This thesis aims to apply the concept of the Ecological Footprint (EF) to examine the impact that the tourism industry has on the environment through energy consumption and also investigates patterns of energy-consuming behaviour among tourists and tourism businesses. EF is becoming an increasingly popular analytical tool in tourism studies. However, at present most attention has fallen on its value for studying tourism in international level. Moreover, very few studies have taken account of the influence of social factors when making EF calculations linked to tourism. As a consequence of these biases, there is currently a need for studies of tourism which take account of EFs at the destination level and how the behaviour of tourists and tourism businesses affects energy consumption at holiday destinations. This study addresses this gap by investigating the EF of energy-consuming behaviour linked to tourists and tourism businesses at a particular holiday destination, namely Koh Samui in Thailand, and also by exploring the factors which influence this kind of behaviour. The findings of this study show that most tourists rely on modes of transport which release high levels of CO2 (especially long haul flights). In the case of Thailand, a majority of tourists fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui and then use private cars to get around the island. Energy intensive electrical appliances such as air conditioning and tankless hot water heaters were widely used in accommodation, while beach activities, which generally have a low carbon footprint, attracted the largest numbers of tourists. It was also found that demographic factors, including travel behaviour and concern for the environment, influenced these kinds of behaviour in various ways. As regards different types of tourism business, in the accommodation sector hotels used the largest quantities of electricity while tour operators used more diesel and petrol than any other type of tourism business. Furthermore, it was also found that even though respondents who stayed in five-star hotels expressed the greatest level of concern for climate change, they still considered their own convenience and satisfaction to be their highest priorities. Tourism on Koh Samui consumed about 54.55 PJ of energy in 2007 and thus needed 3.41 gha of forest land to absorb the resulting CO2 emissions. Given that this figure exceeds the current world-average biocapacity of 1.8 gha, it can be stated that tourism on Koh Samui is currently unsustainable. This study highlights the relationship between the EF of tourism at a particular holiday destination and the energy-consuming behaviour of both tourists and tourism businesses. In this way, it is shown here that excessive energy consumption combined with a lack of effective energy management in the business sector can lead to the development of an unsustainable EF. In response to this finding, practitioners and policy-makers should consider ways of mitigating EFs linked to tourism.

Is the biggest tideland reclamation project in the world (the STRP) sustainable? Since 1991, the STRP which aims at converting mudflats into 401 km2 farmland and industrial complex has been carried out in the southwestern coast of South Korea. I designed a comparative study between two neighboring rural townships with nearly identical social and ecological features except that one is within the project area and no longer has mudflats, and the other is outside of the project area and has retained its mudflats (an important source of clams). This dissertation answers the question above by comparing, sustainable development indicators and quality of life indicators in the two townships. I expected to find that people living in the township within the project area would be more sustainable because they have gone through with the environment versus development controversy in their own villages and many of them participated in person in protests with the national/local environmental movement organizations. This study uses one of the best known consumption-based sustainable development indicators (SDIs) - Personal Ecological Footprint (PEF), combined with the ethnographic data from the two townships (Gyehwa-township and Simwon-township) – to demonstrate that the PEF values of the two townships appear to be the same and the status of quality of life is quite similar. As an explanation of the unexpected result, this study contends that the level of sustainable development of the people in the in-project area (Gyehwa-township) has been more affected by nation-wide economic development trajectory than by a major regional development project (the STRP). The first stage of the STRP - the construction of the dykes - has brought about a significant effect of displacement, which cannot be said to be sustainable. However, the total influence on sustainable development in South Korea by the STRP will be determined by the progress of the second stage - internal development.

Once considered a 'green' industry, tourism and its associated ecological impacts are now widely acknowledged. Focus within tourism planning has aimed to reduce the ecological burden placed on a destination area, and move towards a more sustainable tourism industry. This research proposes the use of the Ecological Footprint (EF) as a tool to compare the ecological costs of different types of tourism. The EF shows the relative amount of productive land appropriated by the activities and choices of an individual tourist. The main goal of this study was to analyse and compare the ecological resource use of tourism in Ontario. Surveys were conducted with tourists staying at 9 different types of accommodations throughout Ontario. Additional data were collected from personal interviews with accommodation managers at each location and incorporated into the EF calculation. Four areas of tourism ecological impact were identified; tourists' personal consumption, transportation, activity, and accommodation costs. These four components contributed in varying degrees to each tourist Ecological Footprint, and this variation became the main area of analysis. The findings of this research demonstrated that air travel contributes significantly to the total ecological cost of a particular tourism experience. Comparably, travel by personal car made a much smaller contribution to the tourist EF. Thus, local area tourists who could drive to a destination had a smaller EF than those long-distance domestic and international tourists who flew. Accommodation ecological costs were primarily a factor of the amount of built space available, and total energy usage per guest. Accommodations that had a large number of occupants for a given area and level of energy consumption achieved a scale of efficiency. In this manner, larger, more efficiently constructed accommodations often made smaller contributions to the tourist EF than small-scale, but inefficient accommodations. The main conclusion was that the ecological impacts of tourism can be quantitatively recorded, and that a complete trip view of tourism ecological resource use is necessary. When considering practical applications in the tourism industry, an Ecological Footprint analysis could be used by tourism managers as an evaluative tool to compare the ecological outcome of various construction, programming, and operational changes. For the tourist, the EF can serve as an 'eco-label', to distinguish one type of 'green' tourism from another, creating a more informed consumer. Ultimately, the Ecological Footprint serves one purpose- to demonstrate that less ecologically consumptive tourism choices are possible for both tourists and tourism managers.

Once considered a 'green' industry, tourism and its associated ecological impacts are now widely acknowledged. Focus within tourism planning has aimed to reduce the ecological burden placed on a destination area, and move towards a more sustainable tourism industry. This research proposes the use of the Ecological Footprint (EF) as a tool to compare the ecological costs of different types of tourism. The EF shows the relative amount of productive land appropriated by the activities and choices of an individual tourist. The main goal of this study was to analyse and compare the ecological resource use of tourism in Ontario. Surveys were conducted with tourists staying at 9 different types of accommodations throughout Ontario. Additional data were collected from personal interviews with accommodation managers at each location and incorporated into the EF calculation. Four areas of tourism ecological impact were identified; tourists' personal consumption, transportation, activity, and accommodation costs. These four components contributed in varying degrees to each tourist Ecological Footprint, and this variation became the main area of analysis. The findings of this research demonstrated that air travel contributes significantly to the total ecological cost of a particular tourism experience. Comparably, travel by personal car made a much smaller contribution to the tourist EF. Thus, local area tourists who could drive to a destination had a smaller EF than those long-distance domestic and international tourists who flew. Accommodation ecological costs were primarily a factor of the amount of built space available, and total energy usage per guest. Accommodations that had a large number of occupants for a given area and level of energy consumption achieved a scale of efficiency. In this manner, larger, more efficiently constructed accommodations often made smaller contributions to the tourist EF than small-scale, but inefficient accommodations. The main conclusion was that the ecological impacts of tourism can be quantitatively recorded, and that a complete trip view of tourism ecological resource use is necessary. When considering practical applications in the tourism industry, an Ecological Footprint analysis could be used by tourism managers as an evaluative tool to compare the ecological outcome of various construction, programming, and operational changes. For the tourist, the EF can serve as an 'eco-label', to distinguish one type of 'green' tourism from another, creating a more informed consumer. Ultimately, the Ecological Footprint serves one purpose- to demonstrate that less ecologically consumptive tourism choices are possible for both tourists and tourism managers.

The fishery for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) has received considerable attention in recent years, owing largely to the possibility of its significant expansion and the ecological implications of increased extraction of a keystone species. This thesis employed Ecological Footprint (EF) analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) to measure the resource use, energy use, and emissions associated with three krill-derived products: meal and oil for aquaculture feeds, and omega-3 krill oil capsules for the nutraceutical market. The product supply chains of one krill fishing and processing company, Aker BioMarine, were used as a case study to examine Antarctic krill-derived products. Antarctic krill products were compared to products from similar fisheries targeting other species for reduction into meal and oil, including Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus), on the basis of marine footprint, carbon footprint, and fuel use intensity.

Planners and designers of sustainable communities claim they design them according to sustainability principles, but residents must also embrace those principles in their private lives in order to reduce the community's ecological footprint. One such sustainable community is the "UniverCity" on Burnaby Mountain next to the Simon Fraser University. This research investigated the influence of the residents' individual behaviour on the total ecological footprint of this sustainable community and how planners can influence their residents' behaviour. Using the UniverCity as a case study, this research demonstrates that not all sustainable community planners attempt to influence the residents' behaviour to be more sustainable and that the planners do not always measure the ecological footprint of a community. The study recommends that community planners should attempt to measure this or similar indicators and use direct and indirect influencing methods to build an active and engaged community and foster sustainable behaviour.

Many tools have been developed to assess global, national or regional sustainable development policies. However, as governments develop sustainable policies, individuals must also feel empowered to affect their personal impact on the planet. This thesis integrates three sustainability concepts that lend themselves to individual sustainability: The natural step, life cycle assessment, and the ecological footprint. TNS serves to provide the meaning and substance toward sustainable development. LCA helps provide the framework for assessing sustainability. The EF calculator determines the driving components and measures the qualitative decisions made through TNS and LCA. From the analysis of the household footprint calculator a simplified footprint calculator was developed to assist individuals and communities in setting benchmarks and goals as they move away from over-consumption and towards a sustainable lifestyle.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adriana Silva de Souza.pdf: 588771 bytes, checksum: f5afcb0dd11fea5cb3632812df0f43df (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-26 / The reflection on the theme development, along with pressure from society in nature, led the growth in awareness of the environmental problems caused by incompatible standards of living through the process of regeneration of the environment. With that sustainable development has become the main choice for today's socioeconomic development. The finding of fact made researchers were in search of a development model that can guarantee the quality of life of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to survive and develop. Several tools have been developed in recent years with the aim of measuring the sustainability of economic and social systems. In an attempt to improve knowledge of sustainability indicators in this study evaluated three of the tools most widely used and recognized in the context of sustainability: the Ecological Footprint, the Dashboard of Sustainability, and the Barometer of Sustainability. The three tools were evaluated in order to identify the main elements of these indicators and their theoretical basis. The ultimate goal is to write a comparative analysis and improve understanding of sustainability indicators mentioned so that you can use these tools more clearly and consciously / A reflexão sobre o tema desenvolvimento, juntamente com a pressão exercida pela sociedade na natureza, levou o crescimento da consciência sobre os problemas ambientais gerados por padrões de vida incompatíveis com o processo de regeneração do meio ambiente. Com isso o desenvolvimento sustentável tornou-se a principal opção de desenvolvimento socioeconômico da atualidade. A constatação deste fato fez com pesquisadores fossem em busca de um modelo de desenvolvimento que possa garantir a qualidade de vida das gerações atuais sem comprometer a capacidade de gerações futuras de sobreviverem e desenvolverem-se. Várias ferramentas foram elaboradas nos últimos anos com o objetivo de mensurar a sustentabilidade de sistemas econômicos e sociais. Na tentativa de melhorar o conhecimento sobre os indicadores de sustentabilidade o presente estudo avaliou três das ferramentas mais usadas e reconhecidas no âmbito da sustentabilidade: o Ecological Footprint, o Dashboard of Sustainability, e o Barometer of Sustainability. As três ferramentas foram analisadas para que se identificassem os principais elementos formadores destes indicadores e seu embasamento teórico. O objetivo final do trabalho é fazer uma análise comparativa e melhorar o conhecimento dos indicadores de sustentabilidade mencionados para que seja possível utilizar essas ferramentas de forma mais adequada e consciente

In recent years, the impacts of tourism on the environment have indicated an urgent need for sustainability principles to be introduced within the industry. Although problems arise regarding the definition and meanings of sustainability, the Ecological Footprint has been proposed as a key indicator of sustainable tourism. In this study, the ecological footprint was adapted to a tourism context, in order to measure the sustainability of backpacker tourists, who are speculated to be environmentally friendly due to their low budgets and use of few resources. During this study surveys were conducted with 123 backpackers and hostel tourists staying at 8 hostels located throughout Ontario and Quebec. Information was collected on respondents’ food, activity and transportation behaviours, as well as hostel occupancy rates, property sizes, energy usages, and waste management routines. This data was inputted into the ecological footprint calculator to determine the average ecological footprints of backpacker tourists in Ontario and Quebec, and the relationship between the ecological footprint, demographics and travelling behaviours. In addition to the data collected for ecological footprint calculations, information was also gathered on hostel and respondent environmental behaviours. The findings indicate that backpacker tourism is substantially more sustainable than some other forms of international travel, however it is generally not sustainable as an activity. Backpacker ecological footprints were considerably higher than the average footprints of residents in their home countries, indicating the immense impacts of transportation, which accounted for 77% of the average EF in this study. As most backpackers in this study were international travellers, the transportation impacts were often a result of flight emissions and although an inquiry was made into sustainable flight options, it is clear that there is currently no perfect solution for decreasing flight impacts. As a result, reducing the ecological footprint of backpacker tourism to a sustainable level currently appears to be for the most part, impossible. However, as backpacker tourism does contribute to the social and economic sustainability of some areas, minor changes are possible within the sector, to at least make the backpacker market as environmentally sustainable as currently possible.

In recent years, the impacts of tourism on the environment have indicated an urgent need for sustainability principles to be introduced within the industry. Although problems arise regarding the definition and meanings of sustainability, the Ecological Footprint has been proposed as a key indicator of sustainable tourism. In this study, the ecological footprint was adapted to a tourism context, in order to measure the sustainability of backpacker tourists, who are speculated to be environmentally friendly due to their low budgets and use of few resources. During this study surveys were conducted with 123 backpackers and hostel tourists staying at 8 hostels located throughout Ontario and Quebec. Information was collected on respondents’ food, activity and transportation behaviours, as well as hostel occupancy rates, property sizes, energy usages, and waste management routines. This data was inputted into the ecological footprint calculator to determine the average ecological footprints of backpacker tourists in Ontario and Quebec, and the relationship between the ecological footprint, demographics and travelling behaviours. In addition to the data collected for ecological footprint calculations, information was also gathered on hostel and respondent environmental behaviours. The findings indicate that backpacker tourism is substantially more sustainable than some other forms of international travel, however it is generally not sustainable as an activity. Backpacker ecological footprints were considerably higher than the average footprints of residents in their home countries, indicating the immense impacts of transportation, which accounted for 77% of the average EF in this study. As most backpackers in this study were international travellers, the transportation impacts were often a result of flight emissions and although an inquiry was made into sustainable flight options, it is clear that there is currently no perfect solution for decreasing flight impacts. As a result, reducing the ecological footprint of backpacker tourism to a sustainable level currently appears to be for the most part, impossible. However, as backpacker tourism does contribute to the social and economic sustainability of some areas, minor changes are possible within the sector, to at least make the backpacker market as environmentally sustainable as currently possible.