Sustainable Tourism Practices for Small Business Owners

I once spent a day with a tourism operator in Tofino who genuinely believed his business was sustainable. He recycled. He used LED bulbs. He felt good about his environmental impact. Then I asked how much single-use plastic his operation went through monthly. He had no idea. When we calculated it—water bottles, takeaway containers, packaging—it was over 2,000 pieces. Every month. For years.

He wasn't being hypocritical. He just hadn't looked closely. Most tourism businesses are the same: well-intentioned but unaware of their actual impact.

Sustainable tourism isn't about recycling bins and good intentions. It's about honest assessment and genuine change.

Why Sustainable Tourism Matters Now

The tourism industry loves beautiful places. And tourism—done badly—destroys beautiful places. It's that simple and that uncomfortable.

BC's tourism is built on wilderness, wildlife, and natural beauty. If those disappear, so does the business. This isn't environmental activism; it's business survival.

But here's the business case beyond survival: travellers are actively seeking sustainable options. They'll pay more for genuine environmental responsibility. A growing market segment makes decisions based on sustainability practices.

The question isn't whether to operate sustainably. It's how quickly you can transition before customers demand it or regulations require it.

Real Waste Reduction

Start with honest assessment. Track everything you throw away for one month. Every plastic bottle. Every paper towel. Every food scrap. Every piece of packaging.

This accounting is uncomfortable. You'll discover you're generating more waste than you realized. Good. You can't fix what you don't measure.

Single-Use Plastic Elimination

This is the easiest high-impact change. Stop providing bottled water—install a filtration system and offer reusable bottles or refill stations. Replace takeaway plastic with compostable alternatives or reusable containers.

One kayak tour operator I worked with eliminated 18,000 plastic water bottles annually by switching to a water dispenser and offering each customer a durable bottle as part of the tour fee. Cost increase: $6 per customer. Marketing value: significant. Customer appreciation: universal.

Composting Systems

Food waste is the biggest component of most tourism businesses' garbage. Composting diverts 40-60% of waste from landfills.

Set up kitchen composting. If you have space, consider on-site composting. If not, partner with local composting services. Many BC municipalities now offer commercial compost pickup.

Coffee grounds alone—a huge waste stream for cafes and lodges—make excellent compost or can be given to local gardeners who will happily pick them up free.

Thoughtful Purchasing

Waste reduction starts at purchasing. Buy in bulk. Choose minimal packaging. Select suppliers who take packaging back. Avoid individually wrapped items.

This requires rethinking convenience. Yes, individual packets are easier. They're also wasteful and expensive. Bulk purchasing reduces both waste and cost.

Energy and Water Efficiency

Utilities are straightforward: what you don't use, you don't pay for. Conservation directly improves margins.

The Low-Hanging Fruit

LED conversion. If you haven't done this yet, do it today. LEDs use 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. The payback period is typically under two years.

Low-flow fixtures for sinks, showers, and toilets reduce water use by 30-50% with zero impact on user experience. Installation is simple and costs are low.

Programmable thermostats. Set back temperatures when spaces are empty. This alone can cut heating/cooling costs by 10-15%.

Solar Investment

Solar panels have become remarkably affordable. In BC, with various incentives, payback periods for commercial installations are often under seven years.

A lodge on Vancouver Island installed solar and reduced their electricity bill by 40%. Marketing benefit: they now advertise "solar-powered accommodations," attracting environmentally conscious travellers who specifically search for this.

Water Conservation

BC has abundant water, which makes conservation feel less urgent. But pumping, heating, and treating water costs money. And climate change is making even BC's water supply less certain.

Rain capture for irrigation. Greywater systems for non-potable uses. Native landscaping that doesn't require watering. These investments pay back through lower utility bills.

Genuine Local Sourcing

Buying local isn't just environmental—it's better business.

Local food is fresher, which means better quality. It supports the local economy, which builds community relationships. It reduces transportation emissions. And it creates marketing stories that resonate with customers.

A restaurant in Nelson sources 80% of ingredients within 100 kilometers. This is their primary marketing message. Customers actively choose them because of it. And their food cost is competitive because they're eliminating distributor markup.

The Procurement Shift

Switching to local sourcing requires relationship building. You're not ordering from catalogs—you're working with local producers, farmers, and suppliers.

This takes more effort initially. But it creates resilience. When supply chains break (as they do), you have local partners who can actually deliver.

Authenticity in Marketing

Don't claim local sourcing if you're not doing it. Customers notice. They'll ask questions. If your "local menu" features ingredients from elsewhere, you'll damage credibility.

But if you're genuinely sourcing locally, tell that story. Name your suppliers. Describe their practices. Make the provenance part of the experience.

Transportation and Access

Tourism inherently involves transportation. You can't eliminate emissions, but you can reduce them.

Location Efficiency

If customers need to drive 90 minutes on logging roads to reach you, that's significant impact. Can you offer shuttle services from transit-accessible points? Partner with other operators to share transportation?

A group of Gulf Islands operators created a shared water taxi schedule, reducing individual boat trips by 40% while improving service for customers.

On-Site Practices

Once customers arrive, minimize vehicle use. Design experiences that are walking-based or use efficient transportation. Offer bike rentals instead of driving tours where feasible.

This isn't just environmental—it creates better experiences. Walking and biking allow interaction with place in ways that driving doesn't.

Wildlife and Habitat Protection

Wildlife tourism is huge in BC. It also poses significant risks to the wildlife it claims to celebrate.

Maintain distance. Educate customers about why distance matters. Never feed wildlife. Never chase or harass for better photos.

This seems obvious but is constantly violated. Make it non-negotiable in your operations. Customers might whine about not getting close enough for their Instagram shot. Hold the line anyway.

Habitat Consideration

Where you build, how you build, when you operate—all affect habitat. Avoid sensitive nesting seasons. Stay on established trails. Don't create new impacts in pristine areas.

The best wildlife experiences happen when animals behave naturally because they're not disturbed. This requires patience and distance, which paradoxically creates more authentic encounters than aggressive pursuit.

Seasonal and Off-Peak Strategies

BC tourism is heavily seasonal. This creates both business challenges and environmental pressure—intense impact during peak season, underutilized infrastructure in shoulder seasons.

Incentivize off-peak visits. Offer pricing that encourages shoulder season trips. Develop products specifically for quieter periods.

This smooths environmental impact across the year while improving business economics. Fixed costs get distributed across more months. Peak season pressure reduces.

Community Relationships

Sustainable tourism includes social sustainability—how you interact with and impact local communities.

Hire locally. Pay fairly. Contribute to community initiatives. Don't just extract value; add it.

Tourism businesses that integrate into community fabric gain support, loyalty, and resilience. Those that operate as external extractors face resistance and regulation.

A Squamish operator donates 1% of revenue to local trail maintenance and employs local guides exclusively. They're seen as community members, not outside profiteers. This matters when permits are renewed and regulations are debated.

Honest Marketing

Greenwashing is rampant in tourism. Don't add to it.

If you're working toward sustainability but aren't there yet, say so. "We're transitioning to renewable energy and have achieved 40% solar power so far" is more credible than vague claims about being "eco-friendly."

Specificity builds trust. "We diverted 4,200 pounds from landfills this year through composting" beats "We're environmentally conscious."

And critically: don't claim sustainability if you're not practicing it. Customers are increasingly sophisticated. They'll research. False claims damage reputation permanently.

The Economic Reality

Sustainability costs money upfront. Solar panels, efficient systems, local sourcing—all require investment.

But they pay back. Lower operating costs, premium pricing, customer loyalty, reduced regulatory risk—the ROI is real if you measure it properly.

That Tofino operator? After calculating his plastic use, he invested $8,000 in alternatives and system changes. Within 18 months, he'd recouped that through reduced purchasing costs and increased bookings from environmental travellers.

Plus, you're protecting the foundation your business depends on. If BC's nature degrades, tourism degrades. Investment in sustainability is investment in your long-term viability.

Start Somewhere

Don't let perfectionism create paralysis. You can't transform everything overnight. But you can start.

Pick one area. Maybe it's plastic elimination. Maybe it's energy efficiency. Maybe it's local sourcing. Do that well. Then add another.

Progress beats perfection. A tourism business actively improving is better than one making no changes because it can't do everything perfectly.

For tourism businesses interested in developing sustainability practices and nature-based tourism approaches, our guided experiences model sustainable operation in practice.

The goal isn't performing sustainability for marketing purposes. It's operating in ways that ensure the places and communities we depend on remain healthy long-term. That's not environmentalism—that's fundamental business strategy.