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The Climate Question: Can tourism ever be good for the climate?

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24/09/2023 GMT

Can tourism ever be good for the climate?

BBC World Service - The Climate Question, Can tourism ever be good for the climate?

Eco-tourism is big business, but how much does it help versus hinder 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 BBC’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

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Can tourism ever be good for the climate?

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