Le tourisme écologique
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Compréhension écrite : Le tourisme écologique
La Nouvelle-Zélande est un des pays du Commonwealth qui fascine à plus d'un titre : lointaine, elle offre des paysages magiques qui ont servi de décors de films à plusieurs reprises. Pour les préserver, les Néo-zélandais redoublent d'efforts afin que le tourisme local et international ne mettent pas en danger la faune et la flore environnantes.« A capital's massive gamble
The fuel-guzzling town of Queenstown, New Zealand, has an audacious goal to become the first tourist destination on Earth to have a completely carbon-zero visitor economy – and all by 2030.
By 2030 – if things really go to plan – you'll land in Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island (possibly even aboard an electric-powered Air New Zealand airplane) and make your way to town via an electric gondola or on a hydro-powered ferry across the town's famous glacier-fed lake, Lake Wakatipu. Skiers and snowboarders – who in winter descend on this region in ever-increasing numbers from around the world – will ride electric-powered chairlifts to the peaks of the surrounding ski resorts. (…)
It's all part of the region's very ambitious plan to become the first tourist town on Earth to have a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030. The 'adventure capital of the world' – a title earned through decades of innovation creating death-defying activities that had been done nowhere else, but ones that run primarily on fossil fuels – now wants to become the ecotourism capital of the world. And they're aiming for a carbon-zero visitor economy in six years, not an easier-to-achieve carbon-neutral visitor economy (where Queenstown could use carbon credits, like planting trees, to achieve its environmental goals). Becoming carbon-zero is much harder to achieve – because it means you can't emit any carbon at all. (…) Last year, almost 400,000 international visitors came here, an almost 20% rise since 2019, just before the pandemic. This number is particularly significant when you consider Queenstown has a permanent population of around 50,000. (…) Given the number of tourists coming to the Queenstown region each year, local accommodation providers must become the most consequential players in Queenstown's plan to run on alternative energy. »
The fuel-guzzling town of Queenstown, New Zealand, has an audacious goal to become the first tourist destination on Earth to have a completely carbon-zero visitor economy – and all by 2030.
By 2030 – if things really go to plan – you'll land in Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island (possibly even aboard an electric-powered Air New Zealand airplane) and make your way to town via an electric gondola or on a hydro-powered ferry across the town's famous glacier-fed lake, Lake Wakatipu. Skiers and snowboarders – who in winter descend on this region in ever-increasing numbers from around the world – will ride electric-powered chairlifts to the peaks of the surrounding ski resorts. (…)
It's all part of the region's very ambitious plan to become the first tourist town on Earth to have a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030. The 'adventure capital of the world' – a title earned through decades of innovation creating death-defying activities that had been done nowhere else, but ones that run primarily on fossil fuels – now wants to become the ecotourism capital of the world. And they're aiming for a carbon-zero visitor economy in six years, not an easier-to-achieve carbon-neutral visitor economy (where Queenstown could use carbon credits, like planting trees, to achieve its environmental goals). Becoming carbon-zero is much harder to achieve – because it means you can't emit any carbon at all. (…) Last year, almost 400,000 international visitors came here, an almost 20% rise since 2019, just before the pandemic. This number is particularly significant when you consider Queenstown has a permanent population of around 50,000. (…) Given the number of tourists coming to the Queenstown region each year, local accommodation providers must become the most consequential players in Queenstown's plan to run on alternative energy. »
Craig Tansley, November 1st, 2024, BBC
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