Modelling Tourism Destination Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

As awareness of tourism’s energy impacts on global environments increases, and as knowledge of energy consumption’s effects on tourism destination sustainability grows, so does the need for planners to develop proactive energy management strategies. However, the unique characteristics of energy consumption behaviour in resort destinations make it difficult to assess the relative merits of various energy management options. This research identifies a unique ‘bottom-up’ modelling procedure for assessing the relative effects of various destination planning strategies on energy use and GHG emissions. It then applies the model to energy management strategies being considered for implementation in Whistler, British Columbia – one of North America’s leading mountain resort destinations. The research suggests that the model’s dynamic character makes it a potentially valuable tool for quantitatively assessing what dimensions of various destination transportation, building design and community infrastructure development strategies have the greatest influence on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The research contributes to existing destination planning and sustainable tourism development theory and practice by developing a first generation forecasting model for identifying and assessing energy use and GHG emissions, and then illustrating its practical application in the context of emerging sustainable destination planning practices.