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In the vacation choice structure, denoting how vacation choices such as choice of destination, travel mode, and accommodation, are related and prioritized by tourists, every choice plays an important and unique role. Although it has been recognized that vacation choices inter-relate in several different aspects, previous research has primarily studied the primacy aspect. It can however be argued that to only study the primacy of vacation choices is too limited and that it is necessary to also include other aspects, especially how important a certain vacation choice is to the tourist. This knowledge is important in order to get a more holistic picture of the vacation choice structure, but also for understanding the demand for green tourism. It can be argued that the vacation choice structure has an influence on tourists’ possibility to make green choices. This thesis extends present knowledge by analyzing the inter-relation between vacation choices and providing a framework for how the vacation choice structure is related to tourists’ green choices. The influence of personal factors such as values and green attitudes on the vacation choice structure and tourists’ green choices are also examined. Four studies with quantitative data are included in the present thesis. The findings of the first study show that the vacation choice structure varies with regard to primacy, importance, inflexibility, and impact on other choices, which further explains the inter-relation between vacation choices. The findings also show that familiarity with a destination has an effect on how important and inflexible the destination choice is experienced. The second study shows how value orientation mediates the relationships between socio-demographic factors and tourists’ green attitude. The findings suggest that the relationships vary depending on what vacation choice that is in focus, indicating that it is not possible to talk about a general green attitude in tourism. The study thus contributes to the knowledge about how values and green attitudes in tourism are related. In the third study, the findings from the second study are advanced by showing a positive relationship between the value type universalism, green attitudes, and tourists’ green buying intentions. This further enhances the knowledge about determinants for tourists’ green buying intentions. In the final study, the inter-relation between vacation choices are examined by studying the trade-off tourists make between and within various choices in a vacation package. If and when green alternatives are included in the different choices are also studied, as well as the influence of value orientation of tourists’ green choices. The study advances the knowledge about the vacation choice structure and its relation to green tourism. The results also suggest that value orientation does not directly affect the vacation choice structure. To conclude, the findings of the present thesis show that it is not possible to define a universal vacation choice structure. It is suggested that the motive of the vacation and the choice situation play important roles here. Further, it can be concluded values do influence green buying intentions through green attitudes, but that it is not likely that this intention results in an actual green behavior if the behavior does not give any individual benefits to the tourist. Finally, the findings demonstrate that the vacation choice structure can influence tourists’ possibility to make green choices as the most important vacation choice governs to what extent other less important choice alternatives are possible to consider. Taken together, the findings develop theory about the vacation choice structure and its relation to values and green tourism as well as it provides practitioners with important knowledge and suggestions on how to make their work more efficient.

The aim was to evaluate the primary and secondary potential for tourism development in the tourist area of Central Bohemia - southeast and based on this evaluation propose options for sustainable development of tourism in the tourist area with defining vision, aims, priorities and actions.

As buildings have become more energy efficient, the energy demand for preparation of domestic hot water stands out as an increasing part of the operational cost and carbon footprint of a building. Most of the heat in the water is used for a short time and then discharged to the main sewer line. Clarion Hotel Stockholm is an example of such a building, with many showers, bathtubs and a spa. The hotel business is growing around the world and its customers demand comfortable stays. A parallel trend is a more environmentally aware tourism and business travel. Hotels show a great potential for energy savings, while still offering comfortable accommodation. In this master's thesis a case study evaluates the possibilities for heat recovery from the wastewater of Clarion Hotel Stockholm. Three types of heat exchangers were modelled in the system dynamic modelling environment STELLA: a horizontal, a vertical and a shower heat exchanger. Recovered heat was used for pre-heating of the incoming water for domestic hot water preparation. The flows of heat through the hotel's tap water and wastewater systems were schematically modelled using system dynamic modelling, which provides a foundation for the development of mathematical models and further research into the area. The first results point to possible reductions of the heating demand for domestic hot water preparation at Clarion Hotel Stockholm.

Le gouvernement français s'est engagé sur un ambitieux objectif de développer l'éolien offshore pour atteindre une capacité de 6 GW d'ici 2020. La construction d'éoliennes terrestres, tout comme les éoliennes offshore, est très contestée en raison de leur impact visuel sur le paysage. Dans la région française du Languedoc Roussillon, les acteurs concernés (industrie touristique, commerces, pêcheurs, élus locaux), craignent que la construction de parc éoliens offshore aie des effets néfastes sur le tourisme, en donnant à la région une image industrialisée et « bétonnée ». Jusqu'à présent, en mer du Nord, il n'a jamais été mis en évidence que la construction de parcs éoliens offshore ait réellement affecté l'attractivité touristique des côtes environnantes. On peut se demander si ce constat peut être extrapolé à la cote méditerranéenne. Depuis une dizaine d'années, lorsqu'ont débuté les débats sur la possibilité d'exploiter les vents méditerranéens, beaucoup de préjugés sont apparus sur l'impact potentiel négatif que cela pourrait avoir sur le tourisme. La réticence a d'autant plus augmenté lorsque le Languedoc Roussillon a été inclus dans le zonage de l'appel d'offre concernant la construction de 2 GW de parcs éoliens.Il était donc pertinent de mener une enquête auprès des touristes du littoral pour évaluer comment l'installation de parcs éoliens, installés à des distances réalistes des côtés, pourrait affecter le tourisme balnéaire. Par ailleurs, il était également intéressant de proposer des stratégies que les stations balnéaires pourraient adopter pour augmenter le nombre de touristes et leurs profits, avec ou sans parc éolien. Pour répondre à ces questions, une enquête d'évaluation mobilisant la méthode des « choice experiment », a été réalisée durant l'été 2010, auprès de plus de 350 touristes, sur les plages languedociennes.Les résultats de cette enquête, présentés au chapitre 3, montrent que les coûts liés à la nuisance visuelle s'annulent lorsque le parc éolien est installé à des distances comprises entre 8 et 12 km de la côte. L'enquête a également mis en évidence une forte demande pour la mise en place de démarches éco responsable (favorisant les produits locaux, le vélo, les transports publics et les économies d'eau et d'énergie) par les stations balnéaires. Ainsi, nos résultats montrent que la nuisance vécue par l'installation d'un parc à 8 km de la cote serait compensée par la mise en place simultanée d'une « démarche verte ». Par ailleurs, la construction de récifs artificiels associé au parc éolien, qui permettrait l'accès à des loisirs récréatifs (plongée sous marine par ex.) générerait, d'après nos résultats, une augmentation des dépenses des touristes, si ce parc était installé à une distance d'au moins 5 km de la côte.De nos résultats émergent deux principaux constats :- L'implantation d'une éolienne à 12 km de la côte, sans aucune évolution de la station par ailleurs, n'aurait pas d'incidence négative sur le tourisme.- Si la station balnéaire met simultanément en place des actions environnementales et des activités récréatives, le parc éolien peut alors être conçu à partir d'une distance de 5 km de la côte.L'écart entre le Consentement à Payer pour un bien et le Consentement à Recevoir une compensation pour renoncer à ce même bien est un phénomène très largement mis en évidence en économie de l'environnement. Dans une seconde partie de la thèse, nous prenons en compte dans nos estimations économétriques cet écart entre les pertes et des gains dans la fonction d'utilité. En tenant compte de cette asymétrie, nous estimons une réduction de moitié de la nuisance vécue par rapport aux éoliennes si le parc éolien est déjà installé. D'un autre côté, les bénéfices liés aux activités récréatives et à une démarche éco responsable sont perçu comme plus élevés si ces activités étaient déjà mises en place. / The French government has committed itself to an ambitious target of boosting the offshore wind power capacity to reach 6 GW by 2020. Wind turbines onshore as well as offshore are highly contested on visual grounds. Affected stakeholders, ranging from business and property owners, fishermen and elected municipal planners, fear significant negative economic impacts on their ‘business' or their ‘property'. In the French Mediterranean region of the Languedoc Roussillon, the expectation is that the tourist industry will be chagrined in the presence of an offshore wind farm – giving a windy and cemented image of the region. Since talks began about 10 years ago, on the potential for ‘harvesting' the winds of the Mediterranean Sea, many postulates have been made with regard to the impact on coastal tourism. In particular, resistance mounted when plans to include the Languedoc Roussillon in the 2011 tender for the construction of 2 GW wind power capacity were materialising. In this light, it was considered of pertinence to investigate how offshore wind farms, installed at realistic distances from the coast (5, 8 or 12 km), would affect coastal tourism. Additionally, it was considered of interest to help define strategies that coastal community resort may adopt to boost visiting numbers or profit margins with or without wind farms. To answer these questions a full-scale choice experiment valuation survey with over 350 tourists was undertaken in the summer of 2010 on Languedoc beaches.Our survey results show (in chapter 3) that average visual disamenity costs tends to zero, when an offshore wind farm is installed somewhere between 8 and 12 km from the shore. We also find that there is considerable demand for “sustainable” coastal community resorts that favours local produce, bicycling, public transport, energy and water saving devices. Thus, our estimates show that a wind farm installed 8 km from the shore could be ‘compensated for' through the simultaneous ‘greening' of the coastal community resort. If in addition a wind farm is associated with artificial reefs and recreational user access, our results point to an actual rise in tourist related revenues when the wind farm is located min. 5 km from the coast. The policy recommendation is thus two fold: Everything else equals, a wind farm located 12 km offshore will have no negative incidence on tourism. With simultaneous application of a coherent environmental policy and wind farm associated recreational activities, wind farm siting can be conceived from 5 km and outwards.In a latter stage (chapter 5) we explicit account for the well-established fact that humans' over-estimate losses compared with equal-sized gains, in our econometric estimations. By incorporating so-called gain-loss asymmetry in the utility function, we observe that the WTP to remove wind farms had they already been installed is half the compensation required to accept their presence during a vacation. The disamenity costs associated with wind farm installation are thus of a significantly smaller magnitude had the wind farms already been installed. On the other hand, the welfare benefits associated with eco-efficiency and wind farm associated recreational activities are larger had they already been invigorated. The verdict is that asymmetry should be accounted for, or at least recognised in stated preference valuation studies that simultaneously use utility increasing and utility decreasing attributes.

There remain vast knowledge gaps in the global south as to how tourism will affect climate change and vice versa. Recent extreme weather events in southern Africa attributed to climate variability and change have led to speculation that, the Victoria Falls, is under threat from climate change. This research was aimed at examining the two-way linkage between tourism and climate change. The research adopted a pragmatism paradigm in a mixed-method case study. A number of research techniques were used to investigate the problem, namely: an online survey (n=427), secondary data analysis, field observation and interviews. Data analysis was done making use of Mann-Kendall Trend Analysis, QuestionPro analytics, Microsoft Excel Analysis Toolpak, Tools from ArcMap 10.3.1 and SPSS 24. Content analysis and thematic analysis was used to analyse secondary and interview data respectively. It emerged that the Victoria Falls is experiencing climate change, which resulted in statistically significant increase in temperature over the past 40 years of between 0.3°C and 0.75°C per decade. However, no significant changes in rainfall were noted, although there has been a seasonal shift in average rainfall onset. Weather extremes and annual rainfall point to increased occurrence and severity of extreme years of droughts and wetting which has in turn also affected waterflow regime at the waterfalls. The changes have a negative impact on wildlife, tourists, and tourism business in the area. The study also revealed that tourism is an equally significant driver of climate change through carbon emissions throughout its value chain. Carbon emissions from tourism value chain are set to increase in the foreseeable future despite efforts of going green by the industry owing to exponential growth of the industry. There is, therefore, a need for the industry to adapt, mitigate and intensify green tourism efforts to achieve sustainability. The study further suggests that there is a need for better communication and education to build resilience and capacity for the tourism industry to deal with climate change. Further research is suggested to ascertain the tourism threshold for the area, impact of climate change on wildlife and basin changes that led to water flow increase in the Zambezi River. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)