Apply sustainable tourism in services and destinations
Assess eco-products, responsible visitor behaviour, resource management, the effects of sustainable developments and differing stakeholder attitudes.
Section 3 · Trends in travel and tourism
Exam scope and assessment notes
This original lesson maps Cambridge International AS & A Level Travel & Tourism 9395 syllabus section 3.3 for exams in 2027, 2028 and 2029. Build AO1 knowledge, AO2 application, AO3 analysis and research, and AO4 evaluation. Examples and practice are original StudyForA material, not Cambridge questions, mark schemes or official grades. Use current, reliable local evidence; tourism effects and customer needs depend on context. Paper 2 requires learners to plan and manage a real event as a team, then present their project individually. This site can teach and simulate the planning process, but cannot conduct the event, verify participation or evidence, replace centre approval and supervision, award a coursework mark, or provide Cambridge moderation.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Before you start: Which practice directly reduces over-consumption?
What you will learn
- Compare eco-tours, packages, eco-accommodation and ecotourism activities using evidence about practice.
- Explain responsible conduct, codes of conduct and facility management through reduced consumption, reuse and recycling.
- Evaluate environmental, social and economic effects and the views of residents, authorities, providers and tourists.
Inspect practices along the supply chain
Eco-tours, packages, eco-lodges, eco-resorts and activities can make sustainability visible to visitors. Check procurement, transport, energy, water, waste, habitat effects and how claims are verified; a single feature does not establish whole-trip performance.
Responsible behaviour includes respecting the environment and local culture and following relevant codes. Facilities can reduce over-consumption and waste, reuse resources and recycle, but effectiveness depends on implementation and local systems.
Impacts and attitudes vary
A sustainable tourism development can create jobs, learning or conservation funding, while still producing costs or uneven benefits. Examine environmental, social and economic effects separately.
Local people and authorities, providers and tourists may support or oppose a development for different reasons. A destination is not one voice: gather inclusive evidence and explain conflicts rather than describing communities as uniform.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
A project improves recycling but disturbs nesting wildlife. What should a sound evaluation do?
Worked example
An eco-lodge installs refill stations and solar panels, but expands into a nesting area. Explain why the overall sustainability judgement remains open.
Show the worked solution
- Refill stations may reduce single-use packaging and solar power may lower some operational emissions.
- Construction or visitor activity could disturb nesting habitat; the scale and timing of that effect need evidence.
- Compare resource savings with habitat condition, resident views and visitor management over time.
Answer The lodge has positive practices, but expansion creates a separate ecological risk. Overall sustainability depends on measured net outcomes and effective habitat safeguards.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A tour operator labels a wildlife trip 'eco'. Create three checks that would help a student assess that claim.
Give me a hint
Consider the product, provider practices and effects on local people and habitats.
Compare my reasoning
- Check transport, group size, wildlife distance rules and whether the activity follows a recognised local code.
- Review accommodation and waste, water and energy practices across the package.
- Ask how local guides and suppliers participate and benefit, and what monitoring shows about habitat effects.
Assess the whole package: visitor conduct, provider operations, community benefit and ecological evidence. The label alone is not proof.
Look for these in your work
- Covers visitor practice
- Checks operations and supply chain
- Includes local benefit and habitat evidence
A hotel starts reusing towels and sorting waste, but local recycling collection is unreliable. Explain what the hotel should change or monitor.
Give me a hint
Separate the hotel's action from what happens after collection.
Compare my reasoning
- Track water and energy saved through towel reuse and avoid pressuring guests who opt out.
- Verify which materials are actually collected and processed locally rather than assuming sorting equals recycling.
- Use safe reduction, reuse and disposal options and report outcomes accurately.
The hotel can retain towel reuse if it is guest-respectful, but should verify the recycling chain and measure waste actually diverted. Claims must match local capacity.
Look for these in your work
- Distinguishes sorting from recycling
- Considers the guest and resource effect
- Uses verified outcomes
Residents support a conservation fee but some tour providers say it will make visits unaffordable. Explain how a destination could reach and evaluate a fair decision.
Give me a hint
Identify who is affected, what the fee funds and how distribution can be assessed.
Compare my reasoning
- Consult a range of residents, businesses, visitors and conservation managers; do not treat any group as unanimous.
- Explain the fee, use of funds, expected conservation result and any access or affordability measures.
- Monitor revenue, visitor access, provider viability, habitat condition and stakeholder views after implementation.
A fair decision needs transparent purpose, participation and evidence about both conservation and access. Review outcomes and adjust the fee or support if costs fall unevenly.
Look for these in your work
- Recognises multiple perspectives
- Links fee to a stated purpose
- Measures distribution and outcomes
Common mistakes
- Counting green features instead of evaluating net effects
- Assuming recycling systems work without checking local capacity
- Reporting one stakeholder view as the attitude of an entire community
What can you explain now?
A project improves recycling but disturbs nesting wildlife. What should a sound evaluation do?
Compare with the explanation
Assess both effects and their scale, then consider management and monitoring
A strong response applies the concept to the evidence, explains the effect and qualifies its conclusion where conditions matter.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Name one facility practice, one responsible visitor behaviour and one stakeholder group whose view should be heard.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.