State of Sustainable Tourism in Minnesota 2016

Abstract

In 2016, the University of Minnesota Tourism Center partnered with Explore Minnesota Tourism (EMT), the state’s tourism promotion office, to conduct an online survey about sustainable practices in the tourism industry. Part of an ongoing effort since 2007, the 2016 survey asked about the perceived benefits and difficulties of adopting sustainable practices and included questions about the state of implementing sustainable practices in three areas: energy efficiency, waste minimization, and water conservation. Respondents associated with lodging properties also answered property profile questions and questions about eight sustainable practices specific to lodging properties. Respondents also provided the following information: gender, age, industry sector, Minnesota tourism region, and number of years working in the industry as well as for their current employer. They also provided responses regarding the likelihood of participating in green travel certification programs and preferred ways of receiving information on sustainable tourism.