Main content

Can tourism ever be good for the climate?

Eco-tourism is big business. We head to Costa Rica with The Travel Show to find out how much it helps or hinders the climate.

This week, we’re off to Costa Rica, an eco-tourism hotspot in collaboration with ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ’s The Travel Show.

Eco-tourism is big business - it’s forecasted to generate $103 billion annually by 2027. But how well do its green claims actually stack up when it comes to the climate?

Presenter Qasa Alom visits the birthplace of Sea Turtle conservation, goes on patrol with a ranger protecting the forest from loggers and miners, and spots luxury tourist developments in the terrain of the puma.

How big is tourism’s climate impact, and can this ever be mitigated by its benefits?

Guests:
Ralf Buckley, Director of the International Centre for Ecotourism Research, and Research Director of the Climate Response Program at Griffith University, Australia.
Stefan Gossling, Professor at the Linnaeus University School of Business and Economics and Lund University's Department of Service Management

If you have a question about climate change that you’d like us to answer, or a comment – please email them to theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Presenter: Qasa Alom
Producers: Sophie Eastaugh for The Climate Question and Jamie Hamilton for The Travel Show
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Series Producer: Simon Watts
Editor: China Collins
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell
Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill, Jacqui Johnson

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Wed 27 Sep 2023 19:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sun 24 Sep 2023 13:32GMT
  • Sun 24 Sep 2023 21:06GMT
  • Wed 27 Sep 2023 01:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Sep 2023 08:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Sep 2023 12:32GMT
  • Wed 27 Sep 2023 19:06GMT

Podcast