12. Sustainable tourism?

I just spent the last 2 weeks in sunny Queensland, in north-east Australia on Hamilton Island and Airlie Beach. It is a beautiful and great part of Australia with tropical weather and warm oceans. I traveled on planes, boats, buses and cars, and stayed in hotels, resorts and caravan parks. Everywhere I went I saw logos and certification for eco-friendly tourism. Clearly, the tourism industry is trying to reduce its impacts and incorporate sustainability criteria into processes and activities. At the same time, there are some inherent challenges in all the "traveling" involved in "traveling", the direct impacts on "natural" environments when large numbers of people descend on places of interest, and the immense waste associated with hotels and resorts. In all the accommodation, a lot of emphasis was put on saving water and energy by not changing towels and bed linen every day. Here we can see a win-win for the environment and economic side of tourist accommodation. There is also perhaps a great educational side to travel. There was so much information about the natural environment and sustainability in the tours and tourist activities! Still, sustainable tourism is a constant challenge and demands that tourism operators continuously innovate, adapt and aim high.