Tourism sector urged to think green

GREEN may be the colour traditionally associated with Irish tourism but the industry has some way to go before it can claim its environmental practices are of a similar hue.

Tourism development agency Fáilte Ireland is about to embark on a two-year study to determine exactly how big the industry’s carbon footprint is amid international estimates that tourists and the facilities they use create 5% of all the world’s greenhouse gases.

The data collected will be used to measure the impact of eco-friendly initiatives within the industry here and to encourage individual operators to think green in every aspect of the service they provide.