

• Stay on hiking trails. Clean up your own mess and dispose of waste properly. Keep a distance from wildlife.

• Travel by mass transit as much as possible.

• Avoid vehicles with two-stroke engines such as jet skis, scooters and certain boats, which are enormously polluting.

• Be culturally sensitive to local customs, greetings, dress codes and food habits.

• Treat others with the same respect that you would ask for in your own community.

Other eco-certification programs for tourism operators and tips for eco-savvy consumers include the following websites:

- Terra Choice

- Green Globe 21

- Environmental Choice

- Green Seal

- The Global Ecolabelling Network

- The Climate Neutral Network

Another interesting website is Future Forests: it advocates a “carbon neutral” lifestyle, in order to neutralize our impact on the environment. Future Forests have been proving people with a variety of environmental gifts since 1997. You can dedicate a tree, for example, for $10.00. You can even plan carbon-neutral weddings with Future Forests.

One neat thing about their website is that they offer a really cool carbon emissions calculator that allows you to calculate your anticipated flying or driving emissions. I thought let’s check this out, so I entered some assumed data for a flight from New York City to London, England.

Instantaneously I found out that this flight would produce 1.22 tonnes of CO2. The calculator also tells me if I dedicate 2 trees I can make this flight carbon neutral. Alternatively I would be able to supply 2 energy saving light bulbs to a small community in the developing world. Both options would be £30. I also checked their carbon emissions driving calculator. If I travel 400 km (250 miles) every week in a car with an engine size between 1.4 and 2 litres, I would generate 4 tonnes of CO2 a year, which would take 5 trees to offset.

In addition to planting trees, you can also purchase “carbon offsets”. A "carbon offset" is actually an investment in a project or action with the goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. Offset projects come in many varieties and may include tree planting or reforestation, building retrofits (i.e. installing more efficient heating/cooling systems) or wind power projects.

According to the Better World Club's website, this is the way it works: you can book a flight through Better World Travel - Members and get a free carbon offset for their US domestic flight ($11 value.) If you book a flight through the Internet, another travel agency or airline, send them a tax-deductible donation to offset the CO2 emissions from your flight. ($11 for domestic flights or $22 for international flights.)

So the good news is there are indeed ways of counterbalancing the environmental impact that we all have, even while we travel.

The Benefits of Green Tourism to the Travel Industry

It seems like everyone is going green these days. The travel and tourism industry is no different. I'm sure you've noticed this trend in advertising and travel industry marketing. As crazy as it may sound, these are two areas where you may not think about green living, but enough people are becoming more aware of its implications to make going green with travel SEO a growing trend.

In other business niches, the idea of going green means big profits, which is another reason why so many hotels are embracing the notion of green travel marketing.

Unfortunately, there are a small number of people out there who don't believe in global warming and the only reason that companies are going green with their online tourism marketing campaign is to get more money. All it takes is one trip to an exotic land to change their minds.

It's those of us who believe in the harmful effects of climate change that online travel marketing ads geared towards green tourism is truly geared towards. The travel companies know that these people believe in their own personal responsibility to do what they can to protect the planet.

The internet marketing of tourism related to green tourism shouldn't be confused with other types of vacations such as an adventure travel. These usually do harm to the environment. Eco-tourism on the other hand must satisfy a number of different criteria that pertain to both the traveler and the well being of the host community. Online tourism marketing, such as travel SEO, is normally built around much of these criteria, as well.

For those interesting in this type of vacation, online tourism marketing, like travel SEO, has begun to notice the idea of going green by providing different vacation options for people interested in protecting the planet. While not every vacation can be a green one, that doesn't mean you can't choose to depart on one every now and then. It is important to work within the boundaries you can manage. Pay attention to the different ads of internet marketing of tourism for ideas which may suit you.

For the traveler who online travel marketing is focused on, the main motivation of eco-tourism is always the observation and appreciation of both the local ecology and the local culture. It must always include educational and interpretation features. As the internet marketing of tourism describes, it must benefit the host community by being organized for small groups by local businesses.

It must always minimize the impact on both the natural and cultural environment, and generate income for the host land. Hopefully, you and your group will come away with an increased awareness of the need for conserving the community's natural and cultural assets.

Green Travel And Tourism

All About Green Travel

What exactly is meant by a phrase like Green Travel? Green Travel can mean anything from environmentally responsible motor cars to eco-friendly transportation fuels, to responsible eco-tourism options, sustainable travel or stays in hotels and facilities that are environmentally conscious.

Read on to find some great options on the Internet where you, the environmentally-responsible traveler, can enhance your knowledge and continue to seek the smartest, most planet-conscious choices available when you travel.

Why Green Travel Matters

Tourism, in contemporary times, is a tremendously growth-oriented industry, and is among the world's largest, with spending figures estimated at over five hundred billion per year in recent years. Because of the overwhelming size of the industry globally, millions of people are employed within its ranks, and are therefore of great concern when it comes to responsible, eco-conscious decisions.

Such lofty statistics all begin with local, individual choices - where people spend their money when they travel, during their travel and the message that their actions send out to global populations. The impact of global travel, when geared toward the positive, can be terrific - including when tourism's dollars go to the enhancement of local populations, or when travelers return home with a fresh take on other cultures, communities and environments, for instance.

How Tourism and Travel Become "Sustainable Tourism and Travel"

WTTC Associations such as the World Travel and Tourism Council in London, England, offer world travelers a wealth of information on sustainable and green tourism. The mission statement of the organization speaks to their goals: "Raising awareness of the importance of Travel & Tourism, promoting synergies between the public and private sector, generating profit as well as protecting natural, social and cultural environment [these] are the fundamental components of [their] mission, as outlined in the Blueprint for New Tourism."

Whenever you travel, do what you can to extend the extra effort to ask questions about the businesses that service your trip: from hotels to tours to restaurants and more. Find out what you can about the impact of their businesses on the environment, in terms of both the physical and cultural aspects. No set of universal standards or guidelines currently exists to ensure that those in the travel and tourism industry world-wide operate according to environmentally conscious principles.

So What Is Ecotourism and Can It Help?

With a greater emphasis placed on the environment in general, travel and tourism has also felt the weight of the green revolution. The travel and tourism industry has sprung up in places where the natural environment remains in tact and available for one to experience first-hand. At its best, ecotourism is essentially nature travel - tourism of and cultivation of appreciation for the unadulterated vistas and landscapes of the planet.

Resources Available for Green Travel

ResponsibleTravel

At Responsible Travel, find "A hand picked directory of 1000s of stunning eco holidays run by 265 specialist tour operators and 100's of accommodations. Use the site to contact the specialists directly to request more information. Book direct with the specialists to get the best price."

The International Ecotourism Society (ecotourism.org)

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) offers that through "Uniting communities, conservation and sustainable travel," they directly "promote responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

PlanetA

Debuting in 1994, PlanetA is a pioneering website that provides tips for travelers and locals who share a vision of eco-friendly, people-friendly and place-friendly travel. They take a dynamic wiki view of the Web and appreciate their viewers' helpful editorial suggestions and offer a yearly World Travel Directory.

Sustainable Travel International (sustainabletravelinternational.org)

The organization Sustainable Travel International has the following for its mission statement: "Promoting responsible travel and ecotourism, supporting sustainable development, and helping travelers and travel providers protect the cultures and environments they visit."

Google Green Travel Search (services.google.com/earth/green/)

At Summer of Green, Google's now legendary map service is powered to help Green travelers find what they need to in the way of environmentally conscious global travel, through the work of Earth Day Network. Find tips on traveling green this summer with keyword searches like "environmentally friendly hotel" rather than just "hotel."

Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance says, "With more than 800 million people traveling each year, tourism is a growing source of revenue for people living in areas that are especially rich in plants and animals - and threatened with destruction. While tourism can lead to problems such as waste, habitat destruction and the displacement of local people and wildlife, it also has the potential to provide incentives for conservation." Find out more through the tourism arm of their website.

What to Look For in a Green Travel Company

You're in a quandary. You desperately need to take a vacation. You've worked hard and definitely deserve it. However, you also want to do your part in being "green." What choices do you have?

Fortunately, the travel industry is one of the most progressive sectors in terms of being environmentally aware. Many travel companies are racing to put environmentally-friendly programs into place because they know consumers are much more conscientious than ever before about leaving a small footprint on the earth. So, what are the things to look for in a green travel company?

Carbon Offset Programs Look for a company that offers a carbon offset program. What is this? Since it's impossible for a commercial jet to be "green", some companies are offering programs to offset the carbon emissions by planting the exact number of trees it would take to clean the air because of your travel. So, while you may have to travel to your environmentally-friendly destination on a traditional "non-green" plane, the pollution is offset by the planting of new trees throughout the world to clean up the air. This is a good thing. You should look for companies that offer a carbon offset program.

Support Local Economies Companies that are truly "green" will be committed to supporting local economies by hiring local employees, as well as purchasing local goods whenever feasible. Stimulating the local economies of travel destinations is good for the planet. Why? It reduces pollution by avoiding long-range shipping. And, locals will have a vested interest in preserving their homeland and maintaining its beauty for future generations.

Water Conservation Many "green" travel companies are conscious about their water usage. Most have some sort of water reclamation program. A conscientious travel destination will offer organic soaps and shampoos and will reclaim their waste water for organic gardens, for watering landscape, etc.

Alternate Power Source Some "green" travel destinations have set up solar panels, windmills, or other types of alternative power sources. This is an expensive investment, but one that will pay for itself quickly. Creating clean energy is a step in the right direction and those travel destinations savvy enough to implement this should be rewarded for their efforts.

The Little Things Sometimes it's the little things. Look for a company that offers organic food to its guests, or encourages travelers to share a car for site seeing. These little things can be a good indication of the dedication of the travel company to really be "green." Also, many green travel companies are involved in donating some of their profits to worthwhile organizations cleaning up the environment in a variety of ways.

Conclusion And, last but not least, the most important thing is to find a green travel company that's a good fit for you. Ultimately, make sure that you will have a great time and the things you need from the vacation (relaxation, adventure, culture, etc.) will be provided. If you had a good time, make sure to go online and write a glowing review.