20 October 2026 – Nigel McDonald

Sustainable tourism

Treading lightly on the earth

It seems that being an ethical tourist is getting harder. You may have taken the pledge not to fly, so you look at going on a cruise, only to learn that on a typical cruise the CO2 footprint per passenger is similar to that of a flight from the UK to Teneriffe every day. So you decide to have a motorhome holiday in Scotland along the NC500, only to find you're contributing to heavy congestion on narrow Highland roads and the destruction of fragile roadside habitats. So you look at having a holiday in an Airbnb cottage in St Austell, but then discover that you're part of the pressures that mean a disappearing local rental market for residents, causing forced commutes for the local workforce.

So how can we be holidaymakers and tourists in a way that is fair on the others that we share our fragile planet with? Nigel McDonald, Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism Officer, will help us navigate through the complex issues involved.

Nigel McDonald

Nigel is the lead for sustainable and regenerative tourism in Shropshire Hills National Landscape Team. He works with partners on projects designed to engage the public and local communities through environmentally positive tourism, the arts, interpretation and marketing.

Nigel's first degree was in Environmental Pollution Science, focussing on environmental pollution and human impact on the environment. He has a masters degree in Heritage Management from the University of Birmingham, where his thesis was on the use of cognitive psychology to influence visitor behaviour, beliefs, and values.