This action is launched by
the Friends of Nature on the occasion
of the International Year of
Eco-tourism
Supported by the
Austrian Ministry for Economic Affairs
and Labour
If you feel like reviewing and improving
your own travel behaviour, access
www.checkyourtravel.info, where you will
find an inter-active questionnaire designed
for checking your travel behaviour against our
criteria. The web page also contains advice on
how to improve the eco-balance of your travels!
Imprint: Naturfreunde International, Diefenbachgasse 36, A-1150 Wien
Idea und Text: Mag. Manfred Pils, Visual Design: Karlheinz Maireder
Fotographs: Point 8, Market: Foto Sinreich, www.bioregion-ramsau.at,
all others: Mag. Manfred Pils, Archiv Maireder, Translated by: Erika Obermayer
You go in
for creative
and variegated
holiday-making?
You are suspicious
of mass products and you
don’t believe that the lowest
is necessarily the best offer?
You value a clean
and healthy environment and
appreciate close contacts with
the local population and insight into
the culture of the region you visit?
If so, the following ten tips
for ecologically sound and eventful travelling
will suit you to a T!
1
ice
o
h
c
r
u
o
It is y
Travelling –
dream and nightmare
Leisure time and holidays are the greatest
times in our life. At last we can relax and do
what we like best, or simply laze about. We
feast our eyes on the blue of the sea and the
sky or on the lush green of meadows and
woods — taking life easy. We drink clear water
and breathe fresh air, share the experience
with partners, friends or family and get to
know interesting cultures together with others.
This is the scenario of a dream holiday.
However, the things we enjoy may fast become
a nuisance to others — especially when lots of
people decide to spend their holidays in the
same place at the same time. Too much traffic,
indiscriminate settling of the countryside or
crowded beaches and pistes will generate
vexation instead of pleasure and entertainment.
The causes of such developments are highly
complex. Apart from crucial decisions taken by
regional authorities or tour operators, it is the
behaviour of individual tourists that impacts
on a whole range of aspects.
This small guide is supposed to assist you in
planning and designing your holidays so that
your expectations are sure to be met, while
neither the natural environment nor the local
population suffer any harm.
s
e
k
a
m
h
whic fference…1
the di
Year upon year, holiday trips are offered at
ever lower prices. A one-week coach tour at
150 euro? A city flight at 100 euro or a twoweek trip the carribean at 500 euro? There
has to be a flaw somewhere. As a rule, such
bargains are to be had only at the expense
of quality, the environment or the quality
of life of the local population.
1
The motto of The
International Ecotourism
Society (TIES) for the
International Year of
Ecotourism (Your
choice makes the
difference)
3
!
e
r
u
s
i
e
l
s
d
e
e
n
e
r
u
s
On the other hand, many bargains to be had
in rural regions cannot be found in any
travel catalogue.
We recommend the greening of mass tourism
products. Apart from that, providers, hotels
or regions that have been awarded recognised
eco-labels (see, for example, www.eco-tip.org
or www.yourvisit.info) should be the solution
of choice. Access the Internet data base
www.eco-tour.org. to get what you are looking
for.
Plea
y
2
a
d
i
l
o
h
n
o
o you go
d
?
g
n
n
e
o
l
t
f
o
w
o
h
w
Ho
and for
One week in Tenerife, three days in Paris, five
days’ skiing in the Alps — the frequency of
holidays is increasing, while the average
length of stay is decreasing. You can be sure
that your boss will frown every time you
apply for a holiday, so why add to the stress
once you have got away? How can you
possibly relax within five or even fewer days?
If everyone took a two-week holiday instead
of two one-week trips, the strain on climate
and health caused by traffic would be almost
halved. Considering that tourism and leisure
time pursuits generate 50% of total traffic,
this would be a major contribution to improving the quality of life both at holiday destinations and at home.
We recommend that distance of destination
should translate into length of stay – this
will justify the long access journey. If you
cover a distance of more than 2,000 km,
you should stay for at least two weeks; if
the distance is more than 5,000 km, you
should stay for at least three weeks. If the
pull of your destination is not strong
enough to keep you for a longer period
of time, it is not worth the long trip.
Why not take a short break holiday
close to home, where there is a lot
worth exploring!
Do you belong to the group of people who
have to accommodate their interest in
exploring and savouring new locations within
ever tighter time budgets? Are you driving
hundreds of kilometres in one week, ticking
off as many sights as possible? For genuine
enjoyment you have to take your time, be it
over a meal, over a drink, over a cultural
sight or over exploring foreign countries. And
there must be time for a bit of pleasant
idleness — for the famous Italian ‘dolce far
niente’. Less is truly more: less haste, more
taste.
We recommend that you prepare your holidays
with care, study the travel guides, select a
limited number of sights and activities and
leave lots of room for personal contacts.
And simply stay longer!
4
or
f
y
t
i
l
i
b
Mo
’s sake?
mobility
You need your car, because you want to get
about at your holiday destination? Driving a
car is concentrated, responsible work. Is it
worth your while to sacrifice two days of your
holiday for the access trip, which may be
laced with tailbacks and dangers? Possibly
driven by the ambition to get there as fast as
humanly possible? Nowadays, many
destinations provide bicycles, electric cars,
taxis or public transport, because the local
population (just as you yourself?) value
peace and quiet above everything else. If you
take the train, you have the advantage of
being safely driven to your destination, and
you can enjoy your holiday from the very
first minute, reading, playing games, chatting
or looking out of the window. Modern
high-speed trains cover 1,000 km within
eight hours – which is usually less than it
takes by car.
We recommend, that you opt for destinations
which are easily accessible by public transport
and equipped with adequate local transport
systems. By the way, many hotels will send a
car to meet guests at the railway station. And
many railway companies offer door-to-door
luggage transport.
Information on places which are easily
accessible by public transport is available from
the Gemeinschaft autofreier Tourismusorte
(GAST), the Netzwerk sanfte Mobilität
(www.soft-mobility.com) or from alternative
transport clubs, such as VCD
(www.verkehrsclub-deutschland.de), VCÖ
(www.verkehrsclub.at) or VCS (www.vcs-ate.ch)
By the way, think twice before opting for a flight
to cover less than 800 km. A disproportionate
amount of highly polluting kerosene is being
burnt just to shorten your trip by two to three
hours. Trains use the same amount of fuel to
cover four times the distance.
5
here to
W all the
stow ment?
equip
Surf board, skis mountain bike, rubber dinghy
— a lot of equipment is needed for an actionpacked holiday. Who wants to lug it to the
train? Many cars owe their size solely to the
fact that they have to provide sufficient
luggage room for a few holiday trips a year.
Rely on the magic formula, “Don’t buy it, rent
it!”. Nowadays, every type of equipment can be
rented at the holiday location, and frequently
it is more up to date than your own, because
technology keeps advancing. Renting
equipment is not only more convenient, it is
also cheaper (or are you seriously pretending
that there is no long unused equipment stored
in your basement?).
We recommend that you rent special equipment
at your destination and enjoy a relaxed and
comfortable trip. Should you, as a result, have
less need of your car, think of car sharing as
an excellent, cost-efficient alternative.
6
e do you
Wher at your
stay ion?
destinat
The best place to stay would surely be a finca
or a small house in the middle of the countryside. If it is an old house or even a farm
house whose owners have taken on the task
of landscape management, everything is just
perfect. Newly built tourist accommodation
always means use of land, need for energy
and water supply as well as for waste
disposal and access to transport networks.
A medium-sized hotel takes up the same area,
but is used by many more people than a
bungalow, let alone a second home. We are
talking about land which is scarce at holiday
destinations, not mentioning the fact that a
scattered holiday settlement is hardly a sight
for sore eyes.
We recommend that you opt for
accommodation within the village, in old
houses or medium-sized hotels. Their
eco-balance is better. Your best choice is
accommodation distinguished by one of the
many eco-labels for tourism enterprises
(see also www.eco-tip.org, www.eco-tour.org
or www.yourvisit.com).
Holidays are typically taken at the hottest
time of the summer and the coldest time of
the winter. Large amounts of energy and
water are needed to cool or to heat rooms.
Some tourism facilities and equipment, such
as indoor swimming pools, indoor sports
facilities, golf courses or snow canon
consume enormous amounts of energy and
water which is particularly scarce in coastal
regions and on islands.
We recommend that skilful shading should be
used to cool rooms in summer. Water has to
be used economically especially in southern
regions and on islands. Avoid tourism
activities which consume more water and
energy than is available within a given
region in the season in question.
7
Scarcetayter and
of w nergy
e
9
n
o
s
a
e
s
y
r
Eve ts attractions
has i
It has become ultrafashionable to have a
bathing holiday in winter and a skiing holiday
in summer. This means either long-haul travel
or expensive facilities, such as ski domes or
air-conditioned bathing landscapes, most of
which consume a lot of energy.
8
We recommend that you should go in for and
enjoy the attractions and activities typical of
each season. Seasonally appropriate activities
both save energy and extend the seasons in
holiday regions. Incidentally, product prices
are usually lower in the off-season!
Shoppinngd meals
a
Shrimps on mountain huts, Angus beef steak
in Italy or tomatoes and mozzarella at the
Baltic Sea — thanks to cheap transport, which
does not cover its external ecological and
social costs, everything is possible! On the
other hand, we do travel to discover what is
unique and unmistakable about a region. So
we drink Barolo in Piemonte, we have pumpkin
seed oil in Styria, chicoree in Brussels or
green herring in Bremen. This extends and
enriches our experience while promoting local
business and protecting the environment,
since local products are less burdened with
transport kilometres. Another major problem
is the packaging material which ends up on
landfills or sometimes even in nature.
We recommend that in view of the risk of
BSE and considering recent food
scandals organic farming should be
strongly promoted. Look for local organic
products at your holiday destination.
Patronise restaurants which cooperate
with local suppliers, buy food or other
products from local providers
(e.g. farmers’ shops).
Deliberately avoid packaging
or non-recyclable plastic
waste.
10
es
t
i
n
u
g
n
ravelli
T
I am sure that you, too, are annoyed by
tourists lording it at restaurants and carping
about anything and everything, because it is
not what they are used to at home. They
seem to forget that tourists are guests, not
landlords. Different cultures have for
centuries enriched one another, and
especially the progress and the quality of life
in the industrialised countries is
inconceivable without the influence of
external cultural traditions. Contacts,
exchange, conversation, understanding, and
learning add spice and variety to our life.
We should be aware of it and enjoy it.
Travelling in
“developing countries“
We recommend that you seek contact with the
local population. You will find that this is
how you really get to know a country and its
people. Keep in mind Immanuel Kant’s
definition of freedom: As a tourist in foreign
countries behave as you would expect
tourists to behave in your own country.
Then nothing can go wrong.
Not all of these tips can be followed on
long-haul travel holidays in countries with
unfamiliar cultures. In these countries the
social aspects of tourism deserve special
consideration: the destruction of traditional
livelihoods, child labour or even child
prostitution, economic responsibility and, in
particular, the meeting of travellers and
hosts who belong to entirely different
cultures
Refer to another brochure, issued by
“respect”, for useful tips regarding travels to
developing countries.
Additional information and tips for holiday
travels to these countries is provided by the
following organisations:
ECPAT (www.ecpat.net)
respect (www.respect.at)
AKTE (www.akte.ch)
tourism watch (www.tourism-watch.org)