Environmental Auditing: An Approach Towards Monitoring the Environmental Impacts in Tourism Destinations, with Reference to the Case of Molyvos

Environmental Auditing (EA) is a management tool which determines the actual and potential environmental impacts of both public and private sector activities. This technique assesses the magnitude, level and importance of environmental impacts caused by tourism development. Environmental auditing is based on environmentally responsible actions which when applied by tourism destination authorities, is a measure of their environmental commitment. Therefore, by utilizing environmental auditing in the world's tourism destinations, measures of a more proactive nature can be implemented within their localities. The application of the technique, as demonstrated in the case of Molyvos on the Greek island of Mytilini, appears to be significant for a destination's environmental practices. An overall assessment of Molyvos's environmental elements such as water and waste, and an evaluation of the performance of environmental indicators was carried out in order to determine the "baseline' environmental conditions in the resort. Thus, the procedure formed the basis for an ongoing environmental management activity, contributing to the sustainable tourism development of the destination. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.