Energy Efficiency in the Tourism Sector

Sandra Sookram

Contents

Introduction The Environmental Impact of Tourism Direct Environmental Impacts Whats in it for Tourism? Energy Use in the Tourism Sector: Caribbean Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Accommodation Facilities Economic Benefits of Sustainable Tourism in Accommodation: Energy Efficiency Travel: Energy Efficient Mitigation Measures Agenda 21 The Caribbeans Response Conclusion

Introduction
Tourism is an important source of income for the

Caribbean. Its significance is related to the quantity of tourismrelated services associated with the sector Tourism can be defined as the activities of persons travelling
to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year.

Working definition of CDB:

Includes all economic activity of businesses providing services to and receiving payment directly from tourists. Tourists are defined to be visitors staying more than 24 hours.

Smokeless industry?

The Environmental Impact of Tourism

Direct Impacts ENERGY EFFICIENCY Indirect Impacts
Upstream impacts service providers

ability to influence suppliers

Downstream Impacts service

providers can influence the behaviour or consumption patterns of customers.

Direct Environmental Impacts

Resource Use
Energy Consumption

Electricity: Energy source for electric lamps, motor-driven appliances and electronic devices Thermal energy: Energy source for heating applications Conventional Hotels are large energy consumers Depending on electricity cost, electricity could be the second highest operating cost after labour.

Water Consumption - Hotels and their guests consume

vast quantities of water.

Direct Environmental Impacts( Continued)

Pollution and Waste Outputs Water Quality: construction and

maintenance of tourist infrastructure, recreational boating and the cruise industry.

Air Quality: most tourism-related air

pollution comes from automobiles and aircrafts- at present the sectors current contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is 5% of global anthropogenic emissions

Direct Environmental Impacts( Continued) Emissions from Global Tourism in 2005

Source CO (Mt) % to Total emission from Tourism 39.6 35.8 21.0 3.4 100

Air Transport Other Transport Accommodation Other Activities Total Total World emission Tourisms share

517 468 274 45 1,307 26,400 4.95%

Direct Environmental Impacts (Continued)

Major mitigation strategies to address greenhouse

gas emissions from tourism:

1) reducing energy use 2) improving energy efficiency 3) increasing the use of renewable energy 4) sequestering carbon through sinks.

Direct and Indirect Carbon Emissions Sources Tourism Sector

Source: World Economic Forum: Towards a low Carbon Travel and Tourism Sector

Whats in it for Tourism?

Benefits Increased competitiveness of the sector Reduction of environmental pollution Increase in the energy security of the

economy
Economic and employment spin-offs

Energy Use in the Tourism Sector

Energy Using Activities
Accommodation facilities Diversity of accommodation facilities Transportation Different modes of travel

Accommodation: Energy Use in Caribbean

Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Accommodation Facilities

Energy efficiency gains can be achieved by: Replacing standard with higher-efficiency

products
Introducing advanced systems to control

and manage energy use

Retrofitting the building envelope Improving operation and maintenance

practices

Economic Benefits of Sustainable Tourism in Accommodation: Energy Efficiency

Many energy saving opportunities require little or no up

front investment.
The premium cost of more resource-efficient systems will

quickly be recovered through reduced facility costs

More efficient use of resources, reduced demand, and

reduced waste generation will lead to lower operating and maintenance costs.
Most of these savings will appear as profits.

US$1:00 = US$6.27

Travel: Land Transport Emissions Tourism Sector - 2005

Travel: Energy Efficient Mitigation Measures

Encourage modal-shift from cars to mass-transit

systems (bus and rails).

Acceleration of fleet renewal with more fuel

efficient planes
Removal of infrastructure inefficiencies in the

airspace and air-traffic management

Integration of international aviation in the post-

Kyoto climate change agreement at a global sector level

Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a plan of action for the Travel and Tourism Industry. The ten priority areas of concern are: waste minimization energy efficiency, conservation and management management of fresh water resources waste water management hazardous substances transport land-use planning and management involving staff, customers, communities in environment issues design for sustainability partnerships for sustainable development

The Caribbeans Response

The Caribbean tourism sector has taken a major step

towards energy efficiency within the hotel industry.

The regions public and private sector tourism groupings, the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association have launched a 24-month project to help the Caribbean hotel sector move towards energy efficiency. Program is meant to drive the Caribbean hotels to implement energy efficient practices and to generate their own renewable energy. through improved energy use

The $2 million Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action

This is expected to improve their competitiveness

The Caribbeans Response (continued)

Design and preparation of the energy efficiency program and institutional strengthening.

performing detailed energy audits and understanding energy consumption patterns among Caribbean hotels.

Support for the preparation of policy in energy efficiency for the tourism sector; Assessing Caribbean energy service companies and their potential to service the tourism sector; and energy consumption surveys.

Conclusion

Within the accommodation sector, private homes and hotels are the primary contributors to energy use. Energy saving measures need to be tailored toward individual operators. The greatest energy saving potential exists by targeting the behaviour of domestic tourists, in particular that related to transport, primarily air travel and private cars. Within the transport sector, domestic air travel and cars (private and rental) are the primary contributors to energy use. Increase awareness of energy consumption issues among tourists. Develop strategies for each tourist type to reduce energy use. Continuous data collection and research in the area would give us the results of energy saving strategies.

Thank you for your attention