Sustainable tourism and the Green Villages of Austria
The nature of tourism
Understanding the vital link between landscape and tourism, Austria has embarked upon apolicy ofsustainable tourism with the aim of preservation and an overall
improvement in the quality of the natural environment. Specifically, the followmg measures have been proposed:
1 a straightening out of the demand curve to avoid peak demands and burdens;
2 reducing the consumption of space for tourism;
3 preservation of natural landscapes;
4 cooperation with other industries, in particular agriculture and forestry;
5 professionalism within the industry; and
6 a changing of the behaviour of tourists.
One of the most significant programmes in Austria is the Green Village endeavour, which is designed to allow communities to accommodate the growing demands of
tourism in a sustainable way. Towns are encouraged to incorporate solar panels in
their heating, restrict building height to no more than three storeys, keep parking
places a minimum of 80 metres away from buildings to eliminate noise and fumes,
keep motorways at least 3 km away from Green Villages, restrict vehicular traffic
through villages, designate cycle paths, recycle, restrict building to the town site only, eliminate single-crop farming in adjacent farmlands, discriminate in favour ofsustainable craftsmen, build hotels using natural products, insist that farmers be able to sell their products locally, and use local, natural pharmaceulicals. Such a
Philosophy, it is thought, will benefit both communities and the tourism industiy.