Holding Visitors Accountable: The Impact of Tourism on Global Climate Change

Visitors are attracted to Hawai‘i’s unparalleled beauty and fragile ecosystem, yet impose significant environmental impacts both locally and globally. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be mitigated through visitor taxes, energy policy, and industrial measures. This model provides greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) generated by residents, government, and five types of visitors in an applied general equilibrium model of Hawai‘i’s economy. The extensive Hawai‘i dataset includes consumer and industry data for 131 sectors, ten agents, and six fossil fuel types. Simulation results are presented for macroeconomic and per capita indicators including visitor and household expenditures, price indices, income distribution, output, and gross state product. The model simulates various visitor expenditures scenarios including a million dollar increase in visitor spending. The model provides a framework to incorporate economic and environmental impacts of visitor industry growth on a small open economy.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)