Oriol Miralbell's Blog

Spanish Hotels get support from ITH and TÜV Rheinland in saving electricity

The professional tourism magazine HOSTELTUR announces the initiative of the Spanish Institute of Hospitality Technology - ITH and TÜV Rheinland to help hotels in saving electricity and face the latest increase of the prices, becoming,at… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 22, 2009 at 10:29am — No Comments

Environmental Audits: a opportunity to innovate and become more competitive

Reading Scott's Parisi post on Hospitality Trends where he ponts out that "Free Environmental Audits Uncover Major Funding Opportunities for U.S" I'm convinced that in many places things are going the same way. Parisi explains that "it's a rare hotelier who has not at least considered implementing a sustainability initiative at his or her property. But many never get beyond the wishful thinking stage, because the process can seem so daunting… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 13, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Good initiative: Fairmont Hotels Power Up Green IT Program

The last edition of the Greener Buildings e-newsletter infoms about: Fairmont Hotels Power Up Green IT Program The magazine says: TORONTO, CA -- Fairmont Hotels & Resorts are adding eco-friendly IT strategies to the company's Green Partne… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 11, 2009 at 5:20pm — No Comments

How will climate change affect yout home?

Whilst writing this post news are hitting hope again because China and Russia have refused in the G8 meeting at l'Aquila (Italy) to reduce Co2 emissions. Though nature is stronger and more insistent than politicians and climate change will force deaf and blind to react against reality. We're facing a… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 8, 2009 at 8:23pm — No Comments

Tourism and Climate Change: How is the future?

Since the beginning of the financial crisis, last fall, tourism has been suffering like many other industries the consequences. Tourism demand is decreasing and companies are cutting expenses, beginning with reducing workforeces. Investments are also suffering from the crisis and this means that green policies may be also in the agenda of reductions or even cancellations. The question is: Can Tourism Industry pospone the greening strategies to become more sustainable and to fight Climate Change… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on June 29, 2009 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

Towards an Effective and Equitable Climate Change Agreement. Wuppertal proposal

The Wuppertal Institute is the author of a new proposal Towards an Effective and Equitable Climate Change Agreement. This German Institute is among the most prestigious research and consultancy centers in the use of… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on June 8, 2009 at 2:17pm — No Comments

Eco-Experiencias en el Salvador

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 26, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Tourism for Tomorrwo Awards

The WTTC (The World Travel and Tourism Council) announces the finalists and winners of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. "...in their fifth year under WTTC's stewardship are aimed at recognising best practice in sustainable tourism within… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 20, 2009 at 11:21am — No Comments

Clearwater and Pete Seeger's 90th anniversary

We often think that all that comes on the news is something new, but it isn't. I heard Pete Seeger's record "at 89" published one year ago (he'll become 90 today and a big concert will be he… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 3, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Showing good practices on greening hotels

From Green Lodging News we got this information: "HOUSTON—Hilton Americas-Houston, the city’s largest hotel, has just received the unique distinction of becoming the first hotel in the state of Texas to achieve Green Seal certification....." Some of the green initiatives used are: • Recycling plastic, paper and aluminum; • Composting fo… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 21, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Customers going green

Travel Mole explains in an interesting article some of the results of a survey done by Tripadvisor on how US tourists are getting green. From the survey, it see… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 17, 2009 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

The good and the bad of biofuels

The Wuppertal institut for Climate, Environment and Energy has published in his Newsletter a article about the First international scientific-based consensus report online available that deals on Environmental Impacts of Biofuels. This article refers to the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 2, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Soft landing will reduce by 500.000 tons carbon emission yearly

Thanks to HOSTELTUR, the professional tourism magazine, we got to know the initiative of air transportation companies to start a campaign where aircrafts will reduce carbon emission by changing the way they ususaly do their landing in airport. The article states:taht "The main responsibility of the aviation industry in Europe have launched a plan to reduce CO2 emissions by hal… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 1, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Climate change: threats ans opportunities for coastal destinations

The professional touristmagazine HOSTELTUR explains some of the conclusions of a study done by the University of Barcelona on the effectos of climate change on tourism destinations. Some of the statements appear vey illustrative of some consequences of climate change (rising 2ºC between 2011 and 2040) on coastal destinations "Barcelona will be Malaga and Malaga Marrakesh". Thus the all year long seasonality of the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 26, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Air transport, responsible for climate change

At the biggest Tourism Fair in the World, the ITB in Berlin it has been held the Conference on Aviation and Environment. This is an excerpt of the article in HOSTELTUR magazine translated into… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 17, 2009 at 10:25am — No Comments

Water shortages: You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure

An interesting article in Green Biz.coom explaining how it is important to measure water consumption to plan sustainability. This makes me think on how most Mediterranean resorts were concerned one year ago about the lack of water for the summer season. The Government of Catalonia planned some new… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 16, 2009 at 2:38pm — No Comments

A Carbon-Free Munich

As I have posted earlier in this site I like to follow up the works and research done by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy in Germany. This Intitute started by the famous researcher Von Weizsäcker has been and is a leading organization in fostering knowledge foe a sustainable and more Greening World. In his last newsletter the WWuppertal Institute has reported the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 14, 2009 at 7:25pm — No Comments

Major tourist capitals don't want polluting cars in the citycenter

The majority of carbon emissions in the world come from the metropolitan areas, especially form the cars. The need to reduce this negative impact into climate change is one of the goals that most cities in the world are trying to achieve. In Euroope, recently, 400 mayors signed an agreement to reduce carbon emmission to fight Climate Change. Among the main tourist capitals, there is also aconcern to reduce air poll… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 4, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Conflicts between Green energy and Landscape.

Since President Obama has launched his Stimulus Plan and since Green energy has become one of the economic opportunities that many governments are facing, the conflict between green energy and green NGOs is becoming an issue that will be more present Just have a look at the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 27, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Latest trends in Zoos and wildlife

The last newsletter of Reseau de Veille talks abou the new trends in thje zoos with important considerations on how these attraction parks are gaining importance in tourism and also in sustainability. Zoologists are saying that Zoos can du much for the survival of many species. Here yuo have the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 19, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Are tourism destinations ready to quit coal?

A recent article that has been referred in several fora, published on the NY Times on Febr, 14th. is titled "Is America Ready to Quit Coal?" in a very provocative and intelliogent way. The text is not to be missed because by explaining a case of a new… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 16, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Protecting and promoting the Landscape

There are several initiatives that have been raised in Europe to promote Landscape among the citizens. One of these is the new show that the Catalan television TV3 will broadcast next Spring called the Favorite Landscape (see announcement in Catalan and in… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 10, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Aviation Commitment to Action on Climate Change

I learned through Twitter from @greentravel about a port in Terracurve (sustainable green travel) with the title: Airlines must work together towards a new future, calling the industry to work together and explaining some experiments done by air companies in using bio fuel, reducing carbone mission and saving… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 6, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Spanish Government warns about the consequences of Climate Change

The Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change warns (article in spanish , and in english) in the International Tourism Show FITUR about the negative consequences of Climate Change in Spa… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 2, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Tolerance and responsibility

Ecotourism and rural tourism can threaten the agricultural economies if rural tourists and local authorities are not responsible and want to change the traditional activities because they disturb the peaceful relax of tourists. This is the case that's happening in Catalonia, where second residence and rural tourism are threatening the last agricultural industries existing in the country. Catalonia has gro… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 1, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

We must think big.

I don't think I can add better words to what Susan George is saying in her article "We must think big" published last October on New Scientist, and that now is availabel at the website of the Transnational insitute. I'm foll… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 19, 2009 at 1:02pm — No Comments

Green destinations: local authenticity besides environment

I was giving a lesson today in a wonderful town by the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain. The town is called La Bisbal d'Empordà and is surrounded by magnific landscape of wood and has an interesting old town with some excellent restaurants. The audience were professionals from the local tourist boards who have to fight daily to improve the attractiveness and the hospitality of their destinations. The topic wasn't that exciting because I had to teach the ugly part of the course; financial organiza… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 25, 2008 at 1:00am — No Comments

Green Building Premium

On The NY Times today appears an article on the debate on the cost of a Green Building premium. These discussions are happening inside the Green Building Conference in Boston this week. I'm wondering if all the countries a sort of Green Building Council like the one in the US that have a LEED standard chart for green buildings As far as I've mentioned recently I don't have any knowledge of such a pu… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 20, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Green hotels. How's the future?

In the Editorial of the March 2009 edition (vol. 28, issue 1)International Journal of Hospitality, Abrahan Pizam, the Editor.in-Chief writes about the trends and the future of Green hotels. In his article some claims are very illustrating on how the situation is evolving. It is obvious that many hotels have jumped into greening just because it is a clever marketing strategy, without implementin… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 17, 2008 at 12:17pm — No Comments

Landscape and health. A green understanding of territory.

Tourism is known as an activity that contributes to relax people and to detach them from the stressing life of their every day's work. Travel means adventure and abstraction of every day's routine. These activities are seen sometimes as therapies in many critical moments though there exist also specific tourist resorts dedicated to relax and health care like spas, health resorts, rural tourism, etc. What has really impressed me in a positive way is the appearance of the new book… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 12, 2008 at 1:17pm — No Comments

Barcelona sets environment action agenda

“We have made substantial decisions here in Barcelona; we’re showing how saving nature must be an integral part of the solution for any world crisis,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. While the world struggles with the turmoil of… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on October 19, 2008 at 5:53pm — No Comments

Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria presented in Barcelona at the WCC

October 6, 2008 (Barcelona, Spain) – United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner joined the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) today to announce the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria – based on thousands of best practices culled from the existing standards currently in use around the world – were develop… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on October 13, 2008 at 9:30pm — No Comments

The IUCN World Conservation Congress

The IUCN World Conservation Congress Barcelona, 5-14 October 2008 More than 8,000 of the world’s leading decision makers in sustainable development: from governments, NGOs, business, the UN and academia. Together in one place for 10 days: to debate, share, network, learn, commit, vote and decide. The objective: ideas, action and solutions for a diverse and sustainable world. Journeys through the Forum Barcelona… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on October 6, 2008 at 6:18pm — No Comments

Is Carbon Emission Trading a solution?

I read the article this morning "Merrill Lynch Spotlights CO2 Emissions Trading Challenge for European Airlines" and I had to think if this was a solution. First I can imagine who will pay the cost of this trading: the consumer, but will this change policies in air transportation? I had a bad experience last week-end flying with Easyjet from Barcelona to Nottingham's East Midlands Airport, caused by this strategy of the "low… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 25, 2008 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

Is it hard to live without plastic?

Christine jeavens a BBC journalist has done an experiment to leave tohether with her child and her husba… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 20, 2008 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Pollution changes the image of the landscape

We're so used to it, especially those who live in cities, that we have forgotten what are the real colors of our landscape. In an interesting article of La Gaceta.com (Argentina) the department of Multimedia Production has made a video on tyhe effects of pollution in the landscape of Tucuman. This is a revealing video on how our wealth has dramatical consequences in nature, especially thr… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 17, 2008 at 11:25am — No Comments

Barcelona is becoming greener

The Mayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu annaonced yesterday that the famous avenue Diagonal, one of the principal commercial and communication streets of the city will be dedicated to the tram and to sustainable transport like… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 9, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

SophiaBank: To incubate New Social Systems

Through Infonomia I discovered Dr Hiroshi Tasaka, founder of SophiaBank and after viewing the video of his presentation a the iFest08 in Barcelona I've visited the site of Soph… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 3, 2008 at 11:30pm — No Comments

Solar Aid. A greening initiative in solidarity

Under the message: "Imagine a world where everyone has access to affordable, clean, renewable power" Solar Aid invites you to support their projects to make clean and renewable power affordable to the third world. More info: About SolarAid Power to the people Two of the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on September 1, 2008 at 5:44pm — No Comments

Greening Denver. The green Democratic National Convention

Probably because the DNC is an important attraction that brings to the city thousands of tourists, Denver has decided (Isuppose together with the Democrats) to make green as a choice in their marketing and in the offer of services. Under the message GREENING DENVER, the site of the convention explains what they understand for beeing green: h… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on August 27, 2008 at 9:00pm — No Comments

New Issue of Renewable Energy World

The new Issue of RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD is available at: http://www.qmags.com/2FE1161B169137D81115933B1131432992FF14D988.htm It is worth to read what are the progress that this industry of Renewable Energy is experiencing now. It also shows the mnost aoutstanding projects and it shows what th… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on August 20, 2008 at 5:32pm — No Comments

Why should companies get off Petroleum now

In the last e-Newsletter of Renewable Energy World Com, Charles Cresson Wood tells "Thirty Reasons Why Organizations Must Get Off Petroleum Now". Among his claims he states: "By making the transition away from petroleum-based fuels, organizations can or will: 1. Respond to the increasing publicity about, and moral pressure favoring, the adoption of alternatives to petroleum. In the process, they will note that staff morale an… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on August 13, 2008 at 12:13pm — No Comments

SCORE Proceedings on sustainable consumption

I got today through the Newsletter of the Wuppertal Insitut (a leading research and consultancy center in Europe on sustainability an climate change) information on the proceedings of the SCORE(Sustainable Consumotion Research Exchange Network) conference held in brussled last March 2008, which you can download from the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on August 9, 2008 at 8:17pm — No Comments

New trends in Greening Tourism. From the Newsletter of Sustainable Travel International

The last issue from July Newsletter of Sustainable Travel International talks about some new Trends in Greening Tourism explaining how tourists in America are deciding to take their holidays to near destinations and how the new policies of some US airline companies for charging for checked baggage will help travelers to remind them that they can reduce the amount of things they normally take with in their holidays and reduce so the Carbon offset too. To read this newsletter subscribe here:… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 29, 2008 at 1:08pm — No Comments

Responsible Tourism Conference in the WTM in London on November 2008

I'd like to inform you that: The ICRT has been invited to partner with the World Travel Market to provide a business leaders seminar on the Business Case for Responsible Tourism at World Travel Market on Thursday November 12th 2008. Professor Harold Goodwin and Dr Xavier Font are both chairing sessions of… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 25, 2008 at 11:17am — No Comments

Travelife Sustainability System

Travelife has created a Sustainability System that was created for Tour-operators but can also benefit all the tourism businesses. It is worth to read the Travelife Sustainability Handbook where managers can realize what… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 25, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Something in the way the're moving!

In the 1970's one of my preferred songwriters James Taylor, wrote a song called "Something in the way she moves" that makes me remind the good times of my youth. Times now are tough and don't look as romantic as they were in the 1970's after the 1968 movements etc., but I believe we can try to move things so that changes foster this new hope on the future. The new p… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 9, 2008 at 12:01pm — No Comments

Some changes in the horizon

Back from Brighton where I was presenting a paper on Cultural Tourism in Catalonia, I have some issues to talk about that could be something positive. I would add first my bitter critics to the way airports and air carriers treat passengers. It is impossible to say that there's any concern of these companies to improve quality and customer satisfaction. Passengers have always to suffer and wait in long rows, to check in, to go through security control, through pass control and even to get a cof… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on July 6, 2008 at 2:52pm — No Comments

Is solar kitchen a future solution for Hospitality?

The Spanish cook Sergi Arola has said that solar kitchen is going to be an added value in cooking when customers want special cooking. In the e-zine NexoHotel they said: "The use of alternatives to contribute to energy savings in establishments also reaches into the kitchen. Coinciding with the arrival of summer, the Hotel Catedral de Almeria hosted last June 2… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on June 27, 2008 at 12:20pm — 5 Comments

Global dimming an effect that impacts also Global Warming

On the Spanish public TV, La 2, they broadcast tonight an old program (dec. 2006) from the BBC on Climate Change where it was explained how vulnerable is the Earth in confront with the Green house effect and with meteorology. We have heard about global warming as a consequence of carbon emission, but tonight I heard from Global dim… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on June 15, 2008 at 1:30am — No Comments

The NYT: "In Spain, Water is a new battelground"

Today's New York Times' edition talks about how irresponsible have been Spanish politicians and real estate companies in building over the capacity of water supply in most southern Spanish regions. It is a report on the dramatic situation that speculation and global warming have caused to the Spanish regions making them unsustainable. You can read this article at:… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on June 3, 2008 at 2:35pm — 4 Comments

The Masdar model vs the Dubay model

Last week at the XVII International Symposium on Tourism and Leisure in ESADE (Barcelona) one of the speakers.… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 27, 2008 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Workshop on responsible Tourism in Algarve

On Friday, May, 30, in Olhao, Portugal, there will be a Workshop on responsible Torusim. Place: Auditorio da Quinta de Marim, Olhao Time 10 h

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 20, 2008 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Is Benidorm a model for Ecotourism?

It may sound strange to most of you but the BBC News page on Internet published yesterday an article on what can be seen as sustainability in tourism and what doesn't fit with it. This article, that you can get here, goes deep into some issues that most experts don't mention very often, like if it is sustain… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 16, 2008 at 12:22pm — 1 Comment

SOLAR IMPULSE: Around the World in a solar airplane

From today May, 12 (starting 16.00 h central European time) to May 16 you can follow on-line the virtual flight of the SOLAR IMPULSE project, that pretends to build an airplane flying with solar energy. It is worth als to v… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 12, 2008 at 11:54am — 2 Comments

In Leeds Met University: New MSc in Responsible Hospitality Management

Dr. Xavier Font, member of Greening Tourism sent the Newsletter of teh International Center for responsible Tourism where they announce the New MSc in Responsible Hospitality Management We are pleased to announce our new MSc in Responsible Hospitality Management; this unique Masters programme builds on and complements our existing MSc in Responsible Tourism Management and is designed to provide the latest thinking and knowledge for those in the industry who want to ensure that the… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 9, 2008 at 11:38am — No Comments

Intelligent Coast Debates

In the coming Tuesday's there will be at the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, Spain (CCCB) some lectures open ti the public inside the program INTELLIGENT COAST DEBATES. It is of special interest to all the members of Greening Tourism concerned with sustainable tourism and coastal tourism conditions. The next conferences will be: FERNANDO PRATS POZUELO 7th May Archi… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 5, 2008 at 12:30pm — 5 Comments

Megan Epler: Using Ecotourism as an economic development tool.

Megan Epler was giving a Seminar on Ecotourism last Wednesday, April, 30 at the Open University of Catalonia. Her interesting presentation showed how Ecotourism can be used as an Economic development tool, especilally in developing countries like El Salvador, where Megan Epler is work… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on May 4, 2008 at 6:30pm — 1 Comment

Is water supply in danger this summer on the coast?

I'm not an old man, but in my life I have seen several difficulties in tourism, but no one so threatening as the problems we are facing now with drinking water. Catalonia is one of the leading tourism regions in Europe and in the Mediterranean. We receive every year more than 15 million tourists from abroad. As a traditional Sea and Sun destination our peak season is July and August, when we reach the highest temperatures and water is more demanded. During the last two to three years, the rain… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 11, 2008 at 11:00am — 7 Comments

Responsible events organisation

The newsletter of the Canadian network Reseau de Veille en Tourisme has published an article wher they discuss the issues on making event organisation more sustainable. The Green Meeting Industry Cpunciloffers some tips for Greening Hospitality, like: Le Green Meeting Industry Council a comme premier but dans l’organisation de son événement de faire tout en son pouvoir pour réduire son empreinte écologique et, en deuxième lieu, de compense… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 3, 2008 at 11:13am — 3 Comments

Seminar on Ecotourism with Megan Epler Wood in Barcelona

We would like to invite you to the seminar on Ecotourism that will take pl… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on April 1, 2008 at 6:30pm — No Comments

ESTC 2008 Call for Speakers Announced

TIES (The International Ecotourism Society) announces a call dor speakers for the annual Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference 2008 (ESTC 2008). Questions? contact: events@ecotourism.org. Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 27, 2008 at 11:48am — No Comments

Last Chance to Submit an Article or Advertise in the March 2008 EcoCurrents

The First Quarter 2008 edition of the EcoCurrents eMagazine will discuss sustainable use and management of water resources in ecotourism. If you are interested in submitting an article or advertising in the upcoming edition, please contact: newsletters@ecotourism.org by Tuesday, April 8, 2008. For more information on the EcoCurrents eMagazine, and to view past issues, please click… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 27, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

INteresting article: Why Solar Makes Sense

Renewable Energy World com online has published an aryicle by John Burges, Energy investor, that explains the state of the art of Solar Energy, which is really very interesting. His reflection puts on the spot the poor situation of Florida (we could extend this to Spain too) regarding the investment in Solar Energy as an alternative to the strong dependence on foreign fossile fuel that this state has. John Burges explains as an example the policies taken by the German authorities and the evnolv… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 26, 2008 at 12:10pm — No Comments

China CO2 Emissions Growing Faster Than Anticipated

On National Geographic news it appears an article about the fast growth of China's CO2 emissions that is far much higher as the forecasts. Many experts have written about the changes for sustainability that China's economic growth will suppose in the coming decades. Yet in a short time we are discovering that we are already in a non reversal situation where China's growth is impacting our economies and their sustainability. Since now, the first world, mainly North America, Europe Japan and Austr… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 19, 2008 at 6:23pm — No Comments

Ekimondo a good practice in sharing eco-tourism information

Some of our latest members are also managing the Ekimondo web site that is an excellent inititative for building a network of knowledge in eco-tousim destinations and facilities. As they explain in their site: "ekimondo est une communauté de voyageurs ouverts sur le monde, allumés par les autres cultures et les nouveaux paysages, solidaires des grands enjeux sociaux, respectueux de l’environnement et surtout curieux de découvrir le monde autremen… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on March 11, 2008 at 12:14pm — 3 Comments

Seminars on the web on carbon reduction

The US. Green Building Coubcik is offering some Webinars (on-line seminars on the web) to a reasonable cost (80 USD) dedicated to carbon reduction. Some are especially oriented to building and real estate comapnies, but there are other especially thought to orient corporate strategies on carbon reduction. As they announce in their site: Through Spring 2008 Take the first step toward achieving “zero emissions” for your company or your building projects while maintai… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 29, 2008 at 11:47am — No Comments

Global Warming Threatens Major US Travel Destinations

Major US Travel Destinations Threatened by Global Warming There is a 50% chance that Lake Mead, a key water source for millions of people in the Southwestern US, will be completely dry by 2021. The extinction of the polar bears, the sea levels rising, the severe weather threats; everyone has their own motive for wanting to fight climate change. For me it's the bleaching of the coral reefs; as a marine life and SCUBA enthusiast the thought of the reefs vanishing is unacceptable.… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 26, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

Wisions and the Good Practices brochure on Resources Efficiency Projects

WISIONS is an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute with the objective to detect and promote exemplary projects all over the world and to support new and promising project ideas at the same time. The latest elventh PREP-brochure contains good practice projects for the application of solar energy to cool buildings. Examples from Spain, the USA, Germany and China show a broad range f… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 22, 2008 at 12:46pm — 1 Comment

Planeta.com's 2008 Ecotourism Spotlight Award

PLANETA.COM ANNOUNCEMENT Government websites that spotlight ecotourism and responsible travel are eligible to win Planeta.com's 2008 Ecotourism Spotlight Award. Nominations are accepted February 15-July 1, 2008. Nominees include environmental, tourism and other government portals in three categories: local, national and international institutions. Details http://www.planeta.com/planeta/08/0802spotlightaward.html E… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 16, 2008 at 5:24pm — No Comments

'Green' initiative designed to cut down on the use of printed brochures

TravelMole informed today of the "New bid to cut brochure wastage". For those who work o¡in tourism information and tourism marketing this may be something about we all have reflected earlies. How can we shorten "brochures wastage" in tourism marketing? The amount of paper wasted in the publication of such information is enorm and it has also a very high cost, in a… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 15, 2008 at 12:49pm — No Comments

New study on the use of Environment Mgmt. Systems in Hotels

The International Journal of Hospitality Management (Volume 27, Issue 2, June 2008, Pages 187-196) has published a study by Eric S.W. Chan of the School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, intitled "Barriers to EMS in the hotel industry". It handles of a research study on how Hotels implement Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and what barriers h… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 14, 2008 at 12:25pm — 2 Comments

NY Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg urges UN for tax in cities on Carbon Emission

That NY city mayor M. Bloomberg urges UN to convice cities over the world to put taxes on Carbon Emission as it already happens in London and other European cities is a very good News. Not only for fighting global warming, but also for saving oil and for having a healthier atmosphere in the cities. Many cities are discovering that their carbon emissions have grown parallel to the number of cancer affections in their population. There must be done somthing in this regards, and that the mayor of t… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 12, 2008 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Best green companies

from TravelMole's Sustainable Tourism Newsletter we knew today that: [read the newsletter] "The UK Sunday Times has launched "Best Green Companies" to establish a new benchmark for environmental performance. The winning organisations will be profiled in a dedicated Sunday Times supplement, which will be distributed with 1.3m copies of the newspaper in the Spring,… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 12, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

Transport Revolution - new guide

Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl have published a new book: Transport Revolutions Moving People and Freight Without Oil. The book got the following commen… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 11, 2008 at 4:33pm — No Comments

Academic Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations

21st March - Academic Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations

22nd -24th March - Second International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations.

Following on from the Cape Town Conferenc…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 8, 2008 at 8:58pm — No Comments

Australia is moving forward for sustainable tourism

A great initiative to be followed by other governments has been pushed by the Australian Government through an interesting and useful study on climate change.

Clima…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on February 3, 2008 at 2:41pm — No Comments

Dow Jones Sustainable Index

Because these days the stock markets are so negatively on the spot, its maybe interesting to say that there is also a Sustainable Index of the Dow Jones, where all the information on sustainability and investments is available.
You can check their information on: http://www.sustainability-indexes.com/07_htmle… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 27, 2008 at 9:59pm — No Comments

New isseu of Sustainable Tourism e-Newsletter

Sustainable Travel International has isseud its new e-Nesletter with the following cntents:

In this Issue :: …

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 25, 2008 at 2:03pm — 3 Comments

Tourism companies are getting more concerned with Climate Change

On today's Travel Mole electronic edition we can read:

Environmental concerns starting to impact business travel - poll

Business travel behaviour is beginning to change in response to global warming concerns, a forthcoming study will show.

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives and KDS poll of more than 250 corporate travellers and travel managers found that nearly half felt that guilt about global warming n… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 25, 2008 at 12:40pm — 3 Comments

EU maps out low-carbon energy path

On Renewable Energy World you can read an article that explains the new energy policy that the European Commission has launched.

The aim of this Directive proposal is to position the Europe Union as the World leader in reducing Carbon Emission and using alternative renewable energies.

Renewable Energy World says: "The European Commission has released its proposals for a Directive on the promotion of energy from renewable sources and boosting the EU ETS.… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 24, 2008 at 6:35pm — No Comments

Carbon Offset initiative: NativeEnergy

NativeEnergy is an important inititative sponsored by several organizations:

"Behind this web site is a committed team of people like you - environmentalists, dreamers, entrepreneurs, activists, believers - working hard to provide you simple and effective ways to help fight global warming.

Together, we can help build…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 22, 2008 at 11:52am — No Comments

Un autre tourisme est-il possible ? An interesting book by a member of Greening Tourism

We are having everyday new members with big compromise on Greening Tourism. One of the, Marie-Andrée Delislehas written a book in french called "Un autre tourisme est-il possible ?" that brings lots of knowledge on ethics, best practices, etc.
It is thought for tourists, tourism professionals and for students too.

Marie-Andrée is a consultant specialized in… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 20, 2008 at 8:40pm — No Comments

Green Map: a collaborative initiative to make green tourism information available

Green Map is an initiative to make Greenining tourism information around the world available to everyone. Yo can participate as Green Map informant, as a researcher and as other different profiles.

In their website they explain:

"Green Map System energizes a diverse global

…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 19, 2008 at 8:03pm — 1 Comment

State of the World. Book bt World Watch Insitute

The World Watch Institute has published the book State of The World that includes Ideas and Opportunities for Sustainable Economies.

It Includes:

From c

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 11, 2008 at 8:14pm — No Comments

New hope: The biggest Solar Energy Project Ever

The e-magazin Wealth Daily, has published today that "There's a fast-growing high-tech company in California that just unlocked one of the largest sources of energy anywhere on earth. Officially discovered by NASA in 1978, the energy source is known as the Earth's Energy Budget. And right now it stands at 174 Petawatts every single day."
One Perawatt "of energy is enough to supply all of New York City for 10.… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 9, 2008 at 10:52am — No Comments

Good article on ice melting in Greenland

The new York Times has published today a report from the NASA called GREEN LAND, ICE AND INSTABILITY. It's a very good article with multimedia and video explaining what's going on there. Scientists are clear that ice is melting in the Arctic Sea, but if things are going to staabilize and what impacts will be, they don't know yet. Though they don't advise politicians to be confident on… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 8, 2008 at 4:47pm — 5 Comments

Tourism alert on emission

A Report by Paul Easton in NZ's The Dominion Post says that
research showing greenhouse gas emissions from air travel are
higher than first thought could hurt the lucrative tourist
market.

From Travelomole.com we got these news today:
International tourism is a huge money spinner for New Zealand,
earning $8.3 billion in the year ended March 2006, "As a country we
need to think seriously hard and come up with meaningful offsetting
strateg… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 4, 2008 at 1:55pm — 1 Comment

The ski resorts comrpomised with the climate change

The International Forum of Avoriaz has announced the subject of discussion for the next event on January 17th and 18th, to be held in Avoriaz. Principal managers of world ski resorts will discuss on climate change and their compromise with the planet.

WTO general secretary Francesco Frangially has announced it's participatian and other important ex… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on January 1, 2008 at 5:43pm — No Comments

CI: World’s Protected Areas Threatened by Climate Change

From Marcus Endicott Green-Tourism newsletter we know.

http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/press.aspx

New Study Shows World's Protected Areas Threatened by Climate Change

12/10/2007
Parks…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 14, 2007 at 12:47am — No Comments

Catalonia began its journey to fix landscape quality indicators

The magazine SOSTENIBLE included in its last issue the following nes written by Armand Urgell.

One of the most interesting of the 'International Seminar of landscape Indicators - Challenges and Perspectives' was the first presentation of quality indicators developed by the Observatori del Pa… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 12, 2007 at 11:27am — No Comments

Good News: Scandinavian Airlines first in Europe to commence trans-Atlantic green flights

…

SAS Scandinavian Airlines today concluded Europe's first commercial trans-Atlantic green approach trial, which is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. SK904, an Airbus A330, from New York's Newark airport arrived early this morning at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, following a successful Con

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 10, 2007 at 5:40pm — 6 Comments

New book on Greening-management and Greening-construction in hotels

The published Espaces announces the new book on Greening Management and Greenin Constructio in Hotels.:
Éco-gestion et éco-construction dans l'hôtellerie. Guide pratique.

André Gondolo, Dominique Maisonobe
Collect… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 10, 2007 at 11:34am — No Comments

New intiatives for sustainable tourism in Brussels

The new exhibition/conference PLANET ATTITUDE, will run in Brussels (Belgium) next 15th to 17th December. It's important to looka at its program (in French) where sustainable transportation is also included.

In this conference will take part the association TOURISME AUTREMENT, that has an educational program for children on how to be a GREENING TOURIST. This… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 7, 2007 at 7:23pm — No Comments

New book: Changements climatiques dans les Alpes européennes

The french publisher ESPACES has announced the new book Changements climatiques dans les Alpes européennes. Adapter le tourisme d’hiver et la gestion des risques naturels (more informatio here).

The info…

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Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 4, 2007 at 7:44pm — 3 Comments

International Task force on Sustainable Tourism Development

Third meeting of the International Task force on Sustainable Tourism Development

In the year 2005 by initiative of the French Government, and under the support of the UN, it has been created an International Task force on Sustainable Tourism Development.

In the document of presentation of this Task force they say: "The World Tourism Organisation esti… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 3, 2007 at 5:12pm — 1 Comment

Claims on the climate change

The last two days I've read two articles on the newspaper EL PAIS, with claimings of two prestigious intellectuals (Federico Mayor Zaragoza and Jeremy Rifkin) - who are not suspicious of beeing ant-system - urging politicians to act by establisching policies to fight… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 2, 2007 at 1:34pm — 6 Comments

Book: Climate Change and Adaptation

A new book has been published by Earthscan related to Climate Chage,

As authors say: "While climate change mitigation is vital, it is clear that the world must also begin to adapt – but how best can this be achieved? This book covers current practices for managing climate risks, deficits between current practices and needs for effective management of climate risks, the changing nature of the risks due to human caused climate… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on December 1, 2007 at 3:23pm — 2 Comments

Packaging Waste - The EU regulation

Packaging waste is one of the problems that hotels had to face in the last years. especially in continental breakfast services and in all the products offered to customers in the room.

There's a directive of 2004 that regulated this packaging waste in all the states members of the EU. There`s a report of the functioning since now of this strategy to reduce packaging waste.

We can individually do very much to reduce the packaging waste in our lives, a… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 16, 2007 at 12:01pm — No Comments

Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism

The European Union has recently finished to write the Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism, which means very good news.

After the different existing policies in tourism in Europe, the need of a common agenda for all the EU members was really needed. Europe is the main tourism destination in the world and Europe is the first tourism market in the world. However, since… Continue

Posted by Oriol Miralbell on November 12, 2007 at 9:23pm — 2 Comments