It is now widely accepted that many tourist activities have negative impacts on the environment and tourism organisations are aware that they need to make sure that these impacts are reduced as much as possible. Today, people are aware of the need for a sustainable approach to tourism.
Tourism organisations have to be aware of the ever-increasing range of regulations and laws relating to protection of the environment. These include recycling or reducing waste and reducing carbon emissions from vehicles. Nearly every form of transport, such as coaches, cruise liners and aircraft, produces some form of emission which pollutes the atmosphere, and governments are placing ever-stricter controls on tourism organisations regarding the level of emissions.
One example of the measures taken to reduce the environmental impact of emissions is for major destinations to produce guidance and often rules for coach companies and drivers who want to bring coach parties into the destination. Coach parties bring in lots of income for destinations, but large diesel engines produce a lot of pollution.
One example of the guidance provided, taken from the Cardiff City Council website, is shown below.
Coach parking – Cardiff City Council
There are coach drop-off and pick-up points near most of the main attractions, with longer-term parking available close to the city centre.
A dedicated off-street coach park with 24-hour CCTV is available close to the city centre at Sophia Gardens. The Council-managed coach park also has toilet facilities and is long-stay 7 days a week. Please note that from 1st August 2015 the number of coach parking bays is limited to 4.
Costs: £4.20 per hour, £15.50 per day
How to find us: Sophia Gardens (off Cathedral Road) CF11 9HW.
The driver's rest room and public toilets are open from 8:00am until 4:00pm, 7 days a week. For further information and booking (which is available for event days only) contact us. There are also short term on-street coach parking bays available in places which are ideal for access to both the city centre and Cardiff Bay.
Activity 1
Research 4 other destinations, including one National Park and one city in Europe, to research what guidance and/or regulations are in place for coach drivers. Summarise your findings below. Alternatively, you could produce a PowerPoint presentation.
As well as being forced into protecting the environment through rules and legislation, tourism organisations have also realised that they must show that they are concerned about the environment and make sure that people are aware of what they do.
One example is Merlin Entertainments, which owns Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventure and Thorpe Park.
Activity 2
Type – Merlin – Being a Force for Good into a search engine. You should find a document describing what measures Merlin has taken to protect the environment.
Read through the information and identify 10 things that show how Merlin is helping to protect the environment.
Downloadable Content
- Word (.docx): U2-2.1-R5-Environmental-Factors.docx