Sustainable Tourism Futures ─ Perspectives on Systems, Restructuring and Innovations

Environmentally-responsible practice is not just for eco-tourism anymore. Even traditional tour and resort operators are aware of things they can do to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations and bring them closer to sustainability. In these 16 essays contributors describe efforts to re-think the global tourism industry from the theoretical level up and offer practical examples from a national-level program in Scotland to programs initiated by hotel chains, ski resorts and even low-budget arts festivals that offer voluntary carbon offset programs for tourists. Contributors also offer ways for the industry to implement climate change mitigation, low-carbon travel systems, and sustainable transportation guidelines for nature-based tour operators and company-side sustainability schemes. The result is a comprehensive guide that is helpful to operators just beginning sustainability programs as well as to those who are seeking to expand their efforts to be environmentally responsible. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr. Stefan Gossling is research coordinator at the Centre for Sustainable- and Geotourism, Western Norway Research Institute, and an Associate Professor at the Service Management programme, Lund University/Sweden. He has been contributing author to the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report and has recently contributed to Climate Change and Tourism: Responding to Global Challenges (published by UNWTO-UNEP-WMO).

Dr. C. Michael Hall is a Professor in the Department of Management, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and Docent in the Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Finland. Co-editor of Current Issues in Tourism he has published widely in the fields of tourism, environmental history and gastronomy, including research on social marketing, climate change and sustainable consumption.

Dr. David B. Weaver is Professor of Tourism Research at Griffith University, Australia. He is author or co-author of over 80 refereed journal articles and book chapters as well as ten books on tourism management, sustainable tourism and ecotourism.