Green Transport and Tourism Initiative in Wales - Essay Example

? Transport and Tourism Wales Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Analysis of the initiative taken for green transport and tourism in Wales6 Findings of the initiative of green transport and tourism in Wales 8 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Wales is one of the well-known countries within United Kingdom, surrounded by England in the east and Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea in the west. Due to which, larger part (750 mi) of the entire area in Wales comprises of coastlines and the remaining is covered by high peaks of mountains. In order to explore the beauty and attractions of this place, transport is the most essential requirement. There are varied types of transportation modes like train, buses, cars and also domestic flights that connect Chepstow, Newport, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Swansea and Pembrokeshire. Other than this, long distance buses as well as trams also travel within the routes to Bangor to Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth to Cardiff, Aberystwyth to Cardigan and Brecon to Newtown and many others. Not only this, national express operating long-distance intercity coach services are present within the country of Wales. Due to which, the mobility of transporting persons and goods from one place to another also became extremely easier and cheaper as compared to others. This helped in the development of tourism industry thereby attracting large array of tourists towards this place making it more renowned. As a result, Wales is recognised as one of the famous tourist destination in the entire globe with almost 8078,900 visitors. Due to which, the annual turnover of the industry gets enhanced by about ?3.5 billion thereby amplifying the gross value added (GVA) of the economy of Wales to about ?44.517 billion. As a result, the economy of Wales became the tenth largest one among other regions of UK. Not only this, the transport and tourism industry of Wales contributes about 13.3% in the national GDP thereby enhancing its position in the entire globe among others. Side by side, development of tourism industry also helped in reducing the trouble of unemployment thereby presenting jobs to almost 8% of the workforces. Hence, it might be revealed that transport acts as the backbone that helps in the improvement of the industry of tourism in the region of Wales in UK. Therefore, in order to enhance the annual turnover of the transport and tourism industry, the government of Wales decided to introduce the initiative of green or sustainable transport within the tourism industry. The prime objective of the concept of green transport is to present safe and comfortable journey at the time of visiting the tourist places of Wales. Side by side, to reduce over dependency over cars as it emits high density of carbon dioxide thereby creating congestion and pollution as well. So, the government is trying to offer more concentration over sustainable means such as cycle or by walking or public transports. Along with this, the government is also trying to develop eco-tourism parks and variety of green national parks so as to enhance the concept of sustainable tourism initiative in and around Wales. Therefore, it might be stated that the initiative of green transport within the industry of tourism proved quite successful in enhancing the economic condition of the region of Wales in the entire UK among other regions. This paper mainly comprises of four parts highlighting the objectives and aims of implementing the initiative of green transport and tourism within the region of Wales. Along with this, it also includes the positive impacts of such initiatives within the region of Wales so as to reduce the impacts of pollution. It also comprises of a brief analysis and findings of the initiative of green transport and tourism along with a conclusion. Discussion Green Transport and Tourism initiative in Wales In today’s era, maximum extent of the individual desire to visit varied tourists places in order to reduce the heavy workloads. Due to such underlining desire, the craze of roving enhanced significantly. However, maximum extent of the tourists desire for a sustainable and healthy environment so as to make the travel, memorable for the entire life time. In order to fulfil such desire, the government of Wales decided to offer more concentration over the concept of sustainable tourism or green tourism (Wales. gov.uk, 2012). Tourism government along with other voluntary and public sector bodies joined hands to present varied types of eco-friendly tourist places. For which, the beaches and national parks are managed in such a way so that the level of pollution might get reduced. Side by side, varied types of trees and plants are planted within the entire region of Wales so as to improvement the environment. Along with this, in order to conserve and sustain a wide range of species of animals, the banks of Teifi River are cleared entirely. Along with this, large variety of plants and trees are also planted in and around the banks of Teifi River so as to reduce the impacts of pollution from the regions of Wales. Such initiative is mainly due to the rising awareness for natural and green economy that reduced the level of contamination and waste materials. Other than this, the government of Wales also decided to develop sustainable transport methods that might reduce the negative impacts of harmful gases over the environment of Wales. In order to do so, they tried to ensure the visitors or local citizens to use cycles instead of cars or other vehicles. It is mainly to reduce the impacts of the harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, methane, carbon dioxide and many others within the environment. Along with this, the emission of such harmful gases also helps in enhancing the level of congestion and clogging within the hearts of the visitors. Other than this, varied types of heart diseases also takes placed thereby reducing the lifespan of the individuals. As a result, the rate of deaths increased thereby reducing the rate of births. Therefore, in order to reduce the impact of harmful gases creating air pollution, government of Wales initiated the concept of using public transports or to visit the nearby places by walking so as to make the environment free from varied types of pollutants (Wilson & et. al, 2010). Apart from this, it might also help in reducing the impact of harmful gases over the tourist places such as destruction of varied rare species of animals within the water bodies of Wales and death of numerous birds and other animals as well. Therefore, due to the introduction of these concepts, Wales became one of the recognised sustainable tourist region in the entire regions of UK. Not only this, by ensuring the idea of visiting the local places by means of cycles, bikes or on foot, helped in reducing the level of dependency over cars. This is the prime cause of noise pollution or air pollution in the regions of Wales of UK as compared to others. And it also enhanced the craze of using low energy consuming vehicles mainly powered by the electricity gathered from sun, rain and wind. It is extremely essential in reducing the impacts of harmful gases over the environment of Wales. So, such concepts are highly appreciated by the citizens and the government officials of the region of Wales in UK. Side by side, the government of Wales also tried to increase the level of consciousness over the use of bio-degradable products at the time of travelling from one region to another so as to reduce the impacts of pollution as well. Not only this, the visitors are also made aware about the pitfalls of using plastic bags and water bottles at the time of visiting varied tourist regions. Thus, all these initiatives helped in enhancing the level of sustainable tourism within the region of Wales as compared to others in the entire globe. Hence, the sustainable transport sub groups of Wales working in partnership with four regional transport plan co-ordinators became successful in implementing the concept of eco-friendly transport vehicles. Not only this, their aim is also to promote sustainable travel within the regions of Wales, thereby reducing the dependency over a single travelling vehicle. Side by side, it also helped in gratifying the concept of sustainable tourism or eco friendly tourism within the region of Wales. Hence, the initiative of Eco-Travel network introduced in the year 2012 also became successful in introducing the concept of sustainable tourist regions (Policy.greenparty.org, 2009). Therefore, the growth of tourism helps to offer a significant effect over the environment as well as the industries of Wales. Due to which, the efficiency and expansion of the industries within the region of Wales enhanced to a considerable extent thereby amplifying its position among other regions of UK. Side by side, it also reduced the level of unemployment within the region that enhanced the living standard and well-being of the individual of Wales. So, it proved quite effective for the citizens of Wales of UK. Analysis of the initiative taken for green transport and tourism in Wales According to the points discussed in the above paragraph, the initiative taken by the government and other officials of the region of Wales, proved quite successful in implementing low energy consuming vehicles. This helped in reducing the dependency over cars and buses at the time of visiting varied places. Due to which, the idea to use public vehicles like cycles by the visitors also helped directly in ensuring the concept of sustainable tourism. Along with this, it helped in reducing the emission of harmful gases that destructs the ozone layer by creating holes in it. As a result, due to the entry of ultra-violet rays, varied types of diseases within the citizens of Wales also considerably increased. Side by side, the entire environment of the region of Wales also gets hampered due to the emission of such harmful gases from the private vehicles. As a result, this concept helped in presenting a safe and reliable journey to the tourists that enhanced their number to a considerable amount. Due to which the contribution of the tourism industry over the economy of Wales enhanced significantly thereby amplifying its ranking within other regions of UK. So, it is highly appreciated by the citizens of Wales (National Library of Australia, 1998, p.367-390). Apart from this, the initiative of the government of Wales to plant varied types of plants and trees also ensured eco-friendly environment in those regions. As a result, the level of pollution reduced significantly as well as the quality of air also improved. Due to which, the rate of disorders within the citizens of that region also reduced that enhanced that rate of births. Side by side, the tourist also became able to view eco-friendly tourist places such as national parks and adventure parks and many other places comprising of mazes, archery and jungle boats. Along with this, large vacant valleys and parks entirely covered with green plants and trees present a great place of amusement that helped in reducing the footprints of pollution in those regions. So, it is extremely essential for the region of Wales as compared to others (Welsh Government, 2013). So, such initiatives helped the region of Wales to become entirely free from pollution and its impacts over environment. As a result, the live or living standard of the citizens of the region of Wales improved significantly. Other than this, with the help of ‘Green Sea partnership’, the quality of coastal environment along with the beaches are managed and controlled effectively that enhanced green coasts. Due to such coordinated efforts the initiative to make the industry of tourism more sustainable and green became successful in all aspects (Nicholl & et. at., 2012, p. 356-378). Hence, the tourism sector within the region of Wales presented high growth potential due to its rich cultural heritage and striking natural environment among all other regions of UK. Findings of the initiative of green transport and tourism in Wales Promotion of local prosperity- due to the reduction of the level of harmful gases, the level of pollution declined. Due to which, the quality of air also improved significantly resulting in amplification of the eminence of lives of the individual as well. This proved quite beneficial for the economy of the Wales as compared to other regions of UK (Lohmann & Duval, 2011, p. 345-378). Supporting well-being and involvement of the community individuals- due to the enhancement of the industry of tourism, the level of unemployment reduced. As a result, numerous individual became engaged in diverse positions thereby amplifying their living conditions and economic standards as well. Due to which, the economic condition of the citizens of the region of Wales enhanced thereby reducing the level of poverty to a certain extent. This is extremely essential for any developing economy in the entire globe. Minimising the impact of tourists over environment- due to the introduction of the ‘initiative of green transport and tourism’, the impact of pollution and harmful gases reduced. Along with this, use of recycled materials and low energy consuming vehicles also helped significantly in declining the impact of toxic waste and noise pollution. Thus, such initiatives proved extremely beneficial and advantageous for the citizens of the region of Wales of UK (Visit Britain, 2010). Enhancing eco-friendly environment- due to the initiative of green tourism and transport facilities, the impact of pollution reduced. As a result, it increased the range of visitors within the regions of Wales as compared to others thereby enhancing its profits. Due to which, the contribution towards the total GDP of the economy also enhanced significantly (Bruyninckx & et. al., 2012, p. 234-256). Hence, it might be stated that such types of initiatives helped in improving the economic and financial condition of the region of Wales in UK. Conclusion Conclusively, it might be depicted that the introduction of the initiative of green transport and tourism within the region of Wales helped in enhancing the eco-friendly environment. This also helps in reducing the impact of pollution significantly by improving the quality of air within the region of Wales. Other than this, due to the introduction of such type of initiatives, the range of visitors increased in the region of Wales that enhanced its total profits and revenues. Other than this, the rate of contribution towards GDP of the country also became enhanced due to the introduction of such type of initiatives within the region of Wales. Due to which, the number of buses, cars and trains also increased thereby connecting varied other regions such as Chepstow, Newport, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Swansea and Pembrokeshire in and around Wales. Along with which, the government of Wales also decided to plant varied types of green trees and plants within the region thereby reducing the impacts of pollution to a certain extent. Side by side, varied types of eco-friendly national parks are also introduced within the region of Wales that attracted large array of tourists from varied parts of the world. Therefore, it enhanced the reputation and popularity of the tourism industry of Wales in the entire world that amplified its profit margin and portfolio. Side by side, the brand image of the tourism industries within the regions of Wales also became enhanced that proved quite significant for the country of UK in the entire globe. References Bruyninckx, H. & et. al. (2012). Sustainable Development and Sub-national Governments: Policy-Making and Multi-Level Interactions. New York : Palgrave Macmillan. Lohmann, G. & Duval, D, T. (2011). Critical Aspects of the Tourism-Transport Relationship. [Online] Available at: http://www.goodfellowpublishers.com/free_files/fileTransportReview.pdf [Accessed on November 06, 2013]. Nicholl, A. & et. at. (2012). Wales' Central Organising Principle: Legislating for Sustainable Development. London: Institute of Welsh Affairs. National Library of Australia. (1998). APAIS 1998: Australian public affairs information service - Page 964. Australia: National Library of Australia. Policy.greenparty.org. (2009). Policies for a Sustainable Society.[Online] Available at: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/tm [Accessed on November 06, 2013]. Visit Britain. (2010). Be a responsible traveller. [Online] Available at: http://www.visitbritain.com/en/Accommodation/Green-tourism/Be-a-responsible-traveller.htm [Accessed on November 06, 2013]. Wales. gov. uk. (2012). Sustainable transport. [Online] Available at: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/tourism/developmentl1/sustainablel2/vwsust/transport/?lang=en [Accessed on November 06, 2013]. Welsh Government. (2013). Travelling around Wales. [Online] Available at: http://www.visitwales.com/explore/travel-maps/getting-around-wales [Accessed on November 06, 2013]. Wilson, G. & et. al. (2010). Environment, Development, and Sustainability: Perspectives and Cases from Around the World. New York: OUP Oxford. Read More