IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i7p5670-d1105798.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon Footprint and Its Composition: A Comparison between Domestic and International Tourists to Chenzhou City, China

Author

Listed:
  • Qiong Xiao

    (Tourism College, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China)

  • Yongde Zhong

    (Tourism College, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
    State Forestry Administration Engineering Research Center for Forest Tourism, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Changsha 410004, China)

  • Jinyang Deng

    (School of Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA)

Abstract

This study aims to provide a scientific basis to address the strategies for sustainable development of urban tourism industry. By using the Life Cycle Assessment method, it decomposes tourism activities into seven different functional units (different tourism activities)-transportation, catering, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, entertainment and waste disposal-based on the expression of services provided by tourism activities, and determine the boundary range of each different functional unit in terms of the pathways and the functional orientation of the products (resources and energy) provided by the services of each functional unit. A “bottom-up” model is then constructed to measure the carbon footprint of tourism. Based on data collected from various sources for the period 2014–2019, it compares the composition and differences of domestic and international tourists’ carbon footprints in Chenzhou City, one of inland mountainous regions of central China, through several steps, including target and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact evaluation and life cycle interpretation. Results show that domestic tourists contributed more than 90% of the total annual carbon footprints to the city, ranging from 76.8809 × 10 6 kg to 194.6067 × 10 6 kg. Transportation is the dominant category, accounting for over 80% of the total carbon footprints. The study suggests that optimizing tourism resources, reducing transportation distances, and switching to low-carbon modes can effectively reduce the tourism carbon footprints in Chenzhou and similar regions. This study reveals the structural characteristics of the tourism carbon footprint and its influencing factors and provides valuable insights for policy development involving energy saving and low carbon tourism, thus enhancing the long-term sustainability of tourism development in an urban tourism destination like Chenzhou.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiong Xiao & Yongde Zhong & Jinyang Deng, 2023. "Carbon Footprint and Its Composition: A Comparison between Domestic and International Tourists to Chenzhou City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:7:p:5670-:d:1105798
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/7/5670/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/7/5670/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tianyue Huang & Zi Tang, 2021. "Estimation of tourism carbon footprint and carbon capacity," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 1040-1046.
    2. Manfred Lenzen & Ya-Yen Sun & Futu Faturay & Yuan-Peng Ting & Arne Geschke & Arunima Malik, 2018. "The carbon footprint of global tourism," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(6), pages 522-528, June.
    3. Munday, Max & Turner, Karen & Jones, Calvin, 2013. "Accounting for the carbon associated with regional tourism consumption," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 35-44.
    4. Gossling, Stefan & Hansson, Carina Borgstrom & Horstmeier, Oliver & Saggel, Stefan, 2002. "Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 199-211, December.
    5. Sharif, Arshian & Raza, Syed Ali & Ozturk, Ilhan & Afshan, Sahar, 2019. "The dynamic relationship of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption with carbon emission: A global study with the application of heterogeneous panel estimations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 685-691.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rui Wang & Bing Xia & Suocheng Dong & Yu Li & Zehong Li & Duoxun Ba & Wenbiao Zhang, 2020. "Research on the Spatial Differentiation and Driving Forces of Eco-Efficiency of Regional Tourism in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Natalia Porto & Matías Ciaschi, 2021. "Reformulating the tourism-extended environmental Kuznets curve: A quantile regression analysis under environmental legal conditions," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(5), pages 991-1014, August.
    3. Pipatpong Fakfare & Walanchalee Wattanacharoensil, 2023. "Low‐carbon tourism for island destinations: A crucial alternative for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 180-197, February.
    4. Sun, Ya-Yen & Cadarso, Maria Angeles & Driml, Sally, 2020. "Tourism carbon footprint inventories: A review of the environmentally extended input-output approach," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Md. Hasanur Rahman & Liton Chandra Voumik & Md. Jamsedul Islam & Md. Abdul Halim & Miguel Angel Esquivias, 2022. "Economic Growth, Energy Mix, and Tourism-Induced EKC Hypothesis: Evidence from Top Ten Tourist Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Chao Bi & Jingjing Zeng, 2019. "Nonlinear and Spatial Effects of Tourism on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Bui Hoang Ngoc, 2022. "Do Tourism Development and Globalization Reinforce Ecological Footprint? Evidence From RCEP Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, December.
    8. Fredrick Oteng Agyeman & Ma Zhiqiang & Mingxing Li & Agyemang Kwasi Sampene & Malcom Frimpong Dapaah & Emmanuel Adu Gyamfi Kedjanyi & Paul Buabeng & Yiyao Li & Saifullah Hakro & Mohammad Heydari, 2022. "Probing the Effect of Governance of Tourism Development, Economic Growth, and Foreign Direct Investment on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Africa: The African Experience," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-24, June.
    9. João Tomaz Simões & Jakson Renner Rodrigues Soares & Xosé M. Santos, 2023. "A Conceptual Framework Proposal Regarding the Engagement of Hotels in the Modern Fight against Unsustainable Food Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-20, April.
    10. Jarkko Saarinen, 2021. "Is Being Responsible Sustainable in Tourism? Connections and Critical Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, June.
    11. Zhenquan Xiao & Polat Muhtar & Wenxiu Huo & Chaogao An & Ling Yang & Fengrong Zhang, 2021. "Spatial and Temporal Differentiation of the Tourism Water Footprint in Mainland China and Its Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Lingling Chen & Lin Yi & Rongrong Cai & Hui Yang, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Correlation among Tourism, CO 2 Emissions, and Economic Growth in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-31, July.
    13. Sun, Ya-Yen, 2014. "A framework to account for the tourism carbon footprint at island destinations," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-27.
    14. Sudeshna Ghosh, 2022. "Effects of tourism on carbon dioxide emissions, a panel causality analysis with new data sets," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3884-3906, March.
    15. Tang, Chengcai & Zhong, Linsheng & Ng, Pin, 2017. "Factors that Influence the Tourism Industry's Carbon Emissions: a Tourism Area Life Cycle Model Perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 704-718.
    16. Geneidy Sami El & Baumeister Stefan, 2019. "The Carbon Footprint of Volunteer Tourism," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 15-25, December.
    17. Shuxin Wang & Yiyuan Hu & Hong He & Genxu Wang, 2017. "Progress and Prospects for Tourism Footprint Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Zhaoming Deng & Meijing Zhou & Qiong Xu, 2022. "How to Decouple Tourism Growth from Carbon Emissions? A Spatial Correlation Network Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, September.
    19. Sun, Ya-Yen & Gossling, Stefan & Zhou, Wanru, 2022. "Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    20. Reza Sherafatian-Jahromi & Mohd Shahwahid Othman & Siong Hook Law & Normaz Wana Ismail, 2017. "Tourism and CO2 emissions nexus in Southeast Asia: new evidence from panel estimation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1407-1423, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:7:p:5670-:d:1105798. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.