Sustainability means different things to different people. A CEO or entrepreneur might think of an enterprise that can financially sustain itself while serving the needs of its customers and bringing value to its shareholders. A nonprofit leader will probably think of how they can sustain their organization’s mission into the future.
Those of us raised during the Green Awakening initiated by Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” think of sustainability as protecting and preserving our environment.
Several catchphrases emerged from this period: “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” — Smokey Bear, 1947; “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” — from Woodsy Owl, 1971; but the most enduring is undeniably “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”
Several organizations in our community advocate for sustainable tourism, none more prominent than our Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau. The idea that an organization tasked with promoting the Park City area as a tourist destination is also tasked with sustainability may strike some as contradictory.
After all, the sustainability catchphrase, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” begins with Reduce — as in reducing the number of tourists to help achieve sustainability.
With an annual budget of $13.6 million derived mostly from the transient room tax, as reported in their IRS Form 990, and another $4.37 million to the county uses to promote tourism, a substantial amount of effort and funding goes into doing anything but reducing tourists.
If we are going to sustain our infrastructure, our way of life, our community character, and most importantly our environment, isn’t it time we consider ways to reduce the impact of tourism on our community? Many tourist destinations are doing just that.
According to a recent article in The Independent, iconic destinations around the world are no longer simply welcoming tourists — they’re setting limits. Venice now charges day-trippers up to €10 to manage daily influxes; Japan is capping visitors to Mount Fuji and fining those who photograph geisha in Kyoto without consent.
In my ancestral home of Greece, island cruise magnets like Santorini and Mykonos are introducing passenger caps and fees for each visitor to relieve pressure on fragile infrastructure.
These moves aren’t driven by anti-tourist sentiment — they’re a response to community backlash, degraded environments, and overwhelmed systems.
Whether it’s the Philippines closing Boracay for ecological recovery or Hallstatt, Austria, installing barriers to slow selfie traffic, the message is clear: The unchecked volume of visitors has consequences, and many places are choosing to prioritize livability and preservation over promotion.
Kenya has emerged as a global leader in sustainable tourism by embracing community-based conservation models that align tourism with ecological preservation. As early as the 1970s, in regions like the Maasai Mara, local communities leased land to conservancies such as Olare Motorogi, where eco-friendly safari operators manage the tourism that provides income and incentives for habitat protection.
This approach not only preserves critical wildlife corridors but also fosters a sense of ownership and stewardship among the people who live there.
When was the last time you saw an ad asking you to visit Venice, Santorini, Mykonos, Mount Fuji, or Kenya? You can’t remember, can you? Could it be that these locations’ sustainability starts with Reduce?
Our community leaders and elected officials should start thinking of ways to preserve our community by planning for limits on the number of visitors and how to better manage the ones who do come here.
One solution could be to limit traffic on our two major entry corridors through the issuance of permits. It is not simply enough to provide free transit — we should limit single-use vehicles.
Locals could receive special permits that provide access to our local roads, while we cap the number of single-use vehicles to a prescribed limit. Resorts would be required to operate shuttles to the hotels and ski destinations that augment and interface with our free public transit system.
If sustainability is about longevity — whether for a business, a nonprofit, or a fragile alpine town — then it begins with an honest reckoning of limits. And using our fees and tax revenues to support our infrastructure, our way of life, our community character, and most importantly our environment.
Just as those before us learned to reduce, reuse, and recycle to preserve the environment, we too must learn to reduce, rethink and recalibrate how we welcome the world to our doorstep.
Ari Ioannides, chair of the Summit County Republicans, is a recovering tech entrepreneur, founder of BootUP PD, and serves on local government and nonprofit boards. He offers a conservative perspective on local politics. He can be reached at [email protected]