On big feet to Amsterdam : the ecological footprint of incoming tourism to Amsterdam and how to reduce these effects. Tourism is a member of the service sector, with normally low ecological and environmental impacts. However it turns out the tourism is becoming an average sector with respect to environmental effects per Euro earned. Therefore a ‘PMZ’ (sustainable product chain management) project has been started for the incoming tourism to Amsterdam. The environmental effects are determined by using an ecological footprint analysis (EFA). The total ecological footprint (EF) is 1,42 million hectares, which is the equivalent of almost 40% of the total EF of all Amsterdam residents. Further it appeared the transport between the residence of the tourists and Amsterdam (or the Netherlands or Europe in case of a combined tour) presents almost three-quarters of the total EF. Accommodation was responsible for 21%, amusement 6% and local transport 1%. Tourists from the other side of the globe did have the largest EF. The paper further describes the market shifts required to reduce the ecological footprint (the p of ‘planet’ of the sustainable development principle) of the incoming tourism, accounting for the economical viability of the sector (the p of ‘profit’). (Author/publisher)
Abstract