The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience

Tourism is on course to thwart humanity’s efforts to reach a zero carbon economy because of its high growth rates and carbon intensity. To get out of its carbon predicament, the tourism sector needs professionals with carbon literacy and carbon capability. Providing future professionals in the full...

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Main Authors: Bas Amelung, Eke Eijgelaar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Alicante, Instituto Interuniversitario de Geografía 2021-06-01
Series:Investigaciones Geográficas
Online Access:https://www.investigacionesgeograficas.com/article/view/the-holiday-carbon-footprint-in-tourism-education
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author Bas Amelung
Eke Eijgelaar
author_facet Bas Amelung
Eke Eijgelaar
author_sort Bas Amelung
collection DOAJ
description Tourism is on course to thwart humanity’s efforts to reach a zero carbon economy because of its high growth rates and carbon intensity. To get out of its carbon predicament, the tourism sector needs professionals with carbon literacy and carbon capability. Providing future professionals in the full spectrum of tourism-related study programmes with the necessary knowledge and skills is essential. This article reports on ten years of experience at a BSc tourism programme with a carbon footprint exercise in which students calculate the carbon footprint of their latest holiday, compare their results with others and reflect on options to reduce emissions. Before they start, the students are provided with a handout with emission factors, a brief introduction and a sample calculation. The carbon footprints usually differ by a factor of 20 to 30 between the highest and lowest. Distance, transport mode and length of stay are almost automatically identified as the main causes, and as the main keys for drastically reducing emissions. The link to the students’ own experience makes the exercise effective, the group comparison makes it fun. As the exercise requires no prior knowledge and is suitable for almost any group size, it can be integrated into almost any tourism-related study programme.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1989-9890
language English
publishDate 2021-06-01
publisher Universidad de Alicante, Instituto Interuniversitario de Geografía
record_format Article
series Investigaciones Geográficas
spelling doaj-art-66c26b60d0944045b2ab5d89e5ae1ae92025-08-20T03:34:47ZengUniversidad de Alicante, Instituto Interuniversitario de GeografíaInvestigaciones Geográficas1989-98902021-06-01758710.14198/INGEO2020.AEThe holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experienceBas Amelunghttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8501-9787Eke Eijgelaarhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8262-6124Tourism is on course to thwart humanity’s efforts to reach a zero carbon economy because of its high growth rates and carbon intensity. To get out of its carbon predicament, the tourism sector needs professionals with carbon literacy and carbon capability. Providing future professionals in the full spectrum of tourism-related study programmes with the necessary knowledge and skills is essential. This article reports on ten years of experience at a BSc tourism programme with a carbon footprint exercise in which students calculate the carbon footprint of their latest holiday, compare their results with others and reflect on options to reduce emissions. Before they start, the students are provided with a handout with emission factors, a brief introduction and a sample calculation. The carbon footprints usually differ by a factor of 20 to 30 between the highest and lowest. Distance, transport mode and length of stay are almost automatically identified as the main causes, and as the main keys for drastically reducing emissions. The link to the students’ own experience makes the exercise effective, the group comparison makes it fun. As the exercise requires no prior knowledge and is suitable for almost any group size, it can be integrated into almost any tourism-related study programme.https://www.investigacionesgeograficas.com/article/view/the-holiday-carbon-footprint-in-tourism-education
spellingShingle Bas Amelung
Eke Eijgelaar
The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
Investigaciones Geográficas
title The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
title_full The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
title_fullStr The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
title_full_unstemmed The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
title_short The holiday carbon footprint in tourism education: Learning from practice and experience
title_sort holiday carbon footprint in tourism education learning from practice and experience
url https://www.investigacionesgeograficas.com/article/view/the-holiday-carbon-footprint-in-tourism-education
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