Ecotourism students at the University of Portsmouth have chosen to travel by train to the Cairngorms instead of heading to Grenada in the West Indies for their annual fieldtrip. The students favoured the Cairngorms National Park over the Caribbean island because of concerns about their carbon footprint.

"They have clearly learned something during their year with us" said Course Director Dr Victoria Edwards, "I am delighted that they have chosen the Cairngorms - not only because of the more environmentally friendly way that we can travel there - but also because there is so much for the students to learn in the region. Scotland is certainly leading the UK in sustainable tourism, and the Cairngorms National Park is a particular treasure in terms of wildlife tourism."

Amongst other things, the students will learn about the Cairngorms National Park Management Plan and tourism's role in it.

Sandy Dear from VisitScotland's Sustainable Tourism Unit said: "VisitScotland congratulates the eco-tourism students who chose Scotland over Grenada in order to minimise their carbon emissions. As more and more UK holiday makers make similar decisions, Scotland will benefit from UK consumers’ drive to be green.

"To capitalise on this, we need to make sure Scotland’s tourism industry is as green as possible. VisitScotland’s newly formed Sustainable Tourism Unit is taking on this challenge and working with partners to make Scotland Europe’s most sustainable tourism destination.”

For more information, see the links below:

Portsmouth University - Ecotourism
www.port.ac.uk/courses/coursetypes/postgraduate/MScEcotourism/

Cairngorms National Park
www.cairngorms.co.uk/

Sustainable tourism information
www.greentourism.org.uk