Las Vegas, Nevada - The streets are full of "gas-guzzling" cars, most restaurants use disposable plastic crockery and the air-conditioning units roar around the clock - European visitors to the United States tend to find little evidence of sustainable tourism. That could be about to change as green tourism initiatives gain momentum. All of a sudden "eco-friendly vacations" are becoming trendy and many tour operators are hoping to use their newly-found green credentials to attract clientele.
The greening of stateside tourism was a key topic at the recent Pow Wow travel convention in the resort city of Las Vegas, even if the timetable for such a sea change remains vague. Nevertheless, the decision by the US Travel Industry Federation (TIA) to make sustainable tourism the theme of the opening speech at the event is a sign of the times.
Corporate environment strategist, Andrew Winston, explained to delegates at the event how "smart" companies can attract customers by stressing the energy efficiency of their products.
Quality and price are still the key factors when people decide what to buy but according to Winston, the traditional emphasis in the US on the level of convenience offered by products is gradually giving way to an awareness of green factors.
"Companies with a sound ecological record are being preferred and most high school graduates say they would rather work for green companies," said the expert and he urged travel companies to embrace the new trend.
Sustainable tourism could well be buoyed by the punitive prices at the filling stations. The United States is a country of car owners ands drivers yet with a US gallon (3.78 litres) of fuel costing 4 dollars many drivers are straining to fill the tanks of their vehicles - a key psychological barrier is currently crumbling.
Many Europeans remain blissfully unaware of the price pressure at US fuel pumps since a favourable exchange rate means that visitors are paying the equivalent of just 68 cents a litre - less than half the nominal price in say Germany.
The savings are often cancelled out though by the cost of hire cars for tourists which tend to be models with a high fuel consumption.
Travel experts do not expect a huge number of Americans to stop going on holiday in their cars, but other forms of transport are benefiting. Rail operator Amtrak reports that "travelling by train has grown in popularity since fuel and plane tickets have become so expensive," said spokeswoman Vernae Graham in Oakland, California.
Train ridership went up by 11 per cent between October 2007 and April 2008 and "We are eager to see whether this trend continues during the peak summer travel season," said Graham.
The price of train tickets has stayed constant although Amtrak warns that surcharges may have to be imposed "since diesel has gone up in price too."
The trend towards eco-tourism is more of a grassroots movement, characterised by small but significant changes. Tourists are spotting more solar panels on the roofs of hotels and one new complex in Las Vegas features windows with a high-reflective coating which cuts down heat from the sunshine, thereby reducing the amount of power needed for the air-conditioning units inside.
Ski resorts like Aspen and Vail in the Rocky Mountains are already generating most of their own electricity using wind parks in the mountains, travel managers from Colorado pointed out at the Las Vegas Pow Wow.
Many holiday regions are encouraging the use of locally-grown produce in restaurants to avoid the practice of foodstuffs being transported over huge distances.
At the same time, encounter projects such as "Meet the farmers" are becoming more popular, said Tim Zahner from the Sonoma wine-growing district of California.
Green factors are likely to play an increasing role in getting tourists to the US to visit a particular region.
"Although few people will pick a destination on the basis of its ecological soundness, when it comes to choosing between two places, environmental issues are decisive for a growing number of holidaymakers," said Stephanie Smith of the Colorado Tourism board.
Sustainable tourism has been accorded a high priority in the US travel industry, said TIA President Roger Dow in Las Vegas. His federation is poised to launch a campaign which will show those in the vacation trade how they can best boost their ecological credentials.
At the same time, it is hard to predict how this growing awareness of green issues will impact on European tourists visiting the US. "After all the publicity surrounding the voracious energy appetite of the Americans this is going to be a hard-sell," said Tilo Krause- Duenow, head of Hamburg-based operator Canusa which specialises in travel to North America.
At the moment, the plastic knives and forks in restaurants and the overall throwaway mentality are at odds with new efforts to promote sustainable tourism: "I'm sure though that this will change over the next five to 10 years," said Krause-Duenow.
