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The World Economic Forum has release their Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for 2008 (some time ago, admittedly I’m a bit late). The rankings don’t measure how attractive a country is as a tourist destination, but rather the development of the travel industry there. Most of the countries at the top were in western Europe along with the US and Canada.

Most at the bottom of the list were African nations. Like I’ve said before, a tourism industry is a great boost to a 3rd world economy, since it doesn’t require much infrastructure and a weak local currency can attract tourists. You can view the entire report here [pdf], if you do you’ll notice that none of these up and coming destinations are on the list.

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Since it’s Earth Day, I thought I’d remind you about my list of 33 ways to green your travels.

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Yale University’s ranking of international environmental performance indexes placed Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway in the top 3, respectively. The United States was just slightly worse off than Argentina at #39 and a touch better than Taiwan on the list of 149 nations.

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Contrails, those wispy clouds that form when ice crystals condense on jet engine vapors have been shown to raise and lower temperatures over large cities.

It was learned that contrails lower daytime and raise nighttime temperatures slightly in high-traffic jet corridors. Lacking those clouds for a few days after Sept. 11, the spread between daily high and low temperatures increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

There has been controversy over the global impact that jets have on the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the comments in Upgrade: Travel Better’s post on the subject questioned if 3 days of data could really be conclusive. Those of you who’ve calculated the carbon impact of a recent vacation will find that air travel is where most of your carbon tonnage comes from.

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Incentive programs at Marriott hotels, when compared to Hilton, have lead to more efficient hotels that are better for the environment.

Marriott has created incentive systems to award and highlight managers for their environmental initiatives. And on a corporate level, they are taking MEASURABLE steps toward reducing their energy and water use.

Simple Green Choices notes that both chains still have a long way to go. To really hotel it up green style, check the list of green certified ones.

[photo by: Daniele Muscetta]

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The fun and curiously addicting free game, How Well Do You Know Your World, measures the time it takes you to locate major international cities.

The game gives you a city somewhere in the world and you drop a pin on where you think it is. Points are calculated on distance to the actual location and the time it took you to find it.

The game in entertaining for about 5 minutes. A nice little workweek diversion right before holiday rush.

[via Svenska Dagbladet]

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Regional Flavor suggests spending some time in Hawaii planting trees or cruising to the Galapagos on an carbon-neutral boat on their list of 10 green vacations.

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Roaming the globe can create a large carbon imprint. Traveling with jet fuel burning airplanes, and in foreign countries that don’t take the environment seriously doesn’t mean you have to ditch smart and efficient ways to keep our planet healthy.

There are plenty of small and big ways you can reduce the amount of pollution and waste when you take your next trip. By modifying some bad habits you can not only make your travel greener, but the places you visit as well.

Here are 33 ways to green your travel.

• Use Public Transportation When Your Get There - For many places far from home, this is what you’ll do. If you’re driving to a major city in the US, find out the public transportation routes available once you get there. Not only will you save gas, but you’ll be able to enjoy and see the sights around you.
• Send an E-Postcard - Create an electronic postcard for free online and use one of the pictures you’ve taken to give it a personal touch.
• Combine Trips - Accumulate your vacation time wisely and take a longer chunk of time off. This way you can save money and pollution by combining your trips. It’s more efficient to see 5 countries in one trip, then going to each one separately.
• Flag Down Hybrid Taxis - When I was in Stockholm and London, I noticed many cabs that were Toyota Prius. If you’ve got the time, try to get the attention of a hybrid or smaller taxi to reduce air pollution. Hybrids ranked as exceptionally safe in recent crash tests.
• Eat Vegetarian On The Plane and When Possible - Doing so on the plane will get you your meal faster, keep you healthier, and (ever-so-slightly) reduce deforestation. 18% of all greenhouse gases come from livestock.

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The smart folks over at MIT are developing a short range car for rental in urban areas. The car is being sponsored by GM in the hopes to reduce pollution and congestion.

The wheels also enable incredible maneuverability. Instead of making U-turns, the car can spin on the spot, and when the driver turns each wheel 90 degrees, the car can parallel-park by moving sideways

Details on the range and power of the vehicles are still not available, but expect to see more of this sort of thing in the near future. For now you can offset your automobile carbon emissions and get directions using public transportation only.

[via Engadget]

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Reduce the amount of paper wasted on catalogs you don’t read by opting out of them. Catalog Choice is a free service that lets you specify what junk magazines you want and those you don’t. Not enough? You can also opt out of all junk mail.

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