The Center is dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism throughout our region, 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.
Upcoming Events
February 11, 2010
Renewable Energy in Tourism Initiative (RETI) Webinar.
Greening NC Travel: Telling the People What They Want to Know
The growing number of tourism-related businesses advertising they have gone "green" can make it difficult for travelers to differentiate between organizations that have taken honest efforts to reduce their environmental impact, from those that only say they are "green." To add to the problem, a number of environmental certification programs have emerged that are difficult to understand or know what environmental steps are needed to be certified. One way to help consumers decide whether or not your business has met its green tastes is simply to state what environmental practices you have implemented. This can be done by adding a page to your Web site, including a list of practices on your menu, or by including it as part of your brochure or advertisements. For a list of sustainable practices you can implement at your food service or lodging business, visit our Sustainable Tourism Criteria web page. For more information on sustainable tourism practices you can implement, contact Alex Naar at (919)715-3782 or via naara@ecu.edu.
Associate Professor, Recreation and Leisure Studies, William Obenour's research interests include destination image, tourism symbolic capital, sustainable tourism development and practices, travel constraints, tourism quality, travel narratives, and backpackers’ journeys. The specific problem statement for his research agenda is to investigate the formation of symbolic capital for destination development which is derived from the destination image and the tourists’ perceptions of a journey.
The growing number of tourism-related businesses advertising they have gone "green" can make it difficult for travelers to differentiate between organizations that have taken honest efforts to reduce their environmental impact, from those that only say they are "green." To add to the problem, a number of environmental certification programs have emerged that are difficult to understand or know what environmental steps are needed to be certified. One way to help consumers decide whether or not your business has met its green tastes is simply to state what environmental practices you have implemented. This can be done by adding a page to your Web site, including a list of practices on your menu, or by including it as part of your brochure or advertisements. For a list of sustainable practices you can implement at your food service or lodging business, visit our 
