Sustainable Travel Practices & Case Studies

This culminating unit synthesizes sustainable travel strategies and international case studies to prepare students to implement ethical, low‑impact travel in real‑world settings. Students will apply prior learning to evaluate operators, design responsible itineraries, and compare national approaches to sustainable tourism.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze environmental, cultural, and economic impacts of specific travel choices using the provided country case studies (Costa Rica, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Borneo, Bhutan, Rwanda, Finland, Slovenia, Argentina, Greece, Scotland) and identify at least three measurable indicators of impact for each case
• Apply principles of slow travel, ethical animal tourism, and support for local businesses to create a three‑day itinerary and resource plan that demonstrates reduced environmental footprint and increased local benefit
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate travel companies and tourism products using a standardized sustainability and ethics rubric, producing scored assessments and recommended alternatives for at least four types of providers
• Evaluate national and regional sustainable tourism policies and practices presented in the lessons and recommend at least five transferable best practices that could be implemented in a local or regional Texas travel context