Estimated Carbon Footprint of foreign tourists in Iceland. A bottom-up analysis of direct CO2 emissions

• Main Author: Viðar Jökull Björnsson 1981-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Umhverfis- og auðlindafræði; Ferðaþjónusta; Umhverfisáhrif; Ferðamenn; Geira; Varpa; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/19867

The tourism industry plays a major role in the Icelandic economy. Tourism can bring about economical prosperity and social wellbeing, but that contribution can often be at the expense of the natural environment – both on a local and global scale. The focus of this research is a carbon footprint analysis of the tourism industry in Iceland. The aims are to cast light on this often forgotten part of the industry and thus, hopefully, contribute to the integral understanding of the environmental impact of tourists. From there, mitigation measures can be taken by relevant authorities, the companies involved, and the tourists themselves. The current literature on various carbon footprinting analyses was reviewed in order to investigate which method would be best suited for this type of research given the data available. With a bottom-up approach, three hypothetical scenarios were created: low, medium and high consumption behaviour, all derived from the results of an extensive survey conducted in the summer of 2011 for the Icelandic Tourism Board. The carbon footprint analysis focuses on direct emissions from three tourism sectors; transportation, accommodation and activities/attractions. Finally, recommendations for improvements include mandatory environmental management systems for all companies who are in the tourism industry and increased awareness and information provision to tourists. Ferðaþjónustan á Íslandi skiptir þjóðarbúskapinn miklu máli. Ferðaþjónusta getur borið í skauti sér efnahagslega og félagslega farsæld sem getur þó verið á kostnað hins náttúrulega umhverfis – bæði svæðisbundið sem og á heimsvísu. Meginrannsóknarspurningin er hvað áætlað kolefnisfótspor erlendra ferðamanna er innan þriggja tiltekinna geira ferðaþjónustunnar. Tilgangurinn er að varpa ljósi á þennan oft gleymda hluta ferðaþjónustunnar og í kjölfarið vonandi auka skilning á umhverfisáhrifum ferðamanna – svo hægt sé að beita mögulegum mildunaraðferðum af hluteigandi yfirvöldum, ferðaþjónustufyrirtækjunum og af ferðamönnunum sjálfum. ...