Page 146 - sustainable tourism-- Dr.Aya
P. 146

consumers  are  charged  for  excessive  use  of

                                    resources (like water), it acts as an automatic


                                    deterrent to un-sustainable practices.


                                    Illustrative  Case:  The  Tourism  Industry:

                                    Sustainability  and  Pricing.  Airlines  induce

                                    voluntary payments from consumers, as a part


                                    of  the  ticket  cost,  for  the  carbon  emissions

                                    resulting  from  the  travel.  Tourism  managers


                                    can  easily  propel  this  practice  forward  by

                                    sensitizing consumers. Elaborative and explicit


                                    communication  is  essential  to  achieve  this  as

                                    consumers  typically  find  it  challenging  to


                                    identify  sustainable  products  mainly  because

                                    many such sustainable elements might not be


                                    experienced directly by the tourists.

                                    When consumers book a ticket, the airlines ask


                                    for  a  voluntary  monetary  contribution  that

                                    could  help  in  the  reduction  of  the  carbon


                                    footprint by up to 200%. These initiatives are

                                    in  congruence  with  consumer  preferences,

                                    which  have  been  surfacing  since  the  past  6


                                    years. In the year 2007, a study conducted in

                                    Britain revealed that 34% holiday makers were


                                    willing  to  spend  more  money  to  facilitate

                                    reduction in their carbon footprint. In the year




                                                             146
   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151