ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the six-months research project conducted by the author in cooperation with The International Ecotourism Society and Stanford University/USA in 2007, has a certain, but exclusive focus on nature-based tourism or ecotourism. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in the course of 2007, has made a compelling case that global warming is a reality and that much of it is man-made. The trip between the destination and the place or country of tourists’ origin has been largely disregarded. However, several studies have shown that transportation is the major variable when it comes to tourism’s impacts on the global climate. Reducing tourism’s impact on the world climate and local environments through sustainable transportation is by no means a new agenda. Environmental groups, particularly in Europe, have been lobbying for a different travel behaviour, the use of public transportation, and strict government regulation since the 1980s.
