Efficient energy management for coastal tourism activities Luigi Bruzzi1 – Simona Verità1 – Johanna von der Weppen1,2 1

Department of Physics, University of Bologna, V le Berti Pichat 6/2, [email protected], [email protected] ² Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cadiz, [email protected]

Chapter items GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA AND SITUATION 1.1 Tourism in the world economy and in Italy PROBLEM DESCRIPTION 2.1 Negative impacts of tourism on the environment 2.2 Environmental effects of transport 2.3 Accommodation structures 3. SOLUTIONS / MEASURES 3.1 Managing energy in tourist services 4. SOLUTIONS, EFFECTS AND LESSONS LEARNT 4.1 The tourist industry – a potential role in environmental sustainability 4.2 What can be done? 4.3 Transport 4.4 Current financial Crisis and future outlook 5. CONCLUSIONS

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA AND SITUATION The littoral of Emilia Romagna (Italy) stretches out on a distance of 130 km. The coastline can be divided in 14 different communities that belong to the provinces of Rimini, ForliCesena, Ravenna and Ferrara. Emilia Romagna is one of the largest Italian regions (the sixth), and links the north with the centre of the country, the part of continental Italy joining the Italian peninsula; as such, it is of great importance and acts as a connection point in Italy. The climate of Emilia-Romagna has sub-continental characteristics, with cold winters and hot summers, moderated, however, by sea breezes along the Adriatic, while the temperatures are closely affected by altitude in the Apennine region (www.italy1.it). The morphologic structure of the littoral is mostly characterized by flat, sandy beaches as well as river mouths (River Reno), which originate in the Apennines. The area is also strongly affected by the neighbourhood of the Po delta. In the northern Adriatic Sea, many platforms for the extraction of natural gas have been installed. In the last century, the beauty of the landscape and the environment as well as the geographical location (relatively close to major cities like Venice, Bologna, Firenze) have led to a high rate of tourist activity and the creation of popular sea-side resorts. The developments of tourism and activities related to tourist structures have caused changes in the morphological structure of coastal dynamics and impacted the functioning of the coastal ecosystem. Realising the degradation of this unique environment, local, regional and national actions have been taken to improve the situation and halt negative effects. Ever since, Emilia

1

Romagna is making efforts to find the best way to manage its littoral, without hampering the growth of tourism, one of its major economic drivers and sources of employment. Emilia Romagna administration has promoted the Integrated Management of Coastal Areas by producing a first version of guidelines to reach this objective. In 2001, Emilia Romagna registered about 6 million tourist arrivals, of which the coastal areas received ca. 83%. Only when contrasting this with the number of local residents, 4,2 million in 2007, one understands the real extent of tourist activity. Figure 1: Emilia Romagna, Source: www.ermesambiente.it

1.1 Tourism in the world economy and in Italy Tourism has impacts on its immediate surrounding. If well managed, tourism can facilitate the restoration, conservation and protection of physical environments; examples and best practice cases have shown how tourism provided the incentives and the income necessary to restore and rejuvenate historic buildings and to create and maintain national parks (WTO, 2000). Economic benefits of tourism Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world. An increasing number of destinations have opened up and invested in tourism development, turning tourism into a key driver for socioeconomic progress and a source of growth, employment and revenue. The export income generated by tourism globally ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and automotive products and tourism thus represents one of the major international trade categories. The overall export income generated by international tourism receipts and passengers transport has internationally exceeded US$ 1 trillion in 2007, or almost US$ 3 billion a day (WTO Highlights, 2008). Also, international tourism receipts rose to US$ 856 billion (625 billion Euros) in 2007, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 5.6% on 2006. Globally tourism generates directly up to 5% of the GDP and creates important employment opportunities. Job creation mostly affects small and medium enterprises (SME) and attracts investment to the tourist destination. The WTO has forecasted international tourist arrivals, which draw a positive picture for the tourist industry, as arrivals will increase significantly in Europe, Americas, and East Asia and the Pacific. The growing number of tourist arrivals is crucial for understanding

2

that investment in sustainable tourism is needed and economically beneficial. Destinations that suffer from seasonal overpopulation and negative consequences from the tourist industry will have difficulties to respond to growing tourist demand if a shift towards more sustainable tourist development fails. Figure 2: International Tourist Arrivals, 1950 – 2020, Source: WTO

The Southern European Mediterranean region had the highest percentage share of the market of international tourism receipts with 19,5%, which amounted to 121.4 billion Euros in 2007 (WTO Highlights, 2008). Italy represents one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the Mediterranean basin and tourism is expected to double by 2025. The direct contribution of tourism in Italy to its GDP is around 5% and 1,14 million jobs (5,1% of total employment) are directly related to tourism, with another 7,2% of jobs being indirectly related. Indirect and direct job creation thus amounts to 12,3%. Data from the Bank of Italy report that spending by visitors in Italy has been increasing from 28,5 million Euros since 2005 and has reached a level of 31 million Euros in 2007.

2. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION 2.1

Negative impacts of Tourism on the environment

Tourism embraces both the stay in the tourist area as well as the travel to and from the destination. A correct approach needs to be taken towards the environmental impacts assessment of tourist activities. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) offers such an approach by including the environmental effects produced by tourism activities at the destination, as well as by transportation to reach the destination. Tourism creates great pressure on local resources such as energy, food, land and water that may already be in short supply. According to the Third Assessment of Europe’s environment (EEA, 2003), the direct local impacts of tourism on people and the environment at destinations are strongly affected by concentration in space and time (seasonality). The local impacts of tourism on people and environment can be summarized in the following points, which we will develop further below:  Intensive use of water and land by tourism and leisure facilities.  Changes in landscape due to the construction of infrastructure, buildings and facilities.  Air pollution  Production of solid waste

3

   

Disturbance of fauna and local people (for example, through noise pollution) Difficulties for nature conservation as tourists have access to more sensitive areas Conflicts due to clashes between the tourist industry with other sectors (forestry, agriculture) Delivery and use of energy

The stress on environment is particularly strong in coastal areas which are preferred for tourism activities. Amongst those, the Mediterranean basin is the one of the most selected destinations. The Mediterranean coast has one of the highest population densities in Europe, with more than 500 inhabitants / km2. With an increase of 44% of international tourism inflow between 1990 and 2005, tourism continues to seriously increase the already large population pressure on fragile coastal ecosystems (Blue Plan, 2005, Section 7.4, Tourism). Tourism has a spill-over effect on the population increase of tourist destinations because new housing is not just needed for the visitors but also for the staff of the resorts (EEA 2006). Figure 3: Number of bed places per km2, Source: Eurostat, 2006

The above map indicates the number of bed places per km2, showing that nearly all of the North Adriatic coast of Italy is subjected to a large number of tourist accommodation structures. Water resources Exhaustion and degradation of water resources are of growing concern, especially as fresh water is one of the most critical natural resources in the Mediterranean region. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of wastewater. Urbanisation and uses of coastal resources Between 1990 and 2000, development within the 10 km coastal zone increased in all countries of the enlarged EU, with the highest increases of soil sealing and urbanisation, 20–35 % (EEA, 2006). Such rate of development is driven by tourism and transport infrastructure, but also by intensive fisheries, aquaculture and offshore energy installations (EEA, 2006). Sand extraction for concrete and construction purposes is only one of the direct impacts on both renewable and non renewable natural resources. Forests and land degradation

4

Forests often suffer negative effects of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection for biomass and land clearing. A frequent phenomenon is the salt water ingression in upland which is a strong threat to forests located on the coast line. This is the case of many valuable coastal areas in Emilia Romagna, which have lost part of its pinewood population due to the construction of summer resorts and hotels. Land degradation due to tourism can cause loss of biodiversity in many ways, e.g. by competing with wildlife for habitat and natural resources.

Insufficient facilities to respond to overpopulation Tourist destinations do not always have appropriate facilities to respond to the overpopulation and strong seasonal pressures caused by large numbers of tourist stays. Especially sewage disposal facilities have not been able to respond to the rise in volume of waste water during the peak season. This type of infrastructure is built for a certain capacity and often can not predict seasonal population growth due to tourism correctly. A consequence of this development has been the pollution of seas and lakes through the discharge of untreated waste water. Sewage run off damages flora and fauna and is at the origin of the increasingly worrying appearance of toxic algal blooms causing hypoxia and eutrophication (EEA, 2006). Coastal tourist destinations should be particularly preoccupied with these phenomena, because they can have significant health effects for humans and cause fish kills. Depending on the kind of algal bloom, the ocean takes on a red or greenish colour which is perceived as very unpleasant by visitors and swimmers. Bathing water quality is a crucial prerequisite for the quality and sustainable functioning of a coastal tourist destination (Bathing water Directive). Coastal Erosion An important phenomenon of coastal areas is coastal erosion. Development of marinas, breakwaters and shoreline development can cause changes in sediment transport and consequently coastal erosion. Extraction of coastal sediments for construction works can lead to erosion and negatively affect Posidonia beds. Landscape Coastal destinations can suffer of aesthetic pollution. In some locations, tourism accommodation structures have neglected the need to integrate buildings and recreational areas with the natural features and the traditional architecture of the destination. Mass tourism resorts often look anaesthetic in pristine natural environments. Also solid waste and litter can degrade the physical appearance of the water and shoreline. Noise pollution, caused by a high concentration of vehicles in urbanized areas or a large number of recreation structures including night clubs and discothèques, is considered unpleasant by many tourists and the local population.

2.2

Environmental effects of Transport In tourist Life Cycle Assessment, transportation represents a very important stage. The environmental impact of transportation is amplified if the starting point and the destinations are very far from each other. The extensive use of airplanes nowadays and the related CO2 emissions, evidence the important contribution of transport used for tourism to the production of carbon dioxide. Transportation lies at the heart of the tourist industry. It is the link between home, destination, accommodation, attraction, and all other stages of the tourist trip. Its efficiency, comfort, and safety determine, to a large extent, the quality of the tourism experience; in many cases, its cost comprises the largest portion of a tourist’s total expenses. There is a direct relationship between advances in transportation and growth in the tourism industry and tourism is one of the main drivers of increased demand for transport. The development of the automobile and airplane industry, especially low-cost airlines have allowed for the possibility of increased mobility and have made travelling

5

accessible to a growing number of the world’s population. In Europe, in 2005, about 59 % of the tourists reached their destination by road and 34 % by air (EEA, 2007). Today air transportation is the most important mode of transport, having overtaken ocean liners in the second half of the 20 th century. Automobile continues to be the preferred transportation, due to its flexibility and costs, while railroads and ships have lost in popularity but remain important modes of freight transportation. Cruises are a unique combination of destination and transportation, and the cruise ship industry has grown with the advent of cruise packages that are easily accessible to tourists. Transportation modes and facilities tend to have significant environmental impacts; all modes of travel require energy, most of which is provided by fossil fuels (An assessment of fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emission is presented in this study below). The burning of fossil fuels contributes to a number of environmental problems, including air pollution and global warming. The building of transportation infrastructures – roads, terminals, and airports – affect the ecosystems in which the infrastructure is built. Long roads will likely travel through several different ecosystems and the flow of traffic increases air and noise pollution as well as the destruction of existing flora and fauna. 2.3 Accommodation structures Accommodation industry and food and beverage industry (catering industry) are an intrinsic part of the global travel and tourism industry. For any overnight stay, the traveller needs a place to stay and to eat, and according to his respective preferences, he can choose from luxurious resorts to modest bed and breakfast establishments. Over half of the world’s 5.9 million hotel rooms are located in Europe. 90% of these are in small and medium sized hotels, while the remaining 10% belong to major groups. In response to the growth of international and domestic tourism, the number of available hotel rooms has increased rapidly accompanied by an expansion of the food and beverage industry, partly through worldwide chains. The hospitality industry, embracing the accommodation industry and the food and beverage sector, represents a major part of the global tourism industry in terms of revenue and employment. But it is also a source of energy consumption and of environmental impacts. Energy consumption is relatively high in the tourist sector and there is a growing demand for fuel for hot water supply (bathroom), local transport and heating during cold season; demand for electricity for heat pumps or air-conditioning, lighting, electric appliances (refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, computer, printer, photocopier, etc.), public lighting. It is expected that energy efficiency and the enhanced use of renewable energies will have an important role in hotel management, considering that today small businesses are only marginal users of renewable energy resources and outdated technology makes them less competitive.

3. SOLUTIONS / MEASURES 3.1 Managing energy in tourist services Accommodation structures The indicators that have aimed at measuring the environmental quality of tourist destinations so far refer mostly to resources used in tourist services. Examples include the amount of water and energy consumed, the volume or weight of waste generated, the number of guests accommodated, and the number of rooms occupied, the amount of green areas as well as energy and water use in specific areas like laundry, the kitchen or the restaurant.

6

The importance of energy management at the tourist destination is also demonstrated by the criteria used for environmental certification. In order to obtain the European ecolabel (2003/287/EC), 10 out of 37 mandatory criteria and 14 out of 47 optional criteria concerning energy must be fulfilled. The mandatory criteria dealing with energy are related to: electricity from renewable sources; coal and heavy oils; electricity for heating; air conditioning; window insulation; switching off heating or air conditioning; switching off lights; energy efficient light bulbs and sauna timer control. The optional criteria dealing with energy are related to: photovoltaic and wind generation of electricity (2 points); boiler energy efficiency (1 point) ; boiler NOx emissions (1,5 points); district heating (1 point) combined heat and power (1,5 points); heat pump (1,5 points); heat recovery (2 points); thermoregulation (1,5 points) insulation of existing buildings (2 points); air conditioning (1,5 points); automatic switching-off of air conditioning (1 point) bioclimatic architecture (2 points); energy efficient refrigerators (1 point), dishwashers (1 point), washing machines (1 point); refrigerator positioning (1 point); automatic switching off lights in guest rooms (1 point); automatic switching off outside lights (1 point). To better understand how energy consumption is distributed among different stages of Life Cycle Assessment, an example is described here below (table 1). Data are purely indicative and refer to the Italian framework. Data reported assume that a tourist at the destination consumes an amount of energy comparable to the one consumed by an individual local resident. In all calculations it is assumed that all energy is produced by oil derivatives. According to the data in the table, a tourist consumes the energetic equivalent of 3 kg of fossil fuel on each day of his stay in the tourist location. Table 1. Energy use and fossil fuel consumption of a tourist at the destination

Energy/mass consumed/produced

Original unit measure

Hot water and kitchen (summer) 300 kWh/ year per person*

Electricity

Private car

1000 kWh/ year per person**

10000 km/ year per person

Primary energy (kcal/year per 258.000 person) Fossil fuel consumption (toe/ year 0,0258 0,258 per person) Fossil fuel consumption (toe/ day TOTAL per person) *kWh thermal referring to a 100 mq apartment; **kWh electric

0,8

Tota l

1,08 3

Several simple improvements can be made to improve the energy efficiency of individuals and tourist in the destination, by giving incentives from the tourist industry. The use of solar panels for the production of hot water can substantially reduce the use of energy from fossil fuels in tourist destinations. The technology used has been improved and developed so that its application is more rational and efficient as is the case of the conversion of solar energy into heat for hot water. We can estimate that a square meter of solar panel is able to heat about 100 litres of water from 20 to 50 °C in a period of one day. It is estimated that photovoltaic panels installed in a tourist destination in Italy, in particular in sunny coastal areas, can provide a reasonable amount of electricity: for example one panel with a nominal power of 1 kW can produce more than 1000 kWh in a year, which is equivalent to an individual’s annual consumption. Every day energy savings, which do not require additional investments, can be achieved in the area of lighting by using halogen and fluorescent bulbs; low consumption bulbs have a lighting efficiency 40-60 times higher than incandescent bulbs. The environmental and economic

7

potential of renewable energy and energy savings needs to be recognized and implemented widely in all tourist areas. CO2 Emissions produced by tourist activities Having calculated the equivalent of fossil fuel that a tourist uses each day, the environmental impact of tourist activities can be evaluated by looking at the amount of CO2 it emits. The table below (table 2) indicates the total amount of CO2 produced by tourism activities (Mt), comparing the percentage of emissions that tourism contributes (4,9%) to total world emissions. Transport for tourism is responsible for a large part of the total energy consumption and especially air travel, which has increased more than other transportation in the last years, makes a significant contribution to CO2 emissions. According to the WTO data, CO2 emissions originating from accommodation structures are considerable (21%). Looking at the share of transport out of total tourism CO2 emission (75%) though, it becomes clear that environmental sustainability of the tourism industry needs to improve energy efficiency in the transport sector, which includes the travel to reach the destination and to return. The energy consumption for transportation will depend on two factors: the type of transport used and the distance needing to be covered. Table 2. Total amount of CO2 produced by tourism activities (WTO Climate Report 2008)

Mt Air transport Car Other transport Accommodation Other activities Total tourism Total world Share of tourism in total world (%)

515 420 45 274 48 1302 26400 4,9

CO2/ year Share in tourism (%) 40 32 3 21 4 100 -

In the case of long distances, flights prove to be the quickest and easiest way to reach tourist destinations. Fuel consumption for a typical air travel over a distance of about 1000 km amounts to about 0,04 kg/km passenger. A modern car consuming less than 10 litres per 100 km on the same distance has a specific consumption of about 0,01 kg/km passenger. The typical consumption patterns of flights and other transport modes, with their respective CO2 emission, are reported in the figure below (figure 4). Figure 4. Carbon dioxide emissions for tourism transport modes (Peeters, P.et al., 2004)

8

Energy efficiency in Transport Energy efficiency in all means of transport is evolving, especially when fuel prices are high. The IPCC expects fuel efficiency to improve by 1.3% a year. New aircrafts emit 50% less carbon monoxide and 90% less smoke and unburned hydrocarbons than they did 50 years ago. Aircraft entering today's fleets are 70% more fuel-efficient than they were 40 years ago (5% fuel efficiency gain in 2004 - 2005). Modern aircrafts achieve fuel efficiencies of 3.5 litres per 100 passenger-km. This corresponds to about 0,1 kg/personkm of CO2 emissions. The next generation aircraft (Airbus A380 & Boeing 787) uses less than 3 litres of fuel per 100 passenger-km; this exceeds the efficiency of modern compact car on the market. Nevertheless, at the moment, aviation remains the least efficient, if compared with car and train, in terms emission of CO2 and air pollutants. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) are usually considered the most harmful air pollutants and the most worrying in terms of air quality concerns (Enviro, 2008). In order to achieve a better understanding of the impact of transport on the consumption of fossil fuel and thus of the impacts it generates in the tourist life cycle, we use an example. We calculated the total energy consumption of a tourist for his travel (both ways) with a stay of 7 days for a destination 1000 km away from his departure place (as calculated in table 3 and shown figure 5). Figure 5. Kilogram of CO2 / person produced for a destination 1000 km away (7 days stay)

CO2/person produced for a destination 1000 km away (7 days stay)

250

kg CO2 produced

200

150

100

50

0

Air

Car

Train/Bus

7-day stay

Table 3. CO2 / person produced for a destination 1000 km away (7 days stay) Type of transport

Air

Car

Train/Bus

fuel consumption/2000 km person (kg)

80

20

4

fuel consumption for 7-day stay (kg) CO2 emission (kg)

7-day stay

21 240

60

12

80

a conversion factor CO2/fuel of 3 has been assumed

9

Despite the fact that transport represents the largest part of energy consumption, so far, the main actions aimed at energy saving in tourism activities relate to the destination and focus on reducing the use of fuel, increasing energy efficiency and using more renewable resources.

4. SOLUTIONS, EFFECTS AND LESSONS LEARNT 4.1 The tourist industry – a potential role in environmental sustainability Nature and tourism The natural environment is a basic component of the tourism industry’s assets and tourism revenues are often used to measure the economic value of protected areas. Studies conducted by the International Hotels Environment Initiative (IHEI) revealed that 90% of hotel guests preferred to stay in a hotel that cared for the environment (Mensah, 2004). Increasing environmental awareness on the part of consumers has served as pressure on hotels to adopt sound environmental practices. These economic indicators provide an incentive to the tourist sector, especially if located in natural environments and fragile ecosystems like it is present in coastal areas. Sustainable tourism looks at economic, social and environmental aspects. Sound energy management contributes crucially to the environmental sustainability, while offering economic benefits and indirectly impacting social behaviour and awareness of the public. Increased environmental consciousness Consumers in Europe, for example in Germany, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands are aware of the environmental impacts that can be caused by tourism. They expect a high environmental quality in their destination, prefer eco-labelled accommodation services, look for certified products in the travel catalogues and have access to all "green" tourism products in Europe. A clean environment at the destination is, according to the Travel Analysis 2004 of the German Association for Tourism and Development, (Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. im Auftrag des Umweltbundesamtes), important to German tourists. Out of 7700 surveyed tourists, more than 3/4th considered a healthy environment and respect of local traditions as being very important and did not feel restricted by environmental regulations. Over 70% avoid destinations which suffer from urbanisation. The Association recommended that for improving environmental consciousness of tourists, the link between environmental conservation and tourism needs to be strengthened and information should be easily accessible. Cost-rationalisation One aspect that provides a strong incentive to the tourist sector is cost rationalisation. Through the use of energy efficient techniques, the productivity and competitiveness of a tourist service can be significantly improved. New and efficient installations ensure higher safety for guests and employees can motivate workers as well as improving the image of the service in response to the rising social interest in environmental sustainability. One of the biggest beneficiaries of a more sustainable tourism industry will be the industry itself — fewer people will want to visit a region where mass tourism has damaged the countryside and polluted the beaches. 4.2 What can be done? Tourism as driving force behind environmental sustainability Economic indicators have shown that the rapid expansion of international tourism has led to significant employment creation, increased GDP in the destination country which in turn has attracted investment. Being in such a powerful economic position, tourism can and should induce local governments to contribute to local development through improving infrastructure, water supply and treatment and waste management systems. This would improve the environmental quality of the tourist destination and raise the

10

citizen’s living standards. This potential is often not sufficiently realised though due to a lack of sound management. Sustainable tourism, by supporting local companies, improving utilities and services, expanding infrastructure and helping urban and rural regeneration can direct the tourist industry to have beneficial effects on the destination. Legislation and Management Legislation at regional (Chambers of Commerce, Regions, Provinces) or national level, as well as at the European Union level, has recently played an considerable role in improving the sustainability in the tourist sector. Tourism management has started to realise the immediate importance of maintaining a healthy environment and a beautiful landscape and first steps towards improvement have been taken. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) suggests applying the concept of carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is defined as «The maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction. » (UNEP/MAP/PAP, 1997). Carrying capacity and other recommendations made by the WTO and UNEP include the adoption of environmental standards when developing new tourism destinations. Several prerequisites that need to be evaluated and studied include:  Restrictions of the size of the resort size to a maximum of 200 rooms  Restrictions concerning the maximum height of buildings (12 meters)  Hotels with over 75 rooms must install water and sewage treatment plants  Regional architectural styles should be incorporated in the design of facilities  Facilities should have at least 60 percent of their area given to landscaping Although both voluntary and binding agreements and recommendations have been made (including eco-labelling, environmental impact assessments, and associations of hospitality structures), the tourist sector’s environmental policies, applications and actions aiming at sustainability of tourist structures are too diversified and unstructured. Unless the local, regional and national authorities do not implement an efficient monitoring and evaluation system, it is hard to predict which results environmental policies in the tourist sector will have. Alongside with the implementation of such policies, the economic viability and benefits of sustainable tourism should be stressed. If tourist managers realise that it is not only in their long term benefit but also their yearly budget that sustainable tourism can lead to gains, we can expect a wide-reaching consistent implementation of these aims. In order to ensure a sound management of coastal tourist destination, the responsible managers should envisage several questions:  What sites or areas are most suitable for tourist development?  How many visitors should there be in any place?  What sorts of tourist activity or development are suitable?  What infrastructure is necessary for tourism?  Are there resource limitations which are relevant to tourism development?  What mechanisms are needed to control tourist operators and tourists? 4.3 Transport The European Commission has drawn a worrying picture in its studies on air pollution. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from transport are growing rapidly along with the general growth in transport and because of preferences towards road transport. Currently the progress in reducing CO2 emissions from new cars is slowing and EU targets are unlikely to be met (EC, 2006c).

11

The EC states that we have to rethink our transport policies if we are to avoid the severe predicted rise in emissions as a result of increased travel by cars and planes in the next decade. According to the aviation study of the European Commission, theoretically, an increase in the price of air tickets may induce the following responses: − Substitution to other modes of transport. − A shift in consumer pattern away from travel and tourism. − A change in choice of destination. More practical suggestions include developing competitive urban transport solutions as a way of fighting traffic congestion and air quality problems and improving transport safety. Public transport should be a key priority along with safe walking and cycling and should be included in the management of urban planning. Indeed, there has been interest to develop the possibilities to use bikes in cities for tourists and local citizens. Many European cities have adopted free city bike schemes (Jensen, 2000). One of the first cities to implement this was Copenhagen, and observations from that experience have shown that in the tourist season, about half of the users are tourists. They use the bikes in groups and for the whole day. Figure 6: Free city bicycle scheme

4.4 Current financial Crisis and future outlook In view of the current financial crisis and the economic slowdown, the situation in the energy market has temporarily changed, and might have possible influences on future outlooks. The long-term trends of energy policies, demand and supply for fossil fuels as well as the tourism industry will probably not be significantly affected by the current crisis. Nevertheless the economic slowdown can induce decisions made today, that will have positive and negative outcomes in the future. Mostly investments concerning energy resources are affected by the crisis, and have sparked uncertainties in both the fossil fuel and the renewable market (WEO, 2008), due to a fall in demand for energy. The tourist industry will also be affected and might cause the aviation industry to turn away from investing into fuel efficiency as oil prices are dropping. It is important not to loose sight of the long-term trends. The market recovery is inevitable and the tourist industry is encouraged to make the most of investment during hard times, which will allow it to benefit from the future economic recovery. Meanwhile, leading economists and environmentalists call for large strategic investments into green energy technologies arguing that this will create many jobs and simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis (NYT, 2008).

12

5. CONCLUSIONS So far the environmental impacts of tourism have been analysed mainly from the point of view of the disturbance produced at the destination. Transportation for tourism though contributes importantly (75%) towards climate change effects. These observations have generated a growing interest for assessing the environmental impact produced by tourism by taking into account the whole life cycle. Usually LCA is used for products and the only case in which LCA is applied to a service, is in respect to tourism. Therefore the experiences gathered so far on product’s LCA cannot be immediately applied to tourism services, because of a lack of basic data, especially concerning the functional unit and the phases of the Life Cycle itself. As demonstrated by this article, the share of energy consumption of transportation in the Life Cycle of a tourist service is very high and thus it is crucial to consider it. The studies that are currently underway on the LCA of tourism services are considering the transportation phase in the framework of requirements requested for acquiring an ecolabel. These considerations have also resulted in recommendations encouraging tourist operators to promote beneficial measures for people using low-energy consumption transportation services. Note The authors of this article belong to the working group on tourism services operating in the framework of LCA Italian network (http://www.reteitalianalca.it/)

REFERENCES Commission Decision 2003/287/EC of 14 April 2003. O.J. n°L 102 of 24 April 2003. D’Angelo E., Iorio G., (2006). Energy Efficiency Policies and Measures in Italy 2006, Monitoring of energy efficiency in EU 15 (Eu project ODYSSEE-MURE) OECD Economic Survey of Italy, 2005, ENEA - Dipartimento Tecnologie per l’Energia, Fonti Rinnovabili e Risparmio Energetico ENEA, (2006) Executive Summary of the Report Energy and the Environment 2005, ENEA – Agency for Sustainable Development – Advisor EEA, 2007, State of the Environment Report, Chapter 7 http://reports.eea.europa.eu/state_of_environment_report_2007_1/en/chapter7.pdf Enviro, 2008, Aviation Environment Facts and Figures, http://www.enviro.aero/ European Commission,2006, Directive 2006/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Management of bathing water quality and repealing Directive 76/160/EEC European Commission, 2006b, Aviation study http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/pdf/aviation_et_study.pdf European Commission, 2006c, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/6eapbooklet_en.pdf Gore, A. (2008) The Climate for Change, NYT, November 9, 2008 Fayos-Solà E., Weiss B., del Río I.M., (2005). Tourism’s Potential as a Sustainable Development Strategy, World Tourism Organization IEA, 2008, World Energy Outlook,

13

Jensen B. S. (2000) Free City Bike Schemes, http://www.velomondial.net/velomondiall2000/PDF/BJENSEN.PDF Jonas, D. 2007, Survey: Corps. Show Gradual Movement on Green Travel, http://www.thetransnational.travel/news.php?cid=ACTE-KDS-sustainability.Feb-08.07 Mensah I.,(2004). Environmental Management Practices in US Hotels, Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Administration Studienkreis, 2005, Deutsche für umweltbewussten Tourismus gut ansprechbar, Ergänzungsstudie zur Umfrage "Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland 2004" belegt: Nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Tourismusangebote haben gute Chancen, http://www.studienkreis.org/deutsch/publikationen/main_publ.html UNWTO, 2006, Tourism Enriches http://www.unwto.org/media/key/en/pdf/tourism_enriches_eng.pdf UNWTO, 2008, Highlights http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/UNWTO_Highlights08_en_HR.pdf UNWTO, 2008, Launches Energy Efficiency Project, London, UK, 13 November 2008 http://www.unwto.org/media/news/en/press_det.php?id=3041&idioma=E UNWTO Climate Report, (2008). Climate Change and Tourism – Responding to Global Challenges, World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Programme Websites: http://www.ecoplan.org/library/velib.pdf http://www.italy1.it/emiliaromagna.htm Tourism Attitudes Survey November 2005 http://www.visitscotland.org/tas_2005_exec_summary_final_version-2.pdf Eurostat, 2006, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/

14