Great topic to be discussing as I think there is a role for government to play in this field both from a policy/legislation point of view and more importantly facilitator role. NS Tourism, Culture & Heritage has been working with TIANS, Dalhousie Eco-Efficiency Centre and Conserve Nova Scotia on a number of initatives over the past year around sustainable tourism. A soon to be released self-audit guide will be available to help businesses assess their business in a number of areas as well as offer advice on how to reduce their impact and improve their bottom line. Tourism businesses are able to contact Dalhousie University as well to get an onsite audit done – For more information please contact http://eco-efficiency.management.dal.ca/index.htm.

Anyone wishing to talk further about sustainable tourism and how government can help are free to contact me at fosterje@gov.ns.ca

Keep up the good work and have fun,
Jonathan Foster
Product Development Officer
NS Tourism, Culture & Heritage