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Strategic Planning Towards Carbon Neutrality in Tourism Accommodation Sector (CARBONTOUR)
Start date: Sep 1, 2010, End date: Dec 31, 2012 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Background As a global phenomenon involving the movement of over 800 million people across international boundaries every year, tourism has a major impact on the environment. The World Tourism Organisation provided the first overall estimate of global tourism’s carbon footprint in Davos, in October 2007, which was 1 300 mega tonnes of CO2 equivalent or 5% of total global emissions. In 2005, transport generated 75% of the CO2 equivalent emissions from global tourism, with 21% coming from accommodation and its associated activities. This means that the tourism accommodation sector - the focus of this project - accounts for 1% of the total global carbon footprint. Many enterprises in the accommodation sector have considerable options for reducing their contribution to climate change, which can, simultaneously, also deliver economic benefits. However, the tourism sector is currently one of the least advanced in terms of adopting measures to reduce its climate impact. It is also highly exposed to changes in the climate, which is, for example, already starting to impact upon the attractiveness of many of the Mediterranean’s major resorts. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of the Region of North Aegean (RNA) and the autonomous government is very interested in its impact on climate change. Objectives The CARBONTOUR project aims to develop an integrated methodology to measure CO2 equivalent emissions from tourism accommodation facilities and to strategically plan mitigation measures. The main output of the project will be a user-friendly software tool. The software tool, with an accompanying operation manual, will identify emissions from sources such as energy consumption, water and wastewater management. The software tool will be optimised through its demonstration in two accommodation units in Greece and Cyprus. Once the tool is finalised, a large-scale demonstration will be launched, involving 80 accommodation units from the Northern Aegean islands and Cyprus. Strategic plans to mitigate the carbon footprint will be proposed for these accommodation units. Expected results: A demonstrated and optimised software tool for determining and evaluating CO2 equivalent emissions from the tourism-accommodation sector; A manual for using the software; Quantification of the carbon footprint for the sector and from individual units; Quantification of CO2 reduction targets for the sector in the project areas; A mitigation strategy plan for the sector in the RNA and Cyprus.
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