How to waste less on vacation | Sara Dolnicar | TEDxUQ

Summary

The speaker, a tourism researcher, humorously highlights the underappreciated complexity and impact of tourism research. Despite initial impressions, the industry's environmental footprint is substantial, contributing significantly to global GDP and employment. The speaker explores various strategies to encourage environmentally friendly behavior among tourists, such as changing infrastructure, defaults, and offering incentives. The research emphasizes the need for painless, enjoyable solutions to promote sustainability in tourism, underscoring the potential for collective, positive change.

Takeaways

• 🤝 The speaker humorously highlights the social perception of different professions, emphasizing the need for respect towards tourism researchers.
• 📊 Tourism is a massive industry, with 1.2 billion international tourists in 2015, projected to rise to 1.8 billion by 2030, and billions of domestic tourists.
• 💰 The tourism industry significantly contributes to the global economy, accounting for 10% of the global GDP and providing 1 in 11 jobs worldwide.
• ⚠️ Despite its economic benefits, tourism has environmental impacts, contributing to global warming, CO2 emissions, solid waste, and water usage.
• 🌱 The speaker advocates for making the tourism industry more environmentally friendly, given its size and impact.
• 🏨 Governments and the tourism industry may not be the best agents for regulation due to potential revenue loss and profit reduction, respectively.
• 👥 The responsibility to make tourism more sustainable could fall on tourists themselves, who are numerous and could collectively make a difference.
• 🚢 A study showed that while tourists claim to consider the environment, their actions often do not align with eco-certified choices.
• 📉 Attempts to encourage environmental behavior through reminders, guilt, or education have largely been ineffective in changing tourist behavior.
• 🎯 Small, targeted changes like reducing plate size at buffets can significantly reduce food waste and have a positive environmental impact.
• 💡 The speaker suggests that 'nudging' tourists towards environmentally friendly behaviors, such as through default changes or rewards, can be effective.
• 🌐 The potential for positive change in tourism is vast, with even small percentage changes in behavior among billions of tourists leading to significant environmental benefits.

Q & A

What is the speaker's profession and how does it often lead to an awkward silence at dinner parties?

The speaker is a tourism researcher. This often leads to an awkward silence at dinner parties because, unlike her husband's profession as a chemistry professor, people tend not to be as impressed with tourism research and may not immediately see its value or relevance.

Why does the speaker ask the audience to be nice to tourism researchers at dinner parties?

The speaker asks the audience to be nice to tourism researchers because she feels that their work is often undervalued and misunderstood. She wants to raise awareness about the importance and complexity of tourism research.

What is the scale of the tourism industry in terms of international and domestic tourists?

The scale of the tourism industry is massive, with 1.2 billion international tourists traveling every year, predicted to rise to 1.8 billion by 2030, and an additional five to six billion domestic tourists.

How significant is the tourism industry's contribution to the global economy and employment?

The tourism industry contributes 10% to the global GDP and is responsible for one out of every 11 jobs on the planet.

What are some of the environmental impacts of the tourism industry?

The tourism industry contributes up to 12.5% to global warming, generates 5% of CO2 emissions, produces 35 million tons of solid waste annually, and hotel accommodation uses 1.3 cubic kilometers of water every year.

Why is it challenging to make the tourism industry more environmentally friendly?

It's challenging because government regulation could sacrifice tourism revenue, and self-regulation by the industry could reduce profits, affecting their bottom line. This often results in a lack of motivation for such changes.

What role can tourists play in making the tourism industry more sustainable?

Tourists can play a significant role by behaving more environmentally friendly during their travels. Even a small fraction of the billions of tourists making sustainable choices can have a substantial impact on the industry's environmental footprint.

What was the outcome of the study where tourists were asked if they considered the environment when choosing a boat tour?

60% of the study participants claimed they considered the environment when choosing their boat tour. However, only 23% of those on the eco-certified boat knew they were on the eco-certified option, indicating a disconnect between their stated values and their actual knowledge and behavior.

Why do people often fail to act environmentally friendly during their vacations, according to the speaker's research?

People often fail to act environmentally friendly during vacations because they are seeking enjoyment and may not want to sacrifice pleasure for environmental concerns. Additionally, they may not be aware of the environmental impact of their choices or may rationalize their behavior with various excuses.

What are some effective strategies the speaker suggests to encourage environmentally friendly behavior among tourists?

The speaker suggests strategies such as changing infrastructure (e.g., reducing plate size at buffets), changing defaults (e.g., providing recycled paper serviettes instead of cotton), and offering rewards for desired behavior (e.g., drinks vouchers for not having rooms cleaned daily).

What is the potential impact of getting just 1% of tourists to forgo daily room cleaning?

If just 1% of the total number of tourists chose not to have their rooms cleaned daily, it could save enough water to provide for food preparation and drinking for 5 million people every year, demonstrating the significant potential for positive environmental impact.