Research projects

Current research activities focus on issues of sustainability in tourism and the effects of climate change and tourism.

The current projects "Green Travel Transformation" and "Green Tourism", both funded by the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research), aim to increase the share of sustainable travelling. A prerequisite for this is better and more comprehensive information for travellers and employees in tourism about individual trips with regard to sustainability. A first step was to ensure that sustainable accommodation is uniformly marked with a green leaf in tour operators' catalogues. Likewise it was ensured that this information also appears in the travel agencies' systems. Efforts are currently underway to make the label visible on the tour operators' websites.

In a further step, activities are underway to label the entire trip with regard to sustainability. Among other things, the CO2 emissions of travel to and from the destination are to be indicated.

Further information can be found in the individual projects.

Green Tourism

Assessment of the sustainability of travel chains and online communication. The aim of the project is to develop a model that can be used to assess how sustainable a journey is. The focus is on holiday travel.

Green Travel Transformation

The aim of the project is to significantly increase the share of sustainable holiday travel in all booked travels. To achieve this, it is necessary that these trips become visible (labelling) and bookable (in the information and booking systems). By providing travel agency staff with specific advice on how to implement sustainable travel, a sense of responsibility, efficiency and, if required, sufficiency are increased.

Climate-neutral island Juist

Inhabitants of the island Juist feel the climate change. The inhabitants of the North Sea island of Juist want to meet the challenges. As a region particularly affected by climate change and dependent on tourism (approx. 1 million overnight stays per year), the island has set itself the goal of becoming the first climate-neutral island in Germany.

KLIFF - Forest Project

In the context of global environmental changes, our forests will be exposed to environmental factors that are significantly different from those of the past. The aim of the project "Adaptation strategies for tourist destinations" was to analyse the influence of climate change on forests, to make statements on the further development of forests and natural landscapes and to define the requirements for tourism.

KUNTIKUM - Climate trends

How can tourism as a weather-sensitive economic sector react to climate change, avert threats and create new potential for success? The aim of the project was to assess climate trends for the tourism sector based on regional climate simulations and to develop necessary mitigation and adaptation strategies.