If you were elected to public office and suddenly installed as head of the tourism ministry without previous professional experience of the travel sector (it does happen) and only a vague idea of sustainability, then this densely written book can be your crash course on how the tourism sector works and what exactly it would take – and how difficult it really is – to make it sustainable. But it is an equally useful and thought-provoking work for seasoned and aspiring tourism sustainability professionals, as it includes detailed praise and criticism of a wide range of stakeholders trying, some harder than others, to make tourism greener.
From the very first pages, it is evident that the author has a 360 degree understanding of the sector, not to mention a solid green track record as the founder of The International Ecotourism Society which she led from 1990 to 2002, then becoming a leading ecotourism consultant and educator. The book also benefits – as we are transparently informed – by the timely field research of over two hundred students that the author supervised in Harvard Extension School during the past 6 years. The book offers an extensive review of academic literature and related news and technological developments, while there are very useful endnotes and detailed references in each chapter, along with a detailed chapter summary.
This is an excerpt from an article first published by ECOCLUB.com. Read the original article here: Sustainable tourism on a finite planet. Environmental, business and policy solutions.