THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF HOSTEL TOURISTS IN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC by Claire Lynne Purvis A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Applied Environmental Studies In Geography - Tourism Policy and Planning Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2008 Claire Lynne Purvis 2008 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. Claire Purvis ii Abstract In recent years, the impacts of the tourism industry on the environment have become widely acknowledged. As tourism is predicted to continue growing in the next decade, there is an urgent need for the tourism sector to embrace sustainability principles in order that tourists may continue travelling, while placing minimal impacts on the natural environment. Although there is much debate over the concepts of sustainability and how it is to be measured, the Ecological Footprint has recently been proposed as a key indicator of sustainable tourism, due to its abilities to quantify the amount of land needed for tourism activities, and enable comparisons between tourism components through its global, standardized measurements. In this study, the ecological footprint was adapted to a tourism context, in order to measure the sustainability of backpacker tourism. As backpackers, or hostel tourists, tend to travel on low budgets and use fewer resources than the average tourist, it has been speculated that backpacker tourism is more environmentally friendly than some other forms of travel. This study was therefore conducted in an attempt to determine the validity of this belief. For the purpose of the study, surveys were conducted with 123 backpackers and hostel tourists staying at 8 hostels located throughout Ontario and Quebec. Information was collected on respondents’ food, activity and transportation behaviours. In addition, hostels were requested to provide information on accommodation aspects such as occupancy rates, property sizes and energy usage, in addition to waste management routines and information. This data was inputted into the ecological footprint calculator to determine the average ecological footprints of backpacker tourists in Ontario and Quebec, and the relationship between the ecological footprint, demographics and travelling behaviours. In addition to the data collected for ecological footprint calculations, information was also requested from hostels and respondents on the frequency of their environmental behaviours and their general level of environmental concern. The analysis of this information provided an indication of the current ‘green status’ of backpacker tourism and where improvements could be made in environmental practices. The findings of this study indicate that backpacker tourism is substantially more sustainable than some other forms of international travel. However, it was also found that backpacker tourism, according to ecological footprint concepts, was not sustainable as an activity, since the average footprint was substantially more than the fair earth share value; a number considered to be the sustainable baseline. In addition, backpacker ecological footprints were generally considerably higher than the average footprints generated by residents in respondents’ home countries. Through individually analyzing the tourism components, this study determined that transportation accounted for the largest average contribution (77%) to respondents’ ecological footprints. As most backpackers were international travellers, the transportation impacts were often a result of flight emissions and although this study inquired into sustainable flight options, it is clear that there is currently no perfect solution for decreasing flight impacts. As a result, reducing the ecological footprint of backpacker tourism to a sustainable level currently appears to be for the most part, impossible. This study acknowledged that ceasing international tourism due to its environmental impacts would be unrealistic and certainly damaging to countries and areas that rely heavily on backpacker, or general tourism revenues. As such, the study concludes with several policy recommendations for those involved in backpacker tourism, which may increase the sustainability of ecological footprint components. Since money and time were considered to be a major barrier in incorporating environmental initiatives into hostel practices, the recommendations are relatively low maintenance and require little financial investment. Although their implementation alone will not decrease backpacker ecological footprints by a substantial amount, they will at least contribute to the increased environmental sustainability of backpacker tourism. iii Acknowledgements For most of my teenage years, my father attempted to persuade me that I needed a Master’s Degree to get somewhere in today’s world. I, on the other hand, was not so convinced and I remember vowing to him at my undergraduate convocation that I was never returning to school. Yet somehow, a year later, after returning from 6 months of backpacking, there I was, impulsively applying to grad school. At the time, it seemed the obvious answer to the inevitable question of “what do I do now?” and I think this hasty decision was simply a way of avoiding all those confusing life decisions. However, looking back now, I certainly have no regrets. My theory is that if you need to waste a bit more time to figure out what to do with your life, you might as well make it productive and education is always a good option. The 2 years has actually flown by and although requiring hard work and determination, they have been far more enjoyable than I ever anticipated. The idea of a thesis used to terrify me, but with the help of many people, it was simplified and almost made to look easy. Firstly, thanks to Dr. Judie Cukier, my advisor, for the many answers to my never-ending questions, for an excellent and helpful tourism seminar class, and for making the thesis process seem relatively uncomplicated. Thank you to Dr. Paul Parker, my committee member, for his expertise on the ecological footprint. I had no idea how complex it really was when I started, but thankfully Paul was knowledgeable on the subject and made it seem simple and easy to grasp. Thank you to all the survey respondents and the hostel owners/managers who took part in the study. Your interest, encouragement and ideas were a huge help and without your assistance, this thesis would not have been possible. Most of all, I thank my parents for their support, advice and encouragement and for being great listeners. I’m sure they too questioned the hastiness of my grad school decision but they stood behind me all the way and best of all, allowed me to live at home rent-free during the process. Thanks to my mom for the ideas, letting me vent when I’d had a bad day, and for accompanying me to some of the hostels. With her alongside, the visits became sightseeing adventures with some surveys done on the side. Thanks to my dad for his advice, ideas, proof-reading skills and for never pushing me, but always asking how it was coming, just to keep me on my toes. Thanks also to Lara and Dave who, although far away, remained supportive and were always interested in how the study was going. A huge thank you goes out to Sean Bush, who stood by me during this whole process. He was a great listener and always appeared interested in our thesis conversations when he probably had no idea what I was actually trying to explain. He sent me information that he thought I’d find useful, he gave me a shoulder to cry on during the bad days, and he was always happy to hear from me at work even when it involved nothing more than a vent about my latest obstacle. You’re up next buddy, and I’ll make sure to be there for you as much as you have for me. And last, but not least, I can’t finish without mentioning my greatest fan, who quietly lay by my feet for the past 2 years. Kita, my wonderful German shepherd, was a fantastic listener, a great shadow, and she always appeared interested in ‘our’ thesis conversations. Our daily hikes or barn excursions were an excellent source of therapy, and gave me time to reflect and clear my head. She made fun and enjoyable, what could have been a pretty lonely and tedious process. So here I am now, back to that ultimate question of “what do I do now?” I pretty sure that the more education you receive, the more career options you discover and the more confused you actually become about your purpose in life. This time round I’m going to sit and wait and I’m sure it’ll come to me… and if it doesn’t and I feel a need to avoid the decision for a bit longer while being productive, well there’s always a PhD or MBA with my name all over it . iv Table of Contents Author’s Declaration ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................