NC Green Travel Promotes Sustainable Tourism
RALEIGH, N.C. - Fall brings out so many colors in North Carolina, it is an easy time of year to feel the urge to go outside and enjoy everything North Carolina has to offer. To assist visitors in being a little bit “greener” during their time in North Carolina, the Center for Sustainable Tourism at East Carolina University and the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development have put together a list of 10 Fall Green Travel tips. The tips will help visitors enjoy the natural and scenic beauty of North Carolina while preserving it for the future.
“Fall is also a good time of year to reflect on how our actions while we travel can have a positive or negative impact on the places we visit,” said Alex Naar, Outreach Coordinator for ECU’s Center for Sustainable Tourism. “These green travel tips are an easy way for visitors to help keep North Carolina as the colorful and natural destination we all love to visit.”
NC Green Travel Tips:
- Having a map or travel guide can help you find the best things to see and do while exploring North Carolina. When you return maps, guides and brochures when finished to be reused or recycled you help save forests like the many you can see across the state.
- Bringing a reusable bag while visiting the many great shopping opportunities in North Carolina is an easy way to help reduce waste.
- With so much to see and do in North Carolina, it is easy to run out the door and forget to turn off lights when you leave your hotel, cabin or beach house, but by reducing your energy consumption you help keep North Carolina’s air clean and clear.
- Visiting a North Carolina farm is a great way to spend time outside and find farm fresh produce, but remember you are visiting a working farm and possibly a farmer’s home, so for your safety and everyone’s wellbeing, before visiting a farm call ahead and follow all farm rules.
- There are perfect picnic spots across North Carolina and you can help keep these areas clean and pristine by remembering to bring a plastic bag and taking all trash out with you when you leave.
- All the natural and scenic beauty you will find in North Carolina makes it a great place to take a break off the beaten path, and you can help protect native plant life from being trampled on and over compacting soils by camping and parking on durable surfaces.
- It is easy to work up a thirst while visiting North Carolina. By using a reusable water bottle you can help reduce the amount of waste you leave behind while visiting.
- North Carolina is filled with unique shops, restaurants and other businesses, and when you support local businesses in the areas you visit you help preserve the unique character and culture of your destination.
- While enjoying everything North Carolina has to offer during your visit, you can help conserve energy by unplugging electronics and chargers before you leave. Many electronic devices continue to consume electricity even when not in use or left on standby.
- If you feel the accommodations and attractions you visit could be doing more to protect the environment, or you want to show your support of efforts already adopted, speak up and let owners and managers know that being green is important to you.
Tourism remains one of the state’s most vital industries. The economic activity and employment generated by tourism spans various economic sectors. Annually, visitors to North Carolina spend more than $16.8 billion, generating more than 190,500 jobs for North Carolinians. State and local tax revenues, as a result of the visitor spending, totaled more than $1.3 billion in 2008.
The North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development unifies and leads the state in developing North Carolina as a major destination for leisure travel, group tours, meetings and conventions, sports events, film production, and grape and wine industry growth. The Division develops and executes effective marketing programs to accomplish these goals for the benefit of the travel, film, sports and wine industries; the economy; and the citizens of North Carolina.
East Carolina University’s Center for Sustainable Tourism is dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism throughout North Carolina and the nation through innovation in graduate education, leadership development, community consultation, and collaborative research. Devoted to implementing sustainable practices in business operations, public policies, and personal travel behaviors, the Center offers solutions to challenges facing the tourism industry and destination communities as they balance economic viability with socio-cultural and environmental enhancement and equity. Sustainable tourism outreach is provided through a partnership between ECU’s Office Engagement, Innovation and Economic Development and the Center for Sustainable Tourism at ECU.
Natural scenic beauty, adventure and relaxation, a dining experience for every taste, rich history and warm Southern hospitality come together in North Carolina. Call 1-800-VISIT NC or go to VisitNC.com to plan your next getaway.
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Contact
Alex Naar
252-737-1346
naara@ECU.edu
Wit Tuttell
919-733-7420
wit@visitNC.com
