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396 QTaCh and Practice A^ÍCU""^
\J\J Journal Bulletin of Stavropol Beglon
UDK 338.48
Bujdoso Z., Szucs C., Kovacs G.
VIABLE USE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND GREEN ENERGY IN TOURISM
Abstract: after World War II the tourism industry experienced rapid development and it was considered to be one of the main engines of the economy. Many people wanted to spend their holiday at unknown destinations where the climate is ideal and the environment is beautiful, which became the main drive of 3S tourism. Lying on a sandy beach and sunbathing while enjoying some cocktails became a favourite past time activity of many and the desire of even more people. This awesome increase of journeys entailed many unpleasant and sometimes serious «side effect» of tourism, which included the transformation and destruction of the environment as well as the radical transformation of society and globalization problems, thus it became unsustainable.
Having recognized the negative impacts of tourism, the players of the tourism industry began to take steps to
eliminate and alleviate these problems a few decades ago. The hotel industry, referred to by some as the «Queen of the tourism industry», is one of the key players in the travel market. The operation of a hotel can cause damage both to the immediate and the wider environment, and it may transform the economic, social and natural environment of the area as well. By integrating the principles of sustain-ability, hotels can reduce the harmful consequences resulting from the process and if they apply environmentally friendly technologies, ethical business policy, educational programs and appropriate communication hotels can help the long-term and fruitful development of the tourism industry in all areas.
Key worlds: hotel service, sustainable tourism, green energy.
Dr. Zoltan Bujdoso -
Director of Institution for Tourism, Regional Development and Foreign Language at the Karoly Robert University College Gyöngyös, Hungary. H-3200 Matrai str. 36 Tel.: +36-37-518-300 E-mail: zbujdoso@karolyrobert.hu
Dr. Csaba Szucs -
Senior Assistant Professor of Institution for Tourism, Regional Development and Foreign Language at the Karoly Robert University College, Gyöngyös, Hungary. H-3200 Matrai str. 36. Tel.: +36-37-518-300 E-mail: szucscsaba@karolyrobert.hu
Gyöngyi Kovacs -
Junior Assistant of Institution for Tourism, Regional Development and Foreign Language at the Karoly Robert University College
Gyöngyös, Hungary. H-3200 Matrai str. 36
Tel.: +36-37-518-300
E-mail: kgyongyi@karolyrobert.hu
Discussion
The questions of sustainability have been a concern for decades for the stakeholders in tourism and the elimination of the unfolding environmental and social impacts inevitably caused by mass tourism as well as the minimization of the negative changes have been the focal points of a number of research. In the 1990s there was a growing demand to offset mass tourism since by then it had become clear that uncontrolled tourism development, a huge increase in volume, the unfavourable socio-cultural changes, as well as the significant pollution caused by tourism could soon threaten the tourism industry itself and its existence. Rosenov and Pulsipher were the ones who first expressed their thoughts of the «new tourism» according to which tourism is within limits of the load-carrying ability of the destination, cities are not damaged, on the contrary, by being presented they educate their visitors and tourists. After the emergence of the idea of sustainable development the demand for it appeared in almost all areas of the tourism industry and thus ethical and less-polluting and destructive alternatives were searched for [11].
The hotel industry was not an exception either as the rapid increase in the number of hotels, the expansion in the number of international tourists,
the service packages and attractions that were designed to serve mass tourism - especially at popular destinations - caused enormous damage to the environment and put significant strain on the receiving area. There were signs of environment protection in the hotel industry as early as the 1980s, but it was the «Tourism and Sustainable Development - The Global Importance of Tourism9» that provided an organized framework for the first - mainly independent - actions[15].
The working paper compiled by the World Travel and Tourism Organization and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association describes the consequences of the unsustainable practices of the tourism and accommodation industries outlines the previous steps taken for environment protection, and it draws attention to the relationship between economical operation and the use of energy resources. Since then the largest international organizations such as the International Hotel & Restaurant Association10, Green Globe11, Online Travel Agencies like TripAdvisor12, larger regions
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/wttc.pdf
http://ih-ra.com/biodiversity/ http://greenglobe.com/green-globe-certtficatton/ https://www.tripadvisor.co.hu/GreenLeaders
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such as Central American Region, the Caribbean Great Green Deal13 or the predominantly European Green Key14 which has already honored more than 2,200 eco-friendly hotels, have been awarding businesses of exemplary environmental and social achievements. At the national level the recognition of the Green Hotel has also been on the increase awarded - among others - by the tourism organizations of Hungary15, Argentina16, Italy17, Malta18 or indeed Tanzania19.
The different qualification procedures, voluntary or mandatory commitments affect many areas of the hotel operations. Having analyzed the numerous rating systems we can declare that the Ave main areas of sustainability in the hotel industry where interventions must be realized, the indicators can be improved, and where the management can create quantifiable action plans in the most effective way are as follows:
1. Energy management;
2. Waste management;
3. External environment;
4. Water consumption;
5. Communication [9].
The main points of intervention can of course be further divided or grouped on the basis whether the economic, social or environmental aspects of sus-tainability dominate in a given case. In the following parts the alternative and sustainable ways of energy consumption and practical examples are described.
Results
Tourism relies on and uses a number of resources - fossil energy, land, freshwater, food - and emits CO2, methane and waste. A number of researchers -Krippendorf [10], Steffen et al. [16], Buckley [1] etc. - have already analysed the limits of it, when the capacities are exhausted if the present trends of mass tourism are continued in an unaltered way and also if sustainability is applied.
On the basis of relevant research the main consumer of energy and the main polluter in tourism is the aviation industry which is responsible for approximately 40 % of the environmental footprint of tourism. This is followed by cars (tourism purposes), which is about 32 %. The ecological footprint of the accommodation industry amounts to 21 %, while cruise ships contribute another 1.5 % to global inputs and outputs [5]. The emission of different types of accommodation varies greatly between 0.1 and 260 kg of CO2 per guest night depending mainly on the location and the type of the hotel. Fresh water consumption can also be high as one person uses 130 liters20 of water per day in Hong Kong (including
loda
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http://www.sellosverdes.com/
http://www.greenkey. global/
http://www.hah.hu/tarsadalmi-felelossegvallalas/zold-szal-
http://www.hotelesmasverdes.com.ar/
http://legambienteturismo.it/
http://www.mta.com.mt/eco-certification http://www. rttz.org/
http://www.wsd.gov.hk/en/education/water_conservati-
cooking, washing, and bathing), in Hungary this value stands at 110 liters per day, while in Mozambique it is only 10 liters21. In tourism an average of 350 liters of fresh water is consumed per person per guest night with an additional 20 liters of fresh water per day during other activities [5]. The direct water consumption of an average EU citizen is 150 liters per day, in European hotels an average of 300 liters of water is consumed by tourists, while indirect use of water can reach 800-1500 liters per day by one tourist in the Mediterranean region [12].
The land use of accommodations is greatly depend on the nature and level of the services, thus in a simple cottage land use amounts to only 25m2 per bed while this value can rocket to 4,500 m2 in a five-star luxury hotel with a pool and golf-course [13]. According to different scenarios this can go on only for a few more years with the current high levels of food and fossil fuel consumption and with growing numbers of tourists.
The introduction of sustainable technologies, energy and water saving solutions in the hotel industry often fails due to the long payback period since very often there is not enough capital to invest due to fluctuations in the market, seasonality and high investment costs. In general it is also true that the use of environmentally friendly technologies is directly proportional to the increase in size, however, accommodation providers - such as the majority of other service providers in tourism - show a high proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises.
This is particularly true for the developing countries, which is even more problematic because the most visited destinations - especially smaller islands and island countries such as Bali, Goa, Barbados, Zanzibar, etc. - can be found there. In order to maintain their popularity hotels introduce water intensive services and facilities such as swimming pools and golf courses. This results in the fact that on certain islands the major part of the fresh water is used by the tourism industry distracting it from agriculture and from the local population. Considering the wasteful consumption habits of tourists well-designed water management in hotels is of the highest priority [20]. In addition to the environmental impacts hotels must consider the interests of the population and their own profitability thus freshwater management is not only an environmental issue. In business the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) became more powerful in the 2000s, and in the last fifteen years the majority of hotels also began to apply it [7].
With the complexity of the theory businesses can strengthen not only the pillar of environmental sustainable but also the social one, which is the responsibility of the management, but the staff, the locals, the not-for-profit organizations and the company itself can profit from it, and a typical win-win situation can be created. The systematization of innovative solutions in water consumption includes education,
on/calculation_of_per_capita_daily_water_consumption/index.html
21 https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iv %C3 %B3v %C3 %ADzhi % C3 %A1ny#cite_note-nw-22
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cooperation at all levels, and compensation techniques and known accepted by all the parties [15]. The CSR 'hotel 4R' concept (innovative Reducing, innovative Reusing, innovative Reaching and innovative Recycling) can be applied in all areas of water use such as in toilets, laundries, kitchens and gardens. If water consumption is monitored and assessed in each department and modern water-saving devices are applied 25 % of the water can be saved without causing any inconvenience or damage to the guests [17].
Hotel are large energy users, most of their overhead costs is spent on it. The higher rated a hotel, the more kWh is consumed per guest night, which grows further with higher-level services such as fitness room, sauna, business center, etc. Hotels situated in big cities tend to consumer more energy than their rural counterparts. The vast majority of energy is electricity and natural gas, the global spread of alternative energy sources remains to be seen, although there are some good examples on every continent. With the reduction of energy consumption CO2 emissions can also be reduced, with which the hotel sector can contribute to the solution of the global climate crisis. The use of various energy-saving equipment can reduce consumption by as much as 20-40 %. The rationalization of lights and the air conditioning, the partial replacement and optimized use of energy-intensive equipment (kitchen, laundry, wellness) can result in further savings. It is important to educate the staff (equipment operator) and involve them in the process, as well as to inform guests of the aspirations of the hotel [6].
The great economic transformations, the poles' shift, and the short and medium term trends show the areas on Earth where interventions can now be urgently made, so that regions where intervention is long overdue are not followed.
The bad experiences of the target areas of mass tourism and the means to recover from them can be used as examples for new destinations that are in the "involvement" or "development" phase of Butler's destination life cycle model [2]. The literature on tourism most often refers to the position of Tenerife and Mallorca as the typical case of unsustainable, extreme mass tourism, where it will be extremely difficult to reverse the damage suffered as a result of tourism [4].
The Galapagos Islands are a good example of a destination where mass tourism is becoming visible but which have noticed the dangers in time, as the Government of Ecuador has been protecting the unique ecosystem of the island from excessive tourism since 1998; the number of visitors is limited, the law regulates the distance of the giant cruise ships, and rules protect the interests of the local population [8]. Based on the trends and forecasts Southeast Asia, particularly China and Hong Kong will grow most dynamically over the next decade. Moreover, Russia and the former Soviet states like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia show a massive and dynamic economic and tourist development [21]. China used
16 % of the world energy in the early 2000s which has only increased since then [14].
The hotel sector is only a fraction of the whole but considering the enormous development it produced in the past two decades, they may pose a particular problem. The country had total of 4,418 in 1996 which increased to 13,583 by 2007. According to preliminary calculations the 20 million international tourist arrivals recorded in 1995 will expand to 130 million by 2020. In addition, domestic tourism has also strengthened, which represents a new market of 1.35 billion [3]. In recognition of the upcoming massive pressure the country pays special attention to greening the hotel industry, new houses can be built only according to stringent energy consumption rules. USA, New Zealand and UK standards are used as a model, significant sums are spent on country-specific research and the identification of good practices. Owing to the size of China the analyses must be carried out in all the different regions from the cooler parts of the country through the moderate zones to the subtropical monsoon regions, which may also unveil the differences in energy use and could later be used as a model for other destinations that wish to participate in tourism. Within a short period of time Taiwan experienced rapid growth and development in this respect as well since the guest nights doubled between 2007 (22 million) and 2012 (48 million) and still growing [18]. Having analysed the CO2 emission of Taiwanese hotels accommodation facilities Tsai et al. [4] pointed out the enormous energy requirement of air conditioners, which produce as much as 23 kg of CO2 per guest per night. Most of the greenhouse gas emission (88 %) is caused by electricity use, 3 % is generated by natural gas, and the rest is also due to fossil fuels. While this data is region and destination specific and the composition of the energy sources is also determining, the Taiwanese calculations can by all means be used in other tropical regions. CO2 emission per guest was the lowest in small home-stay facilities, followed by the average hotels specialising in domestic tourism, after that came the standard tourist hotels with very high standard deviation but the greatest polluters were the international tourist hotels which composed almost exclusively of the largest chains focusing on international tourism. Different CO2 reduction pilot methods such as tourist monitoring, behaviour influencing, minor technical alterations, and tightened local rules have been applied in all accommodation types and all of them bore favourable results reducing CO2 emissions by an average of 5-10 %.
Conclusions
Environment protection by hotels, a wider use of CSR, ethical business management and responsible tourism can together lead to sustainability in the tourism and accommodation industries. The above examples gave an insight into the size of the problem, stressing the needs for change, and warn about the scarcity of available time.
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In addition to water, fossil energy, and land use management all players in tourism must take the integrity of the closer and wider (indirectly contaminated) environment into consideration together with human resources and the interests, needs, and social welfare of the local population. In the 21st century the industry of peace must really serve peace in the long run, which does not mean the lack of armed conflicts but the harmonious coexistence of economic and political actors, local residents, visitors and a sound and healthy environment.
Achieving sustainability, making tourism liveable now is neither a question nor an alternative form, but the only way to ensure that the next generation can enjoy the beauty of tourism. The hotel industry can contribute to this goal by taking the small steps that are fortunately more and more frequently experienced around the world.
Replacing the dripping faucet, installing energy-saving light bulbs, informing the guests about the water consumption washing towels, organizing charitable activities, educating colleagues, planting trees - and many other examples - represent a step towards sustainability.
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